Stage 2, where our work usually begins

Alright, back to our 5 stages of customer awareness. We’re doin’ some good ol’-fashioned marketing 101 here in the Daily. 🙂

Yesterday, we discussed the hardest stage: UNAWARE. That one isn’t for the amateur.

But, the content marketing and blogging that WE usually do typically starts at the next phase: PROBLEM AWARE.

When a person is problem aware, then they are aware of the problem. They have a need and they see it. It might not be coupled with a desire, mind you. I mean, we all have problems we know we need to solve but we don’t particularly feel like doing anything about it.

So, problem aware is that they’re aware of the problem and the need to do something about it. But, there’s no connection in their mind between your offer and that need being solved.

The fact that they’re aware of the problem makes everything easier. They can verbalize it. Which means… they can search for it. Hence, anything you write and SEO for the big-G (aka Google) can actually work because they can find it by searching for their problem.

Our job, as marketers, is to get found by these people who are searching for their problem.

This is where blogs excel. Blogs provide awesome fuel for search engines.

Videos and podcasts can work well, too.

All you’re doing is creating content designed to attract people who have the problem you solve.

“How to” content is a simple example. People go to Google and search for how to do something related to their problem. You write the content, SEO it up, etc.

The big thing to watch with your content here is your HEADLINE. The headline is what does the heavy lifting and needs to meet the person on the common ground. You can read all about headline here.

But, what about – what comes after the headline?

We call that “content”. Which I always find funny, actually. 🙂

Obviously, you give them some meat to fulfill the promise of your headline. You can do that. But…

Don’t lose sight of our big picture. The next phase up is SOLUTION AWARE.

If you just give the problem aware person content and then drop the ball, then it leads nowhere. They’ll just leave your site and you likely won’t even get a “thank you” for your efforts.

So, never just drop content on your blog and let it sit. Make the content GO somewhere.

You know you’ve got a person with a particular issue that you solve – and you know that they’re aware of that problem. The missing link is that they don’t know that there’s a solution to it that you provide. They might not even be aware of any products that solve it, much less yours.

The first step is to offer them a solution.

And most likely at this stage, they won’t be ready to buy anything.

Which is why we want to lead with further value, by offering up a lead magnet, a download, a webinar… something like that. And we do it via an OPT-IN.

We’re accomplishing 2 things here:

1. We’re getting them into our email list, which then makes further communication much easier. Obviously.
2. We’re showing that there are solutions and that you provide it. But, we’re doing it in baby steps.

Typically, this is all happening in one piece of content.

The content reaches them in the problem aware phase, then brings them to solution aware. All in the same piece.

Beyond solution aware, we have product aware. And we generally only want to do that to the right people, not everybody. So, best not to sell in your content. I don’t sell on my blog content. The only job of my blog content is to bring the person up to a solution aware stage and set it up for going past that.

Alright, so let’s summarize this thing…

Problem aware peeps are best served with keyword-driven content. Call out the problem, provide some solution, then move them onto the next step (typically a lead magnet of some kind).

Oh, I should also make clear that the keywords you focus on should be focused on problem, not the solution. That’s what they’re looking for here.

In terms of media, we’re talking blogs. This is where blogs fit in the marketing cycle. They’re freakin’ excellent at this.

Once we move into the latter stages, we’re kinda not using the blog for that. We don’t sell on the blog.

You can also use Youtube vids and other content like that to reach problem aware people. The same process applies.

For the content itself, you put out stuff which will connect to people with that problem. Could be stories, case studies, a simple “how to”, big guides, etc. Personally, I like to craft a redwood post targeted at these big problems for my market. For instance, bloggers commonly worry about how to make money and how to get traffic. I have a redwood post for that and that. 🙂

M’kay?

Cool.

Tomorrow, we talk about the next phase a bit more. Solution aware.

And, my young grasshopper, this isn’t just fun theory. The concept is simple, but it is SUPER applicable. You need to get this if you’re going to do effective marketing online. Otherwise, you’re just throwing crap on the wall to see if it sticks, with no sense of order at all.

You’ve always gotta know who you’re speaking to with your content, and where you’re taking them.

These 5 stages is a map for that.

Hasta mañana.

– David