Mastering Content Marketing: The 5 Stages of Customer Awareness for B2B SaaS

Content marketing is a crucial strategy for B2B SaaS companies, but many struggle to create content that resonates with their target audience at different stages of the buying journey. By understanding and applying the 5 stages of customer awareness, you can develop a more effective content marketing strategy that guides prospects from initial problem awareness all the way through to purchase.

Understanding the 5 Stages of Customer Awareness

The concept of the 5 stages of customer awareness was developed by Eugene Schwartz in the 1960s. While originally applied to consumer advertising, these stages are equally relevant for B2B marketing today:

1. Unaware
2. Problem Aware
3. Solution Aware
4. Product Aware
5. Most Aware

Let's explore each stage in more detail and look at how to create content tailored for prospects at each level of awareness.

Stage 1: Unaware

At this stage, prospects don't even realize they have a problem or that there's room for improvement in their current situation. For B2B SaaS, this is a challenging stage to target, as prospects aren't actively searching for solutions.

Content strategy for Unaware prospects:

• Focus on high-level educational content
• Highlight industry trends and challenges
• Use outbound tactics to raise awareness

Example: A realtor who doesn't know they need more leads or that online marketing could help them acquire leads.

Stage 2: Problem Aware

Prospects at this stage recognize they have a problem but aren't familiar with potential solutions. They're starting to research and educate themselves.

Content strategy for Problem Aware prospects:

• Create content addressing common pain points
• Offer general advice and tips
• Focus on the problem, not your specific solution

Examples:

• Sewell: Provides contract templates and agreements
• Session Lab: Offers workshop templates
• Veed: Creates tools for common video editing tasks
• Userlist: Publishes guides on topics like user onboarding

Stage 3: Solution Aware

At this stage, prospects understand potential solutions but aren't yet familiar with specific products or brands.

Content strategy for Solution Aware prospects:

• Create comparison content (e.g. "Top 10 Email Marketing Tools")
• Develop educational content about your product category
• Monitor and engage on platforms like Reddit, Quora, and review sites

Examples:

• Userlist: "SaaS Email Marketing Strategy: Everything You Need to Know"
• Sewell: Guides prospects through understanding e-signatures to trying their product

Stage 4: Product Aware

Prospects now know about your product but are still comparing options and aren't sure if you're the best fit.

Content strategy for Product Aware prospects:

• Create "alternative to" and "versus" pages
• Develop detailed case studies
• Offer product comparisons and feature breakdowns

Examples:

• MailChimp vs Klaviyo comparison pages
• Userlist's "alternative to" pages for competitors

Stage 5: Most Aware

At this final stage, prospects are very familiar with your product and are close to making a purchase decision.

Content strategy for Most Aware prospects:

• Provide in-depth product documentation
• Offer detailed feature comparisons
• Create long-form product demos
• Develop white papers and technical content

Examples:

• Drip: Detailed feature pages
• Userlist: Comprehensive knowledge base
• HubSpot: In-depth comparison pages and case studies
• Sewell: Security and compliance information

Identifying Customer Awareness Stages

To create effective content, you need to understand which stage your prospects are in. Here are three methods for identifying customer awareness:

1. Ask directly: During sales calls, inquire about their purchase timeline, which other products they're considering, and their familiarity with solutions like yours.

2. Analyze keywords: Look at the search terms prospects use to find your content. For example:

   • Informational keywords (e.g. "what is...") indicate early stages
   • Commercial keywords (e.g. "best", "top", "review") suggest middle stages
   • Transactional keywords (e.g. "buy", "pricing") indicate late stages

3. Use SEO tools: Platforms like SEMrush and Similarweb categorize keywords by intent, helping you map them to awareness stages.

Prioritizing Content Creation

When developing your content marketing strategy, it's often best to start at the bottom of the funnel with Stage 5 (Most Aware) content and work your way up. This approach ensures you have the necessary materials to convert highly qualified leads while gradually building out content for earlier awareness stages.

Key Takeaways for B2B SaaS Content Marketing

1. Understand the 5 stages of customer awareness and how they apply to your audience.
2. Create targeted content for each stage of the buyer's journey.
3. Use a mix of content types, including blog posts, comparison pages, case studies, and product documentation.
4. Prioritize content creation starting with the bottom of the funnel (Stage 5) and work your way up.
5. Continuously analyze and refine your content strategy based on user engagement and conversion data.

By applying the 5 stages of customer awareness to your content marketing efforts, you can create more targeted, effective content that guides prospects through the entire buyer's journey. This strategic approach will help you attract more qualified leads, nurture them effectively, and ultimately drive more conversions for your B2B SaaS product.

Article created from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sxn1ji7vYzU