Most businesses run their entire marketing operation aimed at a fraction of their potential market. They target the customers who are already aware of their product, already comparing options, and already close to buying. That is a rational choice. Those audiences convert. But they represent roughly 10% of the total buyers who will eventually purchase in any given category. The other 90% are being ignored.
At Optimum7, we’ve been targeting all five awareness levels for years, primarily through video. The strategy is built on a framework developed by copywriter Eugene Schwartz in his 1966 book Breakthrough Advertising: five distinct stages every buyer moves through before making a purchase. Understanding where your audience sits within those stages determines what message you show them, through what channel, and in what format.
In this post, we’ll break down the 5 levels of awareness and show you exactly how to optimize your marketing funnel for each one.
TL;DR: Eugene Schwartz’s 5 levels of customer awareness (Unaware, Problem Aware, Solution Aware, Product Aware, Most Aware) map every buyer’s journey before a purchase. Most businesses only market to the bottom two stages, roughly 10% of their total addressable market. This post explains what each level means, how to build content for each, and how a single video shoot can cover the entire funnel.
Why Video Is More Efficient for All Levels of Customer Awareness
Video is more engaging. Video is more entertaining.
One prime example: TikTok. People spend hours watching videos. And especially today, people don’t like to read. This generation grew up with video. If you make a video engaging and entertaining, people are far more likely to watch it than read an article or look at a static image.
During a sales cycle or marketing cycle, one of the most important things is to convey a specific message to your audience and make that message stick. Every audience at every level of awareness needs to see messaging tailored to where they are. With video, it’s far more efficient to deliver that message in the shortest amount of time possible. The average online user today has about seven seconds of attention span while browsing.
With video, that seven-second drop-off doesn’t apply the same way. Our average watch time for bottom-funnel videos, ones directly aimed at selling to an audience that already knows us, is 45 seconds. For a video explaining a specific concept that runs over five minutes, our average watch time goes to four or five minutes.
That retention is a direct result of matching the content to the awareness stage of the viewer. Show the right message to the right person at the right moment, and they watch. Show the wrong message and they scroll past in two seconds.
What Are the 5 Levels of Customer Awareness?
Let’s go deeper into the 5 customer awareness levels and what each stage means for your marketing strategy.
1. Unaware
The customer has no knowledge of your product or service and doesn’t realize they have a problem you can solve. The goal at this level is to surface the problem, not pitch the solution. Channels that reach people passively work best here: social media, YouTube pre-roll, programmatic display. The message must lead entirely with a pain point or a benefit, never with the product itself.
2. Problem Aware
The customer knows they have a problem but doesn’t yet know a solution exists. They’re Googling symptoms and asking peers. SEO-driven blog content, how-to guides, and educational video perform well because these buyers are actively searching for clarity. Your content needs to name the problem precisely and introduce the idea that a fix is possible, without naming your product yet.
3. Solution Awareness
The customer knows solutions exist but isn’t yet aware of your specific product. They’re comparing categories and reading roundups. The goal is to get your product into the consideration set. Comparison pages, “best of” lists, and category landing pages that rank organically serve this audience. You’re not selling yet. You’re establishing credibility within the solution category they’re already evaluating.
4. Product Awareness
The customer is aware of your product but hasn’t bought yet. They have objections: price, trust, fit, or competing alternatives. The goal is to remove those barriers. Case studies, customer testimonials, retargeting ads with social proof, and comparison landing pages work here. You’re not explaining what your product does. You’re proving it works for people like them.
5. Most Aware
The customer knows your product, wants it, and is ready to buy. They need a reason to act now. Close with a clear offer: a discount, limited-time deal, free shipping, or a risk-reversal guarantee. Abandoned cart sequences, SMS, and branded search campaigns belong here. The copy should be simple: state the offer, eliminate friction, give them one easy action.
