The Five States of Awareness: The Key to Marketing That Actually Works
Imagine you’re in a bookstore, browsing the aisles. You stumble upon a book titled The Ultimate Guide to Marathon Running. If you’re an avid runner looking for ways to improve, you might grab it instantly. But if you’ve never considered running a marathon, you’d walk right past it.
That’s the difference between knowing your audience’s awareness level and missing the mark entirely.
One of the biggest mistakes marketers make is speaking to the wrong awareness level—either selling too soon, making the wrong promise, or assuming prospects know more than they do.
Understanding your prospect’s State of Awareness is the difference between an ad that converts like crazy and one that flops.
And it all comes from a framework laid out in Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz. Let’s break it down.
What Are the Five States of Awareness?
Every potential customer falls into one of these five awareness levels. The key to successful marketing is matching your message to where they are in their journey.
1. Most Aware – “I Know Your Product, Just Give Me a Deal!”
These people already know who you are and what you sell. They just haven’t pulled the trigger yet. They might be waiting for the right deal, a limited-time offer, or some added value to justify their purchase.
💡 What They’re Asking: “Is there a discount? What’s the best deal?”
🎯 Your Marketing Focus: Offers, urgency, and bundles.
🔹 Example: “Limited-Time Offer – Buy Breakthrough Advertising Today and Get the Companion Study Guide Free!”
2. Product Aware – “I Know What You Sell, But Why Should I Buy?”
These prospects are familiar with your product but haven’t decided to buy yet. Maybe they’re comparing alternatives, or they just don’t feel the urgency.
💡 What They’re Asking: “What makes this better than other options? Why should I buy this now?”
🎯 Your Marketing Focus: Reinforce desire, remove objections, and introduce unique mechanisms.
🔹 Example: “Why Breakthrough Advertising Is Still the #1 Marketing Book 50+ Years Later.”
3. Solution Aware – “I Know There Are Solutions, But I Haven’t Chosen One.”
Here’s where things get fun. These people recognize they have a problem and are actively searching for a solution—but they don’t yet know that your product is the best one for them.
💡 What They’re Asking: “Which solution is best for me? Can I trust this?”
🎯 Your Marketing Focus: Educate, highlight unique features, and offer proof.
🔹 Example: “The Secret Behind High-Converting Copy? It’s Not What You Think…”
4. Problem Aware – “I Have a Problem, But I Don’t Know the Solution.”
These are people who know they want something better but haven’t identified what that is yet. Maybe they feel frustrated with their business growth, struggle with marketing, or know their copy isn’t converting—but they don’t know what to do about it.
💡 What They’re Asking: “Why is this happening to me? How do I fix this?”
🎯 Your Marketing Focus: Dramatize the pain, educate, and introduce a category of solutions (before pitching your product).
🔹 Example: “Why Your Marketing Isn’t Working (And How the World’s Best Copywriters Fix It).”
5. Completely Unaware – “I’m Not Even Thinking About This.”
This is the hardest group to sell to. They don’t recognize they have a problem. They aren’t searching for a solution. Your job isn’t to sell—it’s to wake them up by connecting with an emotion, belief, or frustration.
💡 What They’re Asking: “I’ve never thought about this before…”
🎯 Your Marketing Focus: Identify with their beliefs, share compelling stories, and lead them toward the problem before selling the solution.
🔹 Example: “The #1 Reason Businesses Struggle (Hint: It’s Not What You Think).”
How to Apply This to Your Marketing Today
1️⃣ Identify where your ideal customer is on this awareness scale.
2️⃣ Match your message to their awareness level. If they’re completely unaware, don’t try to sell—educate first. If they’re most aware, make them an offer.
3️⃣ Craft headlines that answer the questions they’re already asking.
Master this and you’ll never struggle with ad performance again.
Learn the Entire Framework in Breakthrough Advertising
Eugene Schwartz’s Breakthrough Advertising is the most powerful guide ever written on how to channel customer desire, craft headlines, and move people through these awareness stages effortlessly.
If you want to master this process, you have two options:
- Get a copy of Breakthrough Advertising – The original, unedited work that has influenced the greatest direct marketers of all time. Only $125 plus shipping.
- Upgrade to the Breakthrough Advertising Mastery Bundle – Includes the book plus a step-by-step study guide, exercises, video training library and full-color reproductions of every ad Gene referenced in Breakthrough Advertising. Only $199 plus shipping.
This is the lowest price available for these materials, as Titans Marketing holds the exclusive rights.
If you’re serious about understanding the psychology of marketing—and applying the States of Awareness the right way—this is where you start.
To learn even more about Breakthrough Advertising and Breakthrough Advertising Mastery visit breakthroughadvertising.com.