My previous blog post outlined the importance of knowing your target demographic and most importantly – what your customers already know about your brand.
Gene Schwartz – the copywriting legend, coined a ‘customer awareness’ chart that helps marketers determine what type of sales lead to implement, depending on where their customers fall on the graph.
Because there is no ‘blanket sales approach’ to appealing to everyone, savvy marketers can identify their main target audience and craft a laser targeted campaign to maximise conversions.
Schwartz’ simple graph looks like this:
Most Aware Product Aware Solution Aware Problem Aware Unaware
<————————————————————————————————–>
DIRECT APPROACH INDIRECT APPROACH
Let’s start with prospect that is Most Aware.
Your ‘most aware’ is your ideal customer. The most aware knows your brand very well, is likely a loyal repeat customer, and in some cases is spreading good ‘word of mouth’.
These types of brands are household names. Because the brand is well known, a marketer doesn’t need to waste energy explaining how the product or service works, or its unique selling position. People trust these brands, therefore there is no need to build rapport.
Rather, all that is left to do is strike the deal. As you can see on the graph – the most aware customer needs a direct sales approach.
LONDON – OCTOBER 9: Consumers keen to purchase the iPhone 4S camp outside the Regent Street Apple Store on October 9, 2011 in London. The iPhone 4S is released in the UK on October 14, 2011.
A typical example of brand awareness is Apple.
People have been known to line up for days at an Apple store – just so they can be the first to buy the latest iPhone or iPad. These loyal customers knew about the release of new merchandise through forums they have found themselves or other fans – without any prior advertising at all.
We all know of people who refuse to drive anything else but Toyota… or maybe BMW. Or someone who will buy almost anything that has a particular logo emblazed on it. It’s easy to understand that there is no need to bother about a heavy sales pitch.
These people have already made the decision in their head they are going to buy. All you have to do is present them with the offer.
If you are lucky enough to have cornered the market in you specific niche, then selling to this level of awareness is very easy.
If not, do not despair. Stay tuned for the following posts on where your target customer falls. So you have a better understanding on what sales angle to take.