Can Your Prospects Take An Oath?

One thing in copywriting that I often see as a problem is the fact that the audience is not targeted for the offer. An untargeted, unqualified prospect won’t buy, no matter how good the copy is. (Or at the very least, they will ask for a refund once they smell the coffee.)

But that’s not the topic I want to discuss.

It’s the second biggest copywriting problem. And that is, the copy doesn’t speak to the customer at the stage of awareness at which they happen to be. This is pivotal to ensure that the copy is long enough, or strong enough, to qualify, educate and sell the prospect.

What are these “stages of awareness?” There are four.

I’ve used these before I ever learned about their existence. (Mostly unconsciously through researching a target market while writing copy.) For example, I know that Eugene Schwartz talks about this at great length in his amazing book, “Breakthrough Advertising.”

But I prefer to use my own version of these stages, and an acronym so it is easier to remember and follow.

I call it “OATH.” As in, “Is your prospect ready to take an oath?”

Here’s what I mean.

You see, depending one where your reader is at, the level of education, credentialization and agitation you need to do (and the length of copy you need to write, to a certain extent) depends very highly on how knowledgeable and aware your market is.

Maybe they’re hurting right now. Or maybe they’re not there yet. “Not there yet” means not only how much are they hurting but also how much do they KNOW they are hurting.

That’s what their awareness level of the problem means. And it’s also how educated they are about the solution — let alone your solution.

Granted, this is answered to some degree by how targeted your audience is. The first problem I mentioned earlier. But the copy should flow from, and follow with, that stage of awareness in order to bring them to a successful outcome.

I like to look at it this way…

To me, if they’re ready to take an oath, meaning they’re ready to buy, is based on any one of those 4 stages. Here’s what “OATH” means…

O - They’re oblivious.

They’re unaware about the problem let alone a need for a solution. They don’t know they’re hurting or could be hurting (i.e., that there’s a potential problem they don’t know about and should prevent with your solution).

So in this case, you need to educate them a lot — educate them about the problem or potential problem. You need to bring it to the top of their minds. If you hit them too hard and too fast with the solution and particularly the benefits of the solution, without knowing they have a problem in the first place, you’re going to confuse the heck out of them.

Often, this is what happens with copy that’s too short or too presumptive. Do they really know they’re hurting? Even if they simply have an unmet desire for something (and not really a problem), they’re still hurting at some other level.

As my friend and copywriter Craig Perrine once said, “An unmet desire is also a problem to be solved.”

A - They’re apathetic.

They know they have a problem, but they’re indifferent about the solution. Any solution. They simply don’t care for whatever reason. Perhaps the problem is not important enough in their minds. Perhaps the problem is not urgent enough. Perhaps they’re not hurting enough.

So you need to blow up the problem (or the risk of the potential problem, which is a problem in itself). You need to aggravate it. Make it more real, more present, more urgent, more vivid.

You need to make them feel the consequences of their inactions. Because, you see, good copy doesn’t really induce action. Good copy, in reality, is meant to prevent procrastination — the biggest killer of sales!

And this is even more true with the subsequent stages of awareness, since the more aware they are and the less they act, then the more it’s about procrastination than it is about the lack of desire.

T - They’re thinking.

They know they have a problem and that there is a solution, but they don’t know about your solution. They’re shopping around, they’re considering other offers or they’re just thinking about whether they should be doing something about their problem in the first place.

So at this stage, you don’t need to sell them too much on the problem or the solution. But you need to sell them on YOUR solution.

What is it? Why is it a good solution? Why is it important to them? What makes it so unique, different, valuable? What makes your offer so compelling above over all other choices, including unrelated ones?

With the latter, I mean indirect competitors. For example, an indirect competitor may be a totally different solution — a totally different product or service — that soothes the same pain.

So you need to build value in your solution, too.

H - They’re hurting.

They’re desparate! They know they have a problem and how bad it is, and they even know about your specific solution. But they haven’t gone ahead for whatever reason.

Perhaps they don’t know how to go ahead, why they should go ahead or why they should go ahead now. Perhaps they’ve used other solutions unsuccessfully in the past and are afraid. Their inaction, in this case, is because they’ve seen other offers or been burnt by other, substandard solutions.

Think of it this way: if they’re desperate, then they’re already 60-90% sold. So why haven’t they bought yet? What do they need to get over the remaining “hump?” What’s stopping them from going ahead? What objections do they have left or what questions remain to be answered?

So here, you need to increase proof, urgency and the value of your specific solution. No need for a lot of education here. Just sell them on reasons why and getting your solution now. Build perceived value, proof and scarcity.

At this stage, procrastination (more often than not, based on fear) is the culprit. You need to allay that fear. And to do so, you really need to look at your copy and your offer; to understand your customer at a deeper, more intimate level; and to learn why they haven’t gone ahead yet or what they need to go ahead. (And finally, to give it to them.)

In a nutshell, that’s my OATH formula.

