5 Stages of Buyer Awareness

Eugene Schwartz shared the 5 Stages of Buyer Awareness in his classic book "Breakthrough Advertising."

Despite this, a common trap businesses fall into is assuming their buyer is more aware than they are.

Here are Schwartz's five stages:

•Stage one: Unaware

•Stage two: Problem aware

•Stage three: Solution aware

•Stage four: Product aware

•Stage five: Most aware

Businesses make the mistake of focusing their marketing on the product (stage four) when their buyers are stuck diagnosing the problem.

Choosing whether you focus your marketing on:

1️⃣ Evangelizing the problem you're solving (stage two)

OR

2️⃣ Selling the feeds and speeds that make your widget so cool (stage four)

Depends on your buyer's level of awareness of the problem you're helping them to solve and the solutions available to solve it.

Start there.

Question to ponder:

•What is the level of awareness of my target buyer?

•Is our marketing messaging and content strategy at the right level of Buyer Awareness?

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Eugene Schwartz's 5 Stages of Buyer Awareness?

Unaware, problem aware, solution aware, product aware, and most aware, a progression describing how much a buyer already understands about their problem and the solutions available to solve it.

Why is assuming buyers are more aware than they actually are such a common trap?

Because businesses often default to marketing at the product-aware stage, focusing on features and specs, when their actual target buyer is still stuck diagnosing the problem itself, several stages earlier in the awareness journey.

What does marketing at the "problem aware" stage actually look like?

Evangelizing the problem being solved, helping a buyer who's still figuring out what's wrong understand and name their situation, rather than jumping straight into product details they aren't ready to evaluate yet.

What does marketing at the "product aware" stage look like instead?

Selling the specific feeds and speeds, the features and capabilities that make a product compelling, appropriate only when the buyer already understands the problem and available solution categories.

How should a business decide which stage to focus marketing on?

By first identifying the actual awareness level of the target buyer, then matching messaging and content strategy to that specific stage rather than defaulting to product-level messaging regardless of where the buyer actually stands.