5 Things Your Customers Need to Hear from You
Our customers come to us from many different viewpoints and stages in their customer journey. How do we know our marketing messaging is speaking to them where they are at right now? The best way is to provide content directed to each stage of customer awareness and produce that content on the platform where they are most open to receiving that message. Let’s look at an example, what your customers are feeling at each stage, and how and where you can meet them with the right messaging to nurture them to become a lifelong customer.
For the purpose of this exercise, we’ll look at a real life problem I am personally experiencing: the fact that my family goes through 8 gallons of milk per week. (don’t judge, haha!, Oh and you’re welcome to the dairy industry! We LOVE you for all your hard work!)
Customer Awareness Stage 1: Unaware
Customers who are unaware experience pain points, but they don’t know why or what causes them. They have not yet recognized that the issues they are struggling with have a cause or a focal point.
Example: My grocery bill is so high! I don’t understand how we spend so much money on groceries and only bring home a few things!
What They Need to Hear: At this point, your customer doesn’t want to hear about your product or service or how amazing it is. They just aren’t in a place where that is going to mean anything to them. Instead, this is the time to focus on connecting with potential customers on a basic level. Showing your personality and building the relationship on a human-to-human level will serve you best at this point. As you connect with them more, you can start to help them identify how the discomfort they feel around a specific issue is actually tied to a specific problem.
Where to Reach Them: The best places to reach unaware customers are in places where they already are. This could be on social media, at networking events, or in real life!
Customer Awareness Stage 2: Problem Aware
Problem aware customers experience pain points and associate them with a specific challenge they are facing. Some customers will spend a very short amount of time in this stage. As soon as they become problem aware, they will be ready to seek solutions and move to the next stage. On the other hand, some customers will spend a long time in the problem aware stage - even years. This is because they may have negative feelings about themselves or their abilities to address the problem. They may not be open to seeking solutions yet because they are too focused on the problem itself and what they feel about it or what they think facing that problem says about their identity.
Example: We are consuming a LOT of milk. We drink 8 gallons a week! This is causing our grocery bill to be so much higher than it would be otherwise!
What They Need to Hear: Problem aware customers need to have their problems normalized. Help them recognize that this problem is common, it is normal to face, and there is nothing wrong with them or their business because they are facing it. In this stage, you can connect with them by discussing the feelings associated with facing this problem.
Where to Reach Them: Again, the best place to reach problem aware customers is where they already are spending time. People who are problem aware tend to flock together to discuss the symptoms of their problem. You can find them on forums and in Facebook groups that are dedicated to these specific issues.
Customer Awareness Stage 3: Solution Aware
This stage is your time to shine. Solution aware customers recognize their problem and are ready to solve it. They are seeking solutions and are open to ideas. They’re spending time researching and comparing costs and features.
Example: We could probably provide milk for our family more efficiently by getting our own milk from our own milk cow. A milk cow could be really beneficial for us!
What They Need to Hear: At this point you can share with them that a solution IS attainable. Help them know that their problem is not unsolvable. You can share your own personal journey to a solution to this problem (since most of us who own businesses also faced the same problem at one time and then created a solution to it.) Tell them stories about what you tried that didn’t work and how you ultimately found the right solution for you. Provide lots of information about the nitty-gritty details of your product or service so they can answer all their internal questions and discover exactly how your solution fits their problem.
Where to Reach Them: SEO optimized, long form content will help your potential client discover you and your solution to their problem at this point. This can be blog or video content and should be shared in places customers are seeking solutions to their problems such as Pinterest, Google, or YouTube. For most customers, this is going to be their first interaction with your website.
Customer Awareness Stage 4: Product Aware
When a customer becomes product (or service) aware, they are at the point where they are ready to make a buying decision. At this stage, customers want to feel confident that they are making a good investment and want to understand how their life will be different once they make a purchase and use their product or service as a solution to their problem.
Example: We’ve found a milk cow! I can’t wait to start getting our own milk!
What They Need to Hear: Now is the time to break down barriers and address any confusion or questions about your product. Make your product as accessible and simple as possible. Be sure to address how your product will make them feel when being utilized. Focus on the results they will see and how their life will be different because of your business.
Where to Reach Them: Most of this content is going to be on your website, or in your sales content. It will be more direct and specific than content intended for other audiences.
Customer Awareness Stage 5: Most Aware
Your most aware audience will be familiar with your products and business. They will consume your content. They will have already purchased your products or be on the verge of purchasing if they just get a final nudge in the right direction. They will also likely be talking about your solution to their problem with others who are having the same problems.
Example: We’ve got a milk cow! How can we get the most benefit out of our milk cow for our family?
What They Need to Hear: Your most aware customers may need a nudge to buy such as a discount or special promotion. They may also need to get to know you better! Revisiting stage one where you connect with customers on a more personal level can help you check the final boxes for them. Additional messages they will benefit from are unique or unrelated ways your product has changed people’s lives. You can also give tips, tutorials, and hacks for how to benefit even further from your product. This is also the place where you can get really specific. People who are most aware don’t need every little thing explained to them. They are kind of like an inside club where you can speak your own lingo. If you’ve heard the term “If you know you know” the “most aware” audience is the segment you are speaking to.
Where to Reach Them: The best place to communicate with these customers is through direct lines of communication such as direct messages on social media or through email. However, don’t discount social media and advertising with retargeting goals for this purpose as well to get back in front of customers who already know you and may have forgotten you.
How to Target Marketing Based on Customer Awareness Stages
Creating content and information that is available, accessible, and consumable for each client awareness stage will increase your marketing efficiency and improve your conversion rate for leads and sales. Take an internal audit of the content that is on your social media, website, advertising, email marketing, and print materials and evaluate which stage of customer awareness the content is targeted at. Identify any stages you are not communicating to or not communicating the right message in the right place. Then it’s brainstorm time to add this new element to your messaging!
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