Time to crack into the actionable copywriting tactics.

In 1966, a little book called Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz gave the advertising world a new "creativity" playbook. For the first time, the concept of Market Awareness was introduced as a cheat code to speak directly to your audience.

"Your job is not to write copy. Your job is to know your visitors, customers and prospects so well, you understand the situation they're in right now, where they'd like to be, and exactly how your solution can and will get them to their ideal self."

Joanna Wiebe

Schwartz never specifically labeled any "Levels" in Breakthrough Advertising. But after analyzing the text for over five decades, copywriters generally accept that there are five Levels. They are known as:

In any given market, there are prospects at each Level. Most of them are "Completely Unaware." This Level is the hardest to sell to and generally requires the longest sales funnel. In advertising, you spend the least on this group.

The easiest Level to sell to, "Most Aware," contains the least amount of prospects. Most of your ad budget will be spent on this group. So perhaps we should start here.

Market Awareness Breakdown

Level 5 — Most Aware

Prospects at this Level are the easiest to sell to. A client, a robot... a 7-year-old who can hold a "20% OFF" sign could get these prospects to buy. If your copywriters are any good, asking them to write to Level 5 prospects is a huge waste of their time, energy, and skills.

A prospect at Level 5 knows about your product/service. They trust your brand. They've already decided your competitors are inferior. They want your product/service.

So if you've got your prospects to this Level, great job! At this point, they might just be waiting for the 'perfect' time, the 'perfect' tax return, or the perfect call to action (which would all be in your Copy Code).

All you need to do here is run a sale, a bundle deal, or craft an irresistible offer to announce. The copy should simply tell the prospect about the sale, how long it lasts, and why you're doing it.

On the other side of the spectrum, you have Level 1.

Level 1 — Completely Unaware

Prospects at this Level haven't heard of you, your company, or your solution. They don't even know solutions like yours exist. Even worse, they're not even aware of their desire for your solution.

"Remember the people you address are selfish, as we all are. They care nothing about your interests or profit. They seek service for themselves. Ignoring this fact is a common mistake and a costly mistake in advertising."

Claude C. Hopkins

You could have the cheapest, best, fastest, newest solution in your space... they don't care.

This is the hardest Level to craft a Copy Code for. And depending on the complexity of your product/service and how expensive it is, this will likely be your longest sales funnel. The good news is that if you create a good Copy Code for Level 1, you can use it to help you with Levels 2–5.

So how do you market to Level 1 prospects? Since you can't talk about your product, what it does, or how affordable it is... you're forced to talk about your prospect. You have no other option.

You can't make your prospect want your product. So you have to determine what they already want. What already interests them?

You don't sell to these prospects. You intrigue them. Use what they already care about to hook them into your funnel.

Your Copy Code here should be designed to capture your prospect's current state of mind. Define it for him. Tell him where/how/what/why he is feeling the way he is. You're simply trying to get him to think, "Oh yeah! That's me!" Show him you understand him better than he understands himself. Tell him that his problems are not his fault. He mustn't think you're trying to sell him anything... yet.

If a marketer has ever recommended you needed an "Ascension Model" or "Lead Magnets," it's because they want to sell to prospects at the Unaware Level.

After the Unaware Level, your prospect moves into the Problem Aware Level.

Level 2 — Problem Aware

A prospect at the Problem Aware Level only knows he wants what your product/service does. Does he know your solution exists? Maybe. Maybe not. All we know for sure is that he realizes he has a problem and that he'd like a solution for it. But he doesn't know if the solution is possible... yet.

This is still a tricky Level to attack because you can't assume they know ANY solutions to their problem exist. Your goal here is to simply pique the prospect's curiosity. Nudge them in your direction with a hint or a secret.

In execution, dealing with Level 2 is very similar to Level 1. The major difference is that at Level 2, the prospects have become conscious of their problem for the first time.

So for example, let's say you're selling a remedy for sore throats. In the Unaware Level, your prospect has never had a sore throat (or has had one, but it's never bothered them enough to consider relieving it). In the Problem Aware Level, your prospect has a sore throat and realizes he would love for it to go away... but doesn't know it's possible.

A Copy Code for prospects at the Problem Aware Level would prioritize the problem. Acknowledge the problem. Then show how your solution solves it. Like how Ricola did in their ad for New Max Throat Care. (Watch the ad →)

The last two Levels we'll cover are the most important to get right.

Level 3 — Solution Aware

A prospect in the Solution Aware Level is "in the market" for your solution. He knows he wants what your product/service does. And now he also knows about the possible solutions that can satisfy his desire. He's shopping. Learning. Becoming informed of you, your competitors, and your competition.

