Stage one: Targeted Awareness
Mission
Generate targeted awareness, provide education and begin a dialogue.

Mindset
At the Targeted Awareness Stage, prospects are often veiled in mystery. They may or may not know about your business. They may or may not understand your offerings. They may not even see a need for your services. Perhaps your market is maturing and you need new customers. Or your prospects may have an existing relationship with a competitor, and may see no incentive to change. In any case, you need to get on their radar screen.

Media
This is the time for broad based thinking. Your prospect base is not tightly defined yet, and you will need a wide reach in order to get through to qualified prospects.

Tactics at this stage may include direct response print advertising, online Web banner ads, awareness building events and direct mail. The tactics you employ should have a low cost per piece to efficiently expand your reach. Also keep in mind that prospects in this stage are frequently considered the most resistant to change their behavior, so keep the marketing investment towards this group conservative.

One powerful and cost-effective consideration should be Search Engine Marketing, or SEM. This is a dynamic avenue to introduce your product or service to prospects when they are entering the Acquisition Pipeline. With SEM, you can analyze the patterns people utilize to search for products by looking at the types of keywords they use. This can reveal how applicable products or product categories occupy the prospect’s frame of reference.

It is also important to understand the different ways that SEM can be used to connect prospects with different types of brands. For example, a brand that is the recognized leader in its category may be searched by brand name, flagship product or category. A lesser-known brand may be searched by general need, without a clear definition of the category. In any case, the key is to align your business with the search criteria that prospects are using.

Messaging
Motivating people at the Targeted Awareness Stage starts by generating awareness, building a need, educating the prospect, and changing perceptions. With this in mind, the messaging at this stage speaks to the basic benefits of the product or service. If a competitive claim or marketplace shift would be a prime motivator, these can help drive the messaging platform.

Messaging at this stage should also incorporate appealing “engagement triggers.” For example, you could offer prospects a value-added incentive, such as a free guide that will help them understand your category and aid in their purchase decision. But in order to receive the guide, prospects must first fill in a brief data capture page with a couple of key questions that will help qualify their interest. Optimally, the subsequent guide they receive will be tailored to reflect their responses and increase their interest level.

If your efforts are successful at end of the Targeted Awareness Stage, you will be on the radar screen. In other words, your business has now crept into the thoughts of those all-important prospects. In the next stage, we’re going to capitalize on that momentum.