Awareness: Why Rushing Campaigns Can Actually Hurt Your Sales

OR: I just met you and I'm not ready to commit

Companies often bypass understanding buyer awareness in favor of strategies that aim for immediate visibility or sales, underestimating the journey a customer goes through from being unaware to making a purchase.?

Instead of tailoring their messaging and tactics to meet potential customers at each specific stage of their awareness, companies often end up with:

Broad-Stroke Campaigns: Launch wide-reaching campaigns that focus on the product's features and availability, assuming that exposure alone will drive conversions.

Aggressive Selling: Employ hard-sell tactics early on, pushing for a sale before the customer recognizes a need or understands the product's value, which can lead to resistance or disinterest.

Overemphasis on Product: Concentrate heavily on showcasing the product or service itself, neglecting to address the underlying problems or needs that the product solves for the customer.

Overreliance on Promotions: Use discounts and promotions as a primary tool to incentivize immediate purchases, potentially devaluing the product and attracting price-sensitive buyers rather than building long-term customer relationships.

Ignoring Customer Education: Skip over the stages that involve educating the customer about their problem and how various solutions (including the company’s offering) can address it, assuming that the customer is already informed and ready to buy.

One-Size-Fits-All Content: Produce generic content that doesn’t account for the varied informational needs and emotional states of customers at different awareness levels, leading to less engagement.

A Typical Convo w a CEO (Snippet from an article on the 5 Stages of Awareness)

Here’s an amalgamation of many (not all) of the conversations I've had over many years.

Let me know if this sounds familiar (I’m replacing a medical device with a heater and other metaphors to protect confidentiality).?

CEO: "Look, let's just get to the point. We need an awareness campaign, an awesome ad. Just create a cool ad and when they see how awesome it is, bam, they buy. Why are we overcomplicating this??

Oh, and I’m data driven.?

Did I mention this is going to be an easy sale??

They just don’t know we exist" (lol)

FCMO (me): "It's not quite that straightforward. It's like if someone’s never felt cold, you can’t start by selling them a heater.?

First, you need to help them recognize the chill."

CEO: "But our heater is the best! Once they know about it, why wouldn’t they buy it?"

FCMO: "Because they don't know they're cold yet. Or if they are chilly, they may not know that they have a real, bigger problem. We need to start by gently pointing out the winter setting in, the slight discomfort they might not have noticed. It’s about awakening a realization of their need."

CEO: "Seems roundabout. Can’t we just turn up the heat and show them what they’re missing?"

FCMO: "If they're not feeling cold yet, turning up the heat will just make them uncomfortable. It’s about timing. First, help them feel the chill, then introduce the concept of warmth, and finally, show them our heater as the best solution. Let’s be there when they’re ready to buy."

(I explore more about this conversation in this article on the 5 stages of awareness).?

Let's take it a step further and explore a scenario with a fictional company, "StreamLine Fitness," which has developed an innovative home workout system that integrates virtual reality (VR) technology for an immersive exercise experience. StreamLine's leadership is eager to penetrate the market and see quick sales, pushing for a direct, broad-stroke marketing strategy.

Scenario: StreamLine Fitness's Rushed Campaign

Company: StreamLine Fitness

Product: A VR home workout system

Leadership Goal: Achieve immediate sales by making potential customers aware of the product.

The Approach

Leadership decides to bypass the nuanced approach of addressing different stages of awareness, opting instead for a widespread campaign that simply announces the product's availability. They invest heavily in a blanket advertising strategy across social media, search engines, and television, focusing solely on the product's innovative features.

Hypothetical Execution and Outcome

• Campaign Message: "Get Fit with StreamLine: The Future of Home Workouts Is Here. Available Now."
• Channels: High-traffic social media platforms, prime-time TV slots, and top positions in search engine results.
• Assumption: Once potential buyers learn about this cutting-edge product, they will be motivated to make a purchase.

Reality Check

• Unaware Segment: People who aren't actively looking to change their fitness routine see the ads but don't engage. The message doesn't resonate because they haven't recognized a need for a new fitness solution.
• Problem-Aware Segment: Individuals who are dissatisfied with their current fitness options are slightly more interested but still need to understand how VR technology can address their specific frustrations. The ads don't provide this context.
• Solution-Aware Segment: Those researching home workout solutions notice the ads but are left with questions about how StreamLine's system compares to non-VR options they're also considering. The campaign's focus on availability rather than addressing specific needs or differentiators leaves them unconvinced.
• Product- and Most-Aware Segments: A small fraction of viewers who are already considering or ready to purchase a VR workout system respond more positively, but even they might seek more detailed information than the campaign provides, such as user testimonials or comparative benefits over traditional workout systems.

Reflection

After seeing less-than-expected engagement and conversion rates, StreamLine Fitness's leadership team reevaluates their strategy. They recognize that their one-size-fits-all message failed to connect with potential customers at various stages of awareness and emotional readiness.

Learning Outcome

StreamLine Fitness learns that understanding and addressing the customer journey is crucial. Moving forward, they decide to segment their market more carefully and tailor their messaging to meet potential customers where they are in their decision-making process.?

This includes creating content that educates the unaware about the benefits of VR in fitness, helps the problem-aware understand how VR solves their exercise dilemmas, and provides detailed product comparisons and testimonials for those further along in their journey.

Next Steps

This hypothetical scenario underscores the risk of overlooking the stages of awareness in marketing strategy. StreamLine Fitness's initial approach, driven by a desire for quick results, failed to engage the majority of their potential market. By recognizing the importance of a nuanced, stage-aware strategy, they set a new course for more effective engagement and conversion in the future.

Read more detail and learn what you can do to address each of the 5 stages of awareness in this article.

As always, stay safe and save yourself.

— B

Fractional CMO

PS: Need help growing? Check out my digital marketing agency.