Marketing Lessons Older Than AI, eight lessons from marketers who figured this out long before AI, and how I use each one in my business now.
Have you ever sent one email to your whole list and gotten a sale from one person and an unsubscribe from the next? It's frustrating, because you probably wrote a good email. It just didn't fit where both of those people were.
Eugene Schwartz figured this out 60 years ago, and his idea is one I use every time I run a promotion.
How old is this lesson?
It's 60 years old. Schwartz published Breakthrough Advertising in 1966, and copywriters still pass it around today. Original copies have sold for a lot of money over the years because it was out of print for so long.
Schwartz wrote mail order copy for decades, but he had a whole second life outside of advertising. He and his wife Barbara were serious collectors of modern art, and he was known in the art world as much as he was in marketing.
The idea from his book that I use the most is his five levels of awareness. He said the job of your copy depends on how much your reader already knows before they start reading.
The five levels, in plain words
Here's how I explain them to my members, from the people closest to buying down to the people furthest away.
- Most aware. They know your product and they want it. They just need the price and the link.
- Product aware. They know what you sell but they aren't sure it's right for them yet.
- Solution aware. They know the kind of thing that would help, but they don't know about your version of it.
- Problem aware. They know something's wrong, but they don't know there's a fix.
- Unaware. They don't see a problem yet at all.
The mistake most of us make is writing every email for one level and sending it to everybody. If you write for the most aware people, everyone else gets a price and a deadline for something they don't understand yet. If you write for the unaware people, your buyers have to read three paragraphs before they get to the link they were looking for.
The more your reader already knows, the less you have to say.
The idea behind Breakthrough Advertising, 1966How I use it in my business
At the end of October I ran a $597 lifetime offer for Newsletter Profit Club, my program for creators who want their newsletter to make money. On the last day, I didn't send one email to everybody. I sent different emails to different groups based on how much they already knew.
People who clicked the sales page
These people were product aware. They'd already looked at the program, so their email just said they'd looked at Newsletter Profit Club that week and I wanted to make sure they knew the price was going up.
People who registered for the summit
They'd spent the week at the AI Newsletter Summit with me, so they knew what I teach. Their email told them the lifetime price and the bonus vault that came with it that day.
People who didn't register
These folks hadn't heard much from me that week, so they got a story email called "I thought it was just me" about why my own newsletter wasn't making money for years.
Current members
Members already knew the program inside and out. They got their own email with a member code that took lifetime down to $497.
That's four emails for one offer on one day, and it sounds like a lot of work. But each email was shorter because I didn't have to explain things people already knew, and nobody got an email that felt like it was written for somebody else.
Awareness levels matter most in the Nurture stage of the Creator Growth Flywheel, which is where you move people from just hearing about you to being ready to buy. Your emails do most of that work.
How to use it this week
You don't need four segments to start. Two is plenty for your next offer.
First, split your list into people who have looked at your offer and people who haven't. Most email tools can tag people who click a link, so anyone who clicked your sales page link goes in the first group.
Then write a short email for the clickers that gets to the price and the link fast. Write a longer email for everyone else that starts with the problem your offer solves, so they understand why it matters before you ask them to buy.
Once you're comfortable with two groups, add your current customers as a third. They should almost always get their own email, because pitching a program to someone who already bought it is a quick way to annoy them.
Mistakes I see creators make with this
- Pitching your buyers again. Sending a full sales email to people who already bought makes them feel like you don't know who they are. Exclude buyers from your promo emails, or send them something written just for them.
- Explaining too much to people who are ready. When someone already clicked your sales page, three paragraphs of backstory just get in the way. Give them the price, what's included and the link.
- Skipping the problem for cold readers. People who just found you need to understand the problem before your offer makes sense. Start with what they're struggling with, and then show them how you help.
Why this feels harder than it is
It feels like more work because you're writing more emails. But you're writing less in each one, and AI is really good at taking one email and rewriting it for a different level of awareness if you tell it who it's for.
What I tell my members is to write the longest version first, the one for people who don't know you yet. Then cut it down for the people who are closer to buying. That way you're trimming instead of starting over every time.
What Schwartz would tell you about AI
He'd probably say AI is a great tool for writing to each level, as long as you're the one who decides which level each person is at. AI doesn't know who clicked your sales page last Tuesday, but your email tool does.
So use your tags to sort people and use AI to help write for each group. That's how a 60-year-old idea fits into a business that runs on automation now.
Keep reading the series.
This post is one of eight. Start with the full series overview, or jump to another lesson:
- Claude Hopkins: test everything and let the numbers decide
- David Ogilvy: the headline does most of the work
- Theodore Levitt: people buy the result, the product is how they get it
- Robert Cialdini: give first and people want to give back
- Ries and Trout: own one clear spot in your buyer's head
- John Caples: story headlines that make people want to read on
- Gary Halbert: find a starving crowd before you pick an offer
See which stage of your flywheel needs the most attention
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Take the free scorecard →Frequently asked.
What are Eugene Schwartz's five levels of awareness?
They're most aware, product aware, solution aware, problem aware and unaware. Each level describes how much a reader already knows about their problem and your product, and Schwartz said your copy should change depending on which level they're at.
Where do the levels of awareness come from?
They come from Eugene Schwartz's book Breakthrough Advertising, published in 1966. It's still one of the most recommended books for copywriters.
How do I use awareness levels in email marketing?
Tag people based on what they've done, like clicking your sales page or buying before. Then send shorter, price-first emails to people who already know your offer and longer, problem-first emails to people who don't.
Do I need a big list to segment by awareness?
No. Even with a small list you can split people into those who clicked your offer link and those who didn't, and send each group a different email.
Dr. Destini Copp helps digital product creators build sustainable, systems-based businesses through the Creator Growth Flywheel framework. She's the founder of Creator's MBA and HobbyScool, and has been teaching online business strategy for over a decade. Learn more →