So bottom line, your audience may be more in the oblivious stage, the apathetic stage, the thinking stage or the hurting stage.

This will tell you a lot about not only how much information you need to gather and provide, but what kind of information, and what kind of offer, that will stimulate them and transition them into buying your solution.

And remember, it all starts with knowing your audience and helping them to buy, more than it is about knowing your product and selling it.

About the Author

Michel Fortin is a direct response copywriter, author, speaker, consultant, and CEO of The Success Doctor, Inc. Visit his blog and signup free to get tested conversion strategies and response-boosting tips by email, along with blog updates, news, and more! Go now to http://www.michelfortin.com.

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Posted by Michel Fortin on March 24th, 2005. Filed in Articles, Copywriting, Selling. Tagged as advertising, apathetic, awareness, Copywriting, empathy, eugene schwartz, formula, hurting, market, oblivious, solution, thinking. Follow responses through the RSS feed. Leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

12 Replies to “Can Your Prospects Take An Oath?”

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From Michael Madden

This statement you made, Mike, is a bit confusing; “And that is, the copy doesn’t speak to the customer at the stage of awareness at which they happen to be”.

I can only speak from observation of my prospects over the past few years, and it’s safe to say their stage of awareness covers every phase you identified….since their thinking isn’t monolithic.

Let me explain. I give a free radio report out as a lead capture for people looking to break into broadcasting. They come from all walks of life and for every reason imaginable(usually their desire for fame/recognition/feeling important,)

How do you write to prospects whose collective awarness stages aren’t monolithic?
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Author's Website March 25th, 2005
From Michel Fortin

I would target either the greatest (predominant) stage, divide your message into several messages for each one, or cater to the lowest common denominator.

Let me explain.

I said at the very beginning that the bigger problem is lack of targeting. If your audience is not targeted from the get-go, then you’re going to have a wide range of awareness stages to cater to — wich might dilute your sales message, and hence your sales.

I suggest you either target on a smaller niche, and create other sales messages for others. Or, worst case, cater to the lowest common denominator — that is, the earliest stage (and present opportunities for people to skip sections where the education is unwarranted). This is done through jump links or putting the “edcuation” in Johnson Boxes, so it is apparent and easy to skip.

This is a last resort. At least for me.

But the j-box can have a headline that says “what is” and makes it visibly apparent that you’re educating those in the earlier stages. “So what exactly is aromatherapy?” Etc, etc.
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Author's Website March 25th, 2005
From Dorian Greer

Hi Michel,

Just a quick technical question about process: How can you determine (in advance) the stage of your prospect’s mind-set “before” advertising to them?

I think Madden’s question was leaning towards this, but your answer assumed you (he) already knew the stage (stage O, stage A, etc.).

As opposed to Schwartz’s method, the stage was according to the level of entry into the market by the “product”. For instance, is this a completely new product that NOBODY has ever seen vs. a fully entrenched one. BIG difference between Schwartz’s stages (product centric), and yours (prospect centric).

I also notice that the way you write is typically so compelling that the “stage” of the prospect’s awareness just doesn’t seem to matter that much.

(Your article, “How to Craft Cash-Creating Climactic Copy” is just one of many examples.)

Are these stages just therefore a “refinement” to copy, or is a specific copy targeted to a specific stage? This is what had me scratching my head.

Aren’t you happy you brought this up?
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Author's Website March 27th, 2005
From Michel Fortin

I think refinement to copy may be more the case, because when in doubt, I usually cater to the lowest common denominator.

But often, it’s blaringly obvious, even before copy is written and especially if the stage is clearly defined and denominated, such as when the target market is within a highly targeted, highly specific niche.

Take the copy I wrote for Frank Kern’s Underachiever System for example.

Internet marketers who hit that site were brought there through affiliate promotions. They already know about Internet marketing 101. They already know or probably have been burnt by other, or have bought every other, Internet marketing “how-to” course. And most important, they want to make money.

So they’re predominantly — yes, predominantly, not monolithically — in the thinking stage. They’re a little more aware than you’re typical newbie who never heard of Internet marketing before.

The tighter the niche, the more targeted and stage-specific your copy should be. An example is a topic brought about on my forum at copywriters forum. A poster asked a critique of his website, which sells a healthcare-related prep exam ebook. The audience consists of uncertifierd hospital coders, and other non-CCS healthcare workers seeking their CSS credit.

According to the original poster, “These are the folks who assign your ICD-9-CM codes when you visit the hospital for service. These codes then factor into a DRG — which is what most payers base their reimbursement on.”

Now, I have absolutely no clue as to what this is or means. I’m not only oblivious, but I’m far from being a target.

But in this case, the audience knows CSS, knows coding, is studying to pass the certification exam, and knows that it’s hard to pass it the first time. The ebook is specifically geared to help them pass it, and pass it the first time.

The original copy was appealing to the earlier stages. When I told him the copy should aim the later stages, like thinking or hurting.

