--- name: stelow-product-ads description: Advertising strategies for online placement based on the Transtheoretical Model of Change. Covers the 5 stages of audience awareness and ad categories for each stage. metadata: frequency: rare category: product context-cost: low author: calionauta author-url: https://github.com/calionauta disable-model-invocation: true --- # Communication: Ads for Online Placement The solution's audience can be in 5 stages according to the **Transtheoretical Model of Change**: ## 5 Stages **1. Pre-contemplation (Ignorance)**: people who are not yet aware of the problem or that their life can be better. - *Focus*: raise awareness about the problem and its impacts, showing how life can be better if the problem is solved - *Communication*: highlight the benefits of a life without the problem, without directly mentioning the solution. Use stories, examples, and testimonials to generate identification and awaken interest. - *Calls to action*: engage with your brand (like, comment, download free material, follow on social media, subscribe to receive news) to nurture the relationship and increase awareness about the problem **2. Contemplation (Awareness)**: people who are aware of the problem and its urgencies, but haven't yet decided to seek a solution or don't know that one is available. - *Focus*: present your solution as an answer to the audience's urgencies, showing how it can solve the problem and improve people's lives - *Communication*: explain the benefits of your solution clearly and concisely, using testimonials, case studies, and demonstrations to prove its effectiveness - *Calls to action*: invite the audience to learn more about the solution, offering access to informative content, webinars, free demonstrations, or initial consultations **3. Preparation**: people who have already decided to seek a solution and are preparing to act. - *Focus*: help the audience prepare for change, providing detailed information, clarifying doubts, and assisting in planning next steps - *Communication*: offer educational content, step-by-step guides, planning tools, benefit calculators, and testimonials from customers who have successfully gone through the preparation phase - *Calls to action*: encourage the next step — schedule a consultation, request a quote, or enroll in a coaching program **4. Action**: people who are implementing the change and using your solution. - *Focus*: offer support and encouragement so the audience stays motivated and overcomes change challenges - *Communication*: maintain regular contact with customers, offering tips, reminders, additional resources, and personalized follow-up. Create an environment of support and celebration of achievements. - *Calls to action*: encourage continuing to use the solution, share progress, and provide feedback on the experience **5. Maintenance**: people who have already adopted the solution and seek to maintain results and continue evolving. - *Focus*: retain customers, offering continuous support, relevant content, and improvement opportunities - *Communication*: maintain regular contact through email marketing, newsletters, social media, and exclusive events. Offer loyalty programs, solution updates, and educational content to keep them engaged. - *Calls to action*: encourage sharing experiences, providing feedback, participating in online communities, and referring your solution to other people --- ## Ad Categories by Stage ### Pre-Contemplation Phase - **Curiosity and Intrigue**: awaken curiosity with instigating questions, impactful phrases, and surprising information - **Impactful Images**: visually striking images that represent the problem or the negative impact - **Myths and Truths**: debunk mistaken beliefs about the problem - **Provocations and Questions**: challenge the audience with questions that lead them to reflect on their behaviors - **Future Scenarios**: present a positive future scenario vs. negative (if it persists) - **Comic Exaggeration**: use humor and exaggeration to make the problem lighter and more memorable ### Contemplation Phase - **Comparison and Solution**: show how your solution stands out from alternatives - **Detailed Explanations**: provide clear information about the problem and how your solution solves it - **Practical Demonstrations**: show the solution in action through videos, tutorials, success cases - **Creative Analogies**: use unexpected analogies and metaphors to explain the problem and solution - **Unexpected Benefits**: highlight the surprising and unexpected benefits your solution offers - **Dilemmas**: present common dilemmas the audience faces, showing that you understand their difficulties ### Preparation Phase - **Guides and Tutorials (How-To)**: offer practical content with step-by-step instructions - **Expert Interviews**: present interviews with experts who address the problem, the solution, and the benefits - **Tools and Resources**: offer free tools, resources, and materials (spreadsheets, checklists, templates, ebooks) - **Interactive Quizzes and Tests**: create quizzes that help the audience evaluate their situation ### Action Phase - **Irresistible Offers**: create special offers with mental triggers of urgency and scarcity - **Stories and Testimonials**: show success stories of people who used the solution - **Mental Triggers**: reciprocity, social proof, authority, scarcity, urgency, and novelty - **Clear and Objective Calls to Action**: use clear, objective, and persuasive CTAs ### Maintenance Phase - **Exclusive Content**: offer exclusive content for customers (webinars, ebooks, VIP groups, online courses) - **Support and Community**: create efficient communication channels and encourage interaction - **Loyalty Programs**: implement programs with exclusive benefits for recurring customers - **Challenges and Contests**: promote challenges that motivate customers to continue using the solution - **Inspiring Customer Stories**: share stories of customers who overcame challenges and achieved significant results - **User-Generated Content**: encourage customers to create and share content related to the solution ## Examples ### Example: launch ads for a new B2B scheduling tool **Input:** "We launch next month. Where should we advertise?" **Steps:** 1. Classify audience awareness (likely stage 1-2: unaware of the problem). 2. Pick stage-matched categories (problem-agitation + category-creation, not feature-comparison). 3. Propose 2-3 channels per category with a test budget split. **Output:** Channel plan mapped to awareness stages, with kill criteria per channel. ## Edge Cases ### Audience spans multiple stages - Segment creative by stage; never run stage-1 and stage-4 copy in the same ad set. ### No budget for testing - Say so explicitly; recommend one organic channel instead of thin-paid spread. ### Regulated domain (finance, health) - Flag claim restrictions before proposing any copy. ## Entry (mode detection) When this skill loads, check for the stelow workflow marker: ```bash if [ -n "$STELOW_WORKFLOW" ] && [ -n "$STELOW_STATE" ]; then echo "stelow: workflow mode (state=$STELOW_STATE)" else echo "stelow: standalone mode (no STELOW_WORKFLOW marker)" fi ``` In **standalone mode** (no marker), run the existing skill body unchanged. In **workflow mode**, skip to `### Workflow slice` and emit a complete `## Hand-off (workflow mode)` block at the end. See `../stelow-workflow-entry/SKILL.md` for the full marker protocol. ## Hand-off (workflow mode) ``` stage : promotions (no transitions defined in stages.yaml) status : artifacts : next-candidate : gate : rework-on : ``` Workflow mode: emit the above Hand-off block verbatim, then stop. ### Workflow slice Standalone (non-workflow) steps are not part of the workflow slice. In workflow mode this skill emits the Hand-off block and exits.