The Levels of Market Sophistication

For every service and every product, there is a certain level of market sophistication. And despite spending money and other resources on marketing campaigns, businesses often times fail to meet their objectives SALES.

From the famous advertising and marketing book "Breakthrough Advertising" by Eugene Schwartz here are market levels of sophistication briefed with relevant examples.

1. The Pioneer Level.

Your product or service is the first of its kind on the market. And your audience never heard of it before.

“Name either the need or the claim in your headline- nothing more. Dramatize the claim in your copy- make it as powerful as possible.”

Example: Get Now. The World's First and Only [product or service name]

2. Out-doing The Competition

Now people are aware of your as well as your competitor's products. Here businesses have to make sure that they are above the competition and show it with legit claims.

"at stage two, the descriptions of your product or service are longer, the market is more sophisticated, and you need to explain more than why you’re better than the competition."

Example: It's [product name or service] 4X more effective than any other similar product in the market.

3. Showing Customers How it Works

The Audience is increasingly more aware of the claims you and your competitors make. But they don’t yet understand exactly how the whole thing works.

"if your market is at the stage where they’ve heard all the claims, in all their extremes, then mere repetition or exaggeration won’t work any longer. What this market needs now is a new mechanism – a new way to make all the claims become fresh and believable."

Example: It helps you get rid of stubborn body fat without you having to exercise or dieting, by simply boosting your body's natural metabolism rate.

4. The Cold War

The fourth level of market sophistication, is where competitors are locked in a fierce battle to capture the hearts and minds of the buying public; the ‘arms-race’ level.

"Make it easier, quicker, surer; allow it solve more of the problem; overcome old limitations; promise extra benefits. You are beginning a stage of embellishment similar to the Second Stage of Sophistication."

Example: Our [insert product/service] is half the price of [insert competitor] and twice as effective; why settle for less?

5. The Story-telling Phase

Customers out in the market are well aware of your product, your competitors, as well as the claims and tactics that you’ve employed so far; they simply won’t work for anyone at this level of market sophistication.

"The buying public will no longer be persuaded by big claims and fancy writing, but they can potentially buy into your organisation’s vision as a business. You are dealing here with the problem of bringing your prospect into your ad- not through desire, but through identification."

Example: We are on the mission to eliminate clothing waste in order to benefit people and the planet.

Wrapping Up?

Remember that different people will always sit on different levels of the market sophistication scale, and it’s essential that your organisation cover every single pillar to ensure that you’re communicating the right message to the right audience. As we move further into the 21st century, this is no-doubt becoming more difficult, but it’s also one of the basics of marketing that are often left behind in the wake of paid promotions, for example.

#copywriting #marketing #consumerbehaviour #contentmarketing #funnelmarketing #marketingstrategy ?