Your business provides solutions to a problem your prospects share. But are your prospects aware of their problem? This is step zero on the awareness ladder.
What makes Your Prospects Aware of their Problem?
If you refer to my post about the awareness ladder, you will see step 1 is where the customer knows they have a problem but don’t know if there are solutions.
So, let’s think about weight. I was once overweight. Indeed, I was surprised to discover the medical profession categorised me as obese. I had a mental image of obesity and I was not by that standard obese.
I sort of knew I was overweight and I was aware of lack of fitness and that I was generally not healthy. But none of this was enough to lead me to seek a solution at step 1 of the awareness ladder. Most of the time, apart from a few crises, I didn’t think about my weight.
So, consider some of your prospects will have some awareness of their problem but they are not actively seeking a solution. This could be because they know they have a problem but they simply don’t rate it as important.
Contrast that with someone who has a cancerous tumour. They may be unaware they have the problem. There may be certain signs that should lead them to seek help but they are not aware of their tumour and so not likely ask for the tests that are available.
It is similar for website issues. Some website owners know there is a problem but are not seeking solutions. They know they exist but the problem is not so pressing that they need to do the research.
Other website owners may not be aware of what their website should be doing. Consequently, they’re not seeking a solution because they’ve never thought their site could do more.
We can see there are at least two types of problem unawareness: deliberate and unconscious.
How Do You Increase Awareness of the Problem?
I have offered a couple of examples of problems that are real although people are not always aware of them. They may be aware of a few symptoms but they are not themselves pressing and so they ignore them. Or perhaps they are simply unaware the problem exists at all.
The obvious solution is education. It is a major issue in health services. The health issues associated with overweight are well-known but there are many people who do not believe they are so overweight they need to take action.
They need to understand what is overweight and the likely outcomes of ignoring the issue.
Now I’m someone who is generally aware of health issues and yet for many years I did not know my weight was a problem. It was only when my doctor diagnosed Type II diabetes, I became aware of my problem and started to seek solutions. It was actually the diagnosis that led me to taking the problem seriously.
These days I see people every day who are overweight and yet many people are like I was, unaware they have a problem. They could all wait until they get an adverse diagnosis. But perhaps it would be better for them and the health services if they could learn about weight and its effects.
This educational challenge is a marketing and sales challenge. You are trying to persuade people to change their behaviour.
The challenge is the same in all areas. A website that does not do anything is a problem. Granted, it may not be a pressing problem. Many organisations get by with a rubbish website but my guess is it’s usually a sign of more deep-seated organisational issues. Are they selling? If they’re doing very well by other means, the website issues may not seem important.
But how can an organisation find out what potential it has to improve its marketing and sales? Many people simply do not know what options are available. Online technologies have improved significantly in recent years, so fast that most people are not aware of what is within their reach.
Marketing is education.
Through learning, people take part in the market and in society. Note education does not necessarily lead to sales. It may help someone move from not knowing they have a problem to acknowledging their problem but they still need to decide they’re going to tackle the problem and find the right solution.
If you educate your audience and offer your solution, some people will walk away and find an alternative and that’s fine. Businesses need to understand one purpose of their marketing is their contribution to the community. If an organisation learns about marketing from me and puts what they learn into practice, it is a part of the contribution I make to the community.
Those marketing support for people who need to lose weight are presumably delighted for those who lose weight, following their marketing but through alternative devices.
How do you educate your prospects?