If you're crafting copy for prospects at the Solution Aware Level, you need to determine the primary emotion driving their shopping goals. How would they have to feel in order to be "in the market"? Capture that feeling and focus it on the prospect's problem. Center your Copy Code around the one singular emotion coming from the problem. Then present your product/service as the only effective remedy for that negative emotion.

For example, let's say your prospect feels stressed. (Unaware.) Then he realizes he's stressed because he's wasting too much time on unimportant tasks, and his "To-Do" list is getting overwhelming. So he decides to cut out certain low-priority activities. Maybe he believes grocery shopping is a waste of his time. (Problem Aware.)

At Level 3, he now knows there are plenty of ways to save time grocery shopping (plan ahead, pre-order pickup, hire an assistant, download a delivery app, etc.). In your Copy Code, you'd want to show him how your solution can relieve stress and make life easier. Kind of like how Instacart did in their "Parenting is Messy" ad. They simply demonstrated how to use their app and let the music speak to your emotions. (Watch the ad →)

After your prospect becomes familiar with all the available solutions, he will decide on what type of solution he prefers. Out of all the ways to relieve this stress, he might decide a grocery delivery app is the perfect solution for him. And so, he arrives at the Product Aware Level.

Level 4 — Product Aware

A prospect at this Level knows he wants the type of solution you offer. He just hasn't narrowed his decision down specifically to yours. He doesn't know your solution, and your solution alone, will satisfy his itch.

Most marketers craft their ads to Level 4. "OUR Solution is the cheapest/easiest/fastest." Most marketers tend to list features that separate their solution from competitors.

This could be risky if you're putting this kind of ad in front of prospects at a different Awareness Level. Remember, your marketing won't work if you're speaking to the wrong Awareness Level. But if you've determined that the prospects you're targeting are at the Product Aware Level, features and benefits are your friends.

Your task is to intensify the way your specific solution (and your solution alone) can satisfy his desire. Tell him how your product/service is superior to your competitor's. There are plenty of ways to demonstrate the superiority of your product — a lesson for another time. But now that you understand Market Awareness Levels, it will be much easier to know when to use different "Feature/Benefit" tactics.

How to Use Awareness Levels in Your Marketing

Here's how I've used Market Awareness for different marketing mediums.

Paid Ads

Use Awareness Levels to help you allocate your budget. Look at the creatives and copy you're buying space for. The Opening Shots/Headlines, Opening Lines/Subheadlines, and Opening Captions/Leads will tell you which Awareness Level the copywriter wrote the ad for.

Email

Use Awareness Levels to construct your Subject Lines, Preview Lines, and Leads. You're usually creating marketing material for Levels 4 & 5 here. But I always recommend having your welcome and abandoned-cart Email Automations speak to Level 2 or 3 for new customers. If you're ambitious, you can write an email campaign for Level 1. I've seen Level 1 email campaigns work really well — especially to build anticipation for a new product launch or offer.

Market Awareness also plays a part in determining the length of your marketing funnel. Generally speaking, the lower your prospect's Awareness Level, the longer your funnel will need to be. So the lower the Awareness, the more work you'll have to do to create a successful campaign.

Understanding Market Awareness will also help you know how to write your Leads. A "lead," sometimes written "lede," refers to the opening sentence or paragraph of your copy. Your lead is arguably more important than the headline. Your headline will get the prospect's attention. But your lead will determine if the prospect will read your copy or bounce. Once you get their attention, you want to hold it and compel the prospect to keep reading. That's what a good lead will do.

I've seen landing pages and emails increase conversion by over 10% just by changing the lead.

So next month, we will cover different types of "indirect" and "direct" leads. We'll use our understanding of Market Awareness Levels to tell us which type of lead will work best to get our prospect to read our copy.

In the meantime, I've created two charts to help you approach each Market Awareness Level as a marketer. You can use them as cheat sheets — one even takes "Brand Awareness" into consideration. You can have my Market Awareness Roadmaps for free.

Free Resource The Market Awareness Roadmaps — two cheat sheets for writing to each Awareness Level (one factors in Brand Awareness).
Make a Copy

Any questions? Don't hesitate to DM me if you have a copy question. Your question is likely someone else's question. So don't be shy! Or let me know what topics you'd like me to cover in the future.

Talk soon!

— Matt Bauman

Special thanks to Brandon Notheis, Ignacio Nunez, and Eddie Maalouf for making this possible.