Awareness Stage Strategy at a Glance
| Stage | Market Share | Best Content | Primary Channel | Copy Angle |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unaware | ~60% | Short video, social content, brand storytelling | TikTok, Instagram, YouTube pre-roll | Surface the pain. Lead with benefits, not features. |
| Problem Aware | ~20% | Blog posts, how-to guides, educational video | Organic search, YouTube search, newsletters | Name the problem precisely. Introduce the solution category. |
| Solution Aware | ~10% | Comparison guides, category pages, roundups | Organic search, G2/Capterra, podcast sponsorships | Differentiate your product. Get into the consideration set. |
| Product Aware | ~7% | Case studies, testimonials, comparison landing pages | Retargeting (Google, Meta), email nurture | Remove objections. Prove results for people like them. |
| Most Aware | ~3% | Offer pages, cart recovery, urgency emails | Email, SMS, branded search, checkout flow | Trigger the purchase. One offer, one CTA, no friction. |
Creating Videos for Customer Awareness Levels
The video production process for this doesn’t need to be complicated. Here’s exactly how we do it at Optimum7.
We create an outline before the shoot, covering exactly what we want to hit during production. That outline is built specifically to generate as much usable content as possible from a single session. During the shoot, Duran tells the video team in real time: “This is a top-funnel segment” or “This is a bottom-funnel segment,” because he already knows which awareness-level audience will respond best to each piece of content being recorded.
After the shoot, the production team has 15 to 20 minutes of footage. Our entire marketing team, from PPC specialists to SEO specialists to copywriters, now has stage-targeted assets to work from. One shoot. Every stage of the funnel covered.
The One-Shoot, Full-Funnel Video Framework
- Pre-production: Build an outline with top-funnel and bottom-funnel segments mapped out before the camera rolls.
- During the shoot: Label segments in real time. “This is Unaware stage content.” “This is Product Aware content.” Don’t leave it for post.
- Post-production: Cut stage-specific clips from the single session. A 15-minute shoot can produce 5 to 8 targeted assets.
- Distribution: SEO gets the long-form blog video. Social gets the short awareness clips. PPC gets the product-focused cuts. Each channel gets content matched to the audience it reaches.
- Repurpose the transcript: The full-session transcription becomes the blog post copy. Nothing wasted.
Targeting the Right Audience
The SEO specialist has a 15-minute video that can be published as a long-form session on the blog. The copywriters have the transcription of that video, which they review, edit, and turn into the textual content on the site.
Never Ignore the Power of Organic Shares
The short video snippets go to social channels: LinkedIn, Twitter/X, YouTube, and others. These are organically shared. Then, because of the awareness-stage framework, the Paid Search team, YouTube specialists, LinkedIn specialists, Reddit specialists, and programmatic specialists all have different video clips to target different audiences at different stages of the funnel.
One shoot. Every stage covered. That’s the leverage.
What Is the Most Difficult Part of This Strategy?
Figuring out what content belongs in each part of the funnel, and specifically, creating content for the Unaware stage.
How do you make someone care about, or even watch five seconds of, a video for a company or service they’ve never heard of? How do you get engagement from someone who doesn’t yet know they need what you’re selling?
The easy content to produce is for the audience that already knows who you are. They already know the problem they have, the solution they need, and that you can provide it. Creating for someone at the Unaware stage requires real planning. It cannot be improvised.
How Do You Slowly Move Your Audience from Unaware to Most Aware?
The whole idea of moving an audience from Unaware to Most Aware is like the movie Inception: you are planting the idea into the minds of people who haven’t yet formed it themselves.
Buyer mentality differs at every stage. For Unaware audiences, break down the messaging and focus entirely on benefits, not features.
One example: when you need a bed, do you buy a mattress or do you buy a good night’s sleep? Break down the ads from the biggest brands and you’ll see they focus entirely on the benefit, not the product specification.
