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We’re called to solve all sorts of marketing problems for our clients; from excess inventory to launching new products, selling thousands of books to filling 5000 seat seminars and everything in between.

Most business owners tend to think their business and marketing problem is different. It’s not.

In fact all marketing problems can be traced back to one of five types of prospects and their awareness of your product or service.

I’ve isolated 5 distinct phases your prospect will go through as their awareness of their problem and your product increases.

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The 5 Types Of Prospect And How To Sell To Each Of Them (Pt 1)

Most business owners tend to think their business and marketing problem is different, it’s not.

In fact all marketing problems can be traced back to one of five types of prospects and their awareness of your product or service.

It stands to reason that the more your prospect knows about you and your services the more likely they are to buy from you.

All the unsuccesful businesses we’re called in to help are marketing to the wrong prospect, and by that I mean they have not understood where the prospect is in the marketplaces awareness cycle.

I’ve isolated 5 distinct phases your prospect will go through as their awareness of their problem and your product increases.

1. Your prospect knows about their problem and knows that your product can solve their problem

2. Your prospect knows about their problem but does not know that your product can solve their problem

3. Your prospect knows about their problem but does not yet know that there is a product that can solve their problem

4. Your prospect knows there is something wrong but cannot articulate what it is they do not know that your product can solve their problem

5. Your prospect does not know they have problem (how to create a new market)

The important thing to note here is that each of these stages is separated from the others by a psychological wall. On one side of that wall is indifference; on the other, intense interest. So an advert that will crush it in the first stage for example, “Lose 10lbs with slimfast” will fail completely when addressed to a third-stage market where your prospect doesn’t even realise that slimfast can be made with built-in deodorants.

And a third stage ad for example “Who else want whiter teeth with no hard work?”

Will be old-hat, no-news to todays consumer, who has been barraged by whiter-than-white toothpaste advertising for years.

To sum up, then an advert which will work to a market in one stage of awareness will not work to a market in another stage of awareness.

And importantly it will not work, even to a market in which it has been successful, once that market passes on to a new stage ot awareness.

In my next post I will start to breakdown each market phase and how to market to them online, my next post details how to sell to phase 1 prospects.

Want us to look after your online marketing for you?

Then why not check out our new “Outsourced Digital Marketing Department” service here

Neil