What is Ben Hunt's Ladder

The Recognition Ladder, Awareness Ladder, Consciousness Ladder, or Hunt's Ladder – these are all names for a model proposed in 2010 by American marketer Ben Hunt. He described the customer's journey: from complete indifference to the product to making a purchase.

Ben Hunt's Laws

Ben Hunt's Laws are the four main principles that describe the relationship between a consumer and a product:

1. The customer is unaware of the need for the product, does not understand their problem, and therefore does not know how the product can solve it.

2. After recognizing the need, all stages up to the purchase are related to information—the customer studies it to make a decision. At each step of Hunt's Ladder, there are marketing tools that bring the user closer to making a purchase.

3. The purchase occurs only at the fifth stage, but not earlier.

4. The customer cannot skip one or several steps of the awareness ladder. They go through them sequentially.

Hunt's Ladder Stages

Hunt's Ladder consists of five stages:

1. No Need: At this stage, the person is unaware of their problem. For example, a bank manager calls an entrepreneur and offers a business loan. The entrepreneur declines because they do not yet understand why they need borrowed money.

2. Need Awareness: The person realizes they have a problem or need. The entrepreneur decides to expand their staff, which requires additional funds. They see advertisements everywhere about how convenient it is to run a business with borrowed funds rather than using personal money.

3. Information Search: The person starts looking for information about possible solutions to their problem. The entrepreneur considers where to get a loan. One option is borrowing from partners. Another is taking out a loan. They seek advice from colleagues, read articles about the economic situation, and monitor how interest rates change.

4. Decision Making: The person selects the most suitable option to solve their problem. The entrepreneur decides on a bank loan. They study the terms at different banks and choose the appropriate loan program.

5. Purchase of Goods or Services: The person acquires the goods or services to solve their problem. The entrepreneur signs the loan agreement, and the bank credits the money to their account.

Ben Hunt's Ladder is similar to the CJM—customer journey map. The difference is that CJM has more stages. For example, there is a sixth stage—consumption, when the person has already bought the product, uses it, and draws conclusions. After the consumption stage, there is an evaluation stage, where the customer compares the value of the product with its cost and promised benefits. They may leave reviews or give recommendations to friends and acquaintances.

How to use Ben Hunt's Ladder

Marketing works at each stage of Ben Hunt's Ladder: from creating a need to making a purchase. Let's break it down using the example of promoting a CRM system for businesses.

1st Stage: No Need

A company supplies equipment for food service outlets. It has a development and sales manager who records all customer contacts in an Excel file. The company has few clients, and there are almost no repeat customers. There is no need to record these contacts in a specific program.

Marketing Actions: The main task is to create content that describes various situations related to the manager's concerns, such as increasing team and sales department efficiency. This content should natively incorporate information on how using a CRM system affects business results. This could be an article, an interview with experts or entrepreneurs.

2nd Stage: Need Awareness

The sales manager decided to leave the company and took all customer contacts with him. The company’s manager wants everything to be stored on the organization’s information resources, but a solution to the problem has not yet been found.

Marketing Actions: At the need awareness stage, it is important to "highlight the problem" and add evidence in favor of solving it. This could be material with research results, facts, and statistics. Thematic queries on a related topic can also be used to capture the attention of "warm clients" who have already recognized the problem and want to solve it.

3rd Stage: Information Search

The company has the opportunity to expand to other regions. Consequently, there will be more clients, interactions with them need to be planned, and sales department actions should be transparent and manageable. There is a need to organize a customer relationship management system. The company’s manager starts looking for solutions, including: 1C, various CRM systems, or dashboards based on customer database data.

Marketing Actions: At the solution search stage, content can be created to help weigh and compare options. Marketing tools include video reviews, articles, quizzes, tests, and publications by opinion leaders.

4th Stage: Decision Making

The manager compared different options and decided that a CRM system is the most optimal. He starts to explore offers from different developers, comparing their features and rates. He initiates presentations from product representatives to better understand their features. At business events, he asks colleagues and partners which systems they use.

Marketing Actions: When the client begins to narrow down their search, it is important to capture their attention. Tools include SEO, contextual, and display advertising. The client should be directed to the company’s resource, where the product’s features and benefits are presented—landing page, website, social media, online store, or brand article. The task of marketing is to convince the client that the decision to purchase the product is optimal.

5th Stage: Purchase of Goods or Services

The company decides on a supplier. The manager studies the connection options and rates that may be suitable for his team. Initially, he decides to use the free version to evaluate the ease of using the program.

Marketing Actions: At the final stage, it is necessary to give the client the ability to seamlessly reach the purchase. Important factors include the convenience of the website and payment options, speed of service, quality of the sales department's service, or the ability to quickly and easily install the CRM system itself.

Possible Mistakes

Hunt's Ladder is a useful tool in marketing, but it's important to avoid mistakes in its use. For example:

1. Neglecting the First Stage: Many business owners and marketers are reluctant to spend money on creating a customer need. This requires a lot of time and effort, and the effect is not immediately apparent. However, in such cases, competitors will lure away potential buyers.

2. Incorrectly Identifying the Client's Stage: It is possible to mistakenly assume that a person is ready to make a purchase when they are actually still in the information search stage.

3. Lack of Content Adaptation for Different Stages: A company might provide the same content to all clients, regardless of the stage of Hunt's Ladder they are at.

4. Using a Single Communication Channel: Different stages require different ways of communicating with the client. For example, during the information search stage, you can publish informational articles, while during the decision-making stage, you should launch display advertising.

5. Neglecting the Fifth Stage: Just because someone has decided to buy a product doesn’t mean they will actually make the purchase. For example, a customer might go to a store for a specific brand of candy but see another brand at the checkout with more attractive packaging. In such situations, the customer might change their decision, so it’s important not to lose them; for instance, by hiring a merchandiser for the store.