For an Unaware audience, mattress content should not mention how soft the mattress is, how thick it is, or its temperature technology. None of that. The content should make the viewer question whether they’re actually getting good sleep. You lead with a stat, for example: “Did you know most adults wake up multiple times per night without realizing it?” (Use a stat you can source from a sleep research organization like the National Sleep Foundation.) You don’t pitch the mattress. You give them a new perspective on a problem they’re living with but haven’t named.
You give them one perspective. Then another. The entire content cycle at this stage is about the benefit: a good night’s sleep. You don’t start talking about the mattress, the price, or the technology until the Solution Aware stage.
This is why we have thousands of video snippets across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. When a prospect gets on a call with anyone at Optimum7, they almost always say the same thing: “We see you guys everywhere.” At that point, they’re not shopping on price. They’re not worried about reviews. They won’t consider going to a competitor. That is what a full awareness-level strategy produces: not just conversions from the bottom 3%, but dominance across the entire funnel.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the 5 levels of customer awareness?
Unaware, Problem Aware, Solution Aware, Product Aware, and Most Aware. Defined by Eugene Schwartz in Breakthrough Advertising (1966), these five stages describe every step a buyer takes from not knowing they have a problem to being ready to purchase a specific solution. Each stage requires different messaging, content formats, and distribution channels to engage effectively.
Why do most businesses only market to the most aware customers?
Because bottom-funnel marketing converts quickly and ROAS is easy to measure. Branded search, retargeting, and cart recovery all justify themselves in dashboards. The problem is that those audiences represent only about 10% of any total market. The other 90% are ignored, even though they will eventually become buyers in your category. Focusing only on bottom-of-funnel means competing in the most expensive, most crowded slice of your market while leaving most of your potential growth untouched.
How do you target unaware customers with video?
Lead with a benefit or a problem, never a product feature. Unaware audiences don’t know they need what you sell, so any product-first message gets scrolled past. Start by surfacing the problem through a statistic, a relatable scenario, or a question that creates recognition. The goal is to move them from Unaware to Problem Aware, not to sell anything in the first interaction.
How does the video production process work across awareness stages?
One comprehensive shoot, edited into multiple clips for different funnel stages. During pre-production, outline which parts of the content are top-funnel and which are bottom-funnel. During the shoot, note in real time which segments target which awareness level. In post-production, cut stage-specific clips from the single session. This gives SEO, PPC, social, and email teams their own targeted assets from one production effort.
What is the hardest part of the customer awareness strategy?
Creating content for the Unaware stage. It requires planning before the shoot, a clear understanding of the benefits your product delivers, and the discipline to build content entirely around the underlying problem without ever mentioning your solution. Most teams skip this stage because the output is harder to attribute directly to conversions. But it’s the stage that determines how expensive your bottom-of-funnel will be six months from now.
Conclusion
Understanding the five levels of awareness is the foundation of an effective marketing funnel. Most businesses focus only on Product Aware and Most Aware, and leave the majority of their potential market untouched. By building content and campaigns for all five stages, particularly through video, you can reach buyers before your competitors do, build trust before a purchase decision is made, and stop competing purely on price at the bottom of the funnel. For how this fits into a broader plan, see our guide to ecommerce marketing strategies that work across the full funnel.
The strategy only works if the content is planned against the awareness level of the audience before production begins. For Shopify brands specifically, see how Shopify case studies demonstrate awareness stage alignment with store architecture and campaigns. It cannot be improvised. The upfront planning is what separates content that moves buyers through the funnel from content that gets ignored.
If you want to build out an awareness-stage content strategy for your ecommerce brand, talk to the Optimum7 team. We’ll walk through where your current marketing sits across the five levels and identify exactly where your funnel is losing buyers it should be keeping.
About the author: Duran Inci is the Co-founder and CEO of Optimum7, a Shopify development and ecommerce growth agency. He has 20+ years of experience helping DTC and B2B brands scale through conversion-focused development and digital strategy.