So this is, I guess, refinement to a degree. But it’s highly specific. And if I were to write the copy from scratch, I would know that to a large extent.
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Author's Website March 27th, 2005
From William

Michael,
Good Question and one that seems to be making the rounds these days. I say go with your gut and do what you already would like to do (I will assume) which is to blog your newsletter. And why are you asking the question? Are you A/B testing us? or do you have qualms leaving the luddites behind?

James Maduk would say don’t even think about it but go with the RSS tidal wave. I’ve taken Mike Mugrabi’s lead and run with it and here’s why. Mark Joyner is cashing in on the question: When do you stop A/B testing and commit?

You can always hire a machine or another consultant to take the blame or the credit. The consultant machine sez that the “Rich” guys have a plan but trust their gut. And get this…Bottom line, you don’t have to “either/or”, you can “both/and” which has it’s own special attraction.

Remember, You’re Michael Fortin and You can
do whatever you want which has historically been leavened by your compassion for the great unwashed. Now you may be wondering
“who was that masked flip-flop and why is he posting here?” Have a great day.
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Author's Website March 28th, 2005
From Eileen Coale

Is there any point at all to targeting the copy for those in the Oblivious stage? It seems to me it’s going to be a much harder sell than it is if the copy jumps in at the Apathetic stage or later. If it’s web copy, the Oblivious aren’t even searching for anything. I can’t think of any copy I’ve ever written that had to address Oblivous readers. Any virtuoso copywriters out there who could hazard a guess as to how often that might be the case, or give some concrete examples?
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Author's Website March 30th, 2005
From Michel Fortin

Eileen, you’re right. As I said, if you target your audience, more often they’re past the oblivious stage — especially online, where people actually seek you out using keywords and phrases. It’s likely they’re knowledgeable of the problem to a certain degree.

But it does happen. It depends on the product. And it depends on how knowledgeable they are of the ‘real’ problem. Sometimes, it’s readily apparent. Other times, it’s not.

For example, one critique I did was for someone who wrote an ebook for insomniacs, and how to get more sleep. Often, and my assumption is, people don’t know they’re insomniacs, or they’re oblivious to the fact that insomnia is not really the problem — not only the root problem but also the problem(s) it causes/creates.

Or look at it this way: they are stressed out, burnt out or lacking focus/energy. When they stumble onto your product, they’re oblivious to the fact that insomnia may be the problem — or that insomnia is the problem in the first place.

In fact, they may think they sleep at night. But insomnia is also people who sleep lightly — they are in alpha or theta sleep stages.

(They wake up numerous times throughout the night, toss and turn, wake up at the slightest sound or movement in the room, etc. I had this problem, so I know. A person getting 5 hours of deep sleep gets more sleep than a person in light sleep, sleeping 10-12 hours!)

Anyhow…

That’s just one example. Another is the preventative field, like insurance or medicine. Or an even better example, take a look at the “death” market: pre-written eulogies, casket sales, pre-arranged funerals, etc. I’ve done work for those, and the marketplace is pretty oblivious. Like insurance, it’s the preventative market — people don’t really know they need/want a preventative solution.

Granted, if you’re online, people seek you out and thus the last example is a little misleading, for they are in the market for, say, a pre-arranged funeral service. They’re thinking or, at worst, apathetic.

But do they really know all the problems associated with NOT having a pre-arranged funeral service? And what about an audience who found you indirectly? Say, people who sought life insurance and, under that keyword, found your pre-arranged funeral service? Etc.

(By the way, I wrote copy for someone who sold an ebook on how to avoid the pitfalls of buying a casket, of all things! That was a hard sell. And it required quite a bit of education. A lot of people were not only oblivious to the need for a casket but also to the fact that there are fraudsters in this business who fleece unsuspecting casket consumers.)

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Author's Website March 30th, 2005
From Eileen

Thanks, Michel. That makes more sense now, especially as regards one of my areas of interest, the alternative health market. An individual, for instance, may not even recognize that low energy, or moodiness, or whatever, is not normal; they figure it’s because they’re 52, or extra busy, or whatever. You have to somehow get them to recognize first that they can and should feel well and healthy, and second, that the underlying cause (not enough dietary phytochemicals, or Co-Q-10, or seratonin, or whatever), can be addressed with a particular supplement or whatever.
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Author's Website March 31st, 2005
From Michel Fortin

Exactly!
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Author's Website March 31st, 2005
From Ken

Hi Michel,

A few months ago you wrote that you were having (or had recently had) some unpleasant experiences with clients (payment problems, unreasonable demands, etc.).

Would it be possible for you to tell us what you learned from these experiences: i.e. how copywriters can avoid (or minimize the risk of experiencing) these problems.

Thank you, Michel.
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Author's Website May 4th, 2005
From Michel Fortin

There’s quite a huge thread about this on my forum. With links to several threads, posts and articles I wrote that specifically deal with this issue in great detail.

http://copywritersboard.com/viewtopic.php?p=6469#6469

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Author's Website May 4th, 2005

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