Prospect Awareness Scale

The Prospect Awareness Scale is a categorisation tool helpful for identifying different types of content, on-boarding assistance and engagement for different types of users, based on their awareness of a problem, potential solutions, and specific products or services.

Although initially defined for the purpose of customer segmentation for advertising, the scale is important for product management as an aid for understanding the target audience, positioning the product effectively, and collaborating with marketing and sales teams to drive adoption. For example, in the context of the REAN model, the Prospect Awareness Scale is critical for designing the right content and product features for the first two steps (reach and engage). In the context of the Bowling Alley Framework it can help define conversational and product bumpers. The scale can also be used to filter potential research subjects for problem discovery.

The scale was defined by Eugene Schwartz, in the book Breakthrough Advertising.

The Five Levels of Awareness

In the Prospect Awareness model, potential customers are organised in 5 categories based on how much they understand the problem and potential solutions:

  1. Completely Unaware: People in this category don’t realize they have a problem or a need. A good way to spot people in this category is that they usually complain about a specific pain they feel but cannot formulate a specific root cause clearly. A good strategy to engage this category of prospects is to focus on education and storytelling to capture their attention and help them relate potential issues and solutions to the pain they feel. Introduce the problem or need they haven’t considered, and engage them emotionally.
  2. Problem Aware: People in this category understand they have a specific problem, but they are not aware that someone else has already solved it, or they have not actively started to look for solutions. A good way to spot people in this category is that they are likely to ask for help with a specific issue. For engagement, emphasize the problem and its impact on the people who have it, and then point to potential solutions.
  3. Solution Aware: People in this category know the cause of their pain, and know about potential solutions, but they may not be aware of your specific product or service, and how it can help them. People in this category ask for recommendations. The best way to engage them is to explain the unique properties of your product or service. Focus on benefits and differentiation.
  4. Product Aware: People in this category know about your specific product or service, but do not understand if it’s the best choice for them or not. People in this category investigate alternatives, and they are likely to ask for comparisons or competitor analysis. The best way to engage them is to publish comparisons between your product and market leaders, but also to encourage leads with social proof, testimonials, and instructional demonstrations.
  5. Most Aware: People in this category know about your specific product and its advantages, but need additional engagement to try it or make a purchase. They might be looking for discounts, volume offers or just a better deal than what’s publicly advertised. The best way to engage them is to focus on urgency and closing a sale, and removing potential barriers to purchase.

The scale can helps in defining personas and understanding user needs, as well as guiding messaging alignment with marketing for better conversions. It is also useful when prioritising features and improvements based on the target audience.

Learn more about the Prospect Awareness Scale