From Awareness to Action: The Change Stages Your Marketing Must Support
Marketing is about more than just visibility—it’s about transformation. If you want to attract aligned clients, you need to meet them where they are in their journey, not where you wish they were.
That journey follows a natural progression, and in my CLIMB framework, the first stage is Curiosity. Before someone takes action, before they even start considering coaching, they experience an internal shift: a sense that something is off.
Most marketing skips this step entirely. It jumps straight to “Book a Call”, expecting people to make a leap they’re not ready for. But change doesn’t work like that. It starts with awareness. It starts with curiosity.
The Role of Curiosity in the Change Process
Every coaching client begins with a moment of realization.
For an executive coach, this might look like:
A leader who keeps getting overlooked for promotions and wonders why.
A high-performer who’s lost their motivation but doesn’t know how to fix it.
A founder who feels like they’re the bottleneck in their own company’s growth.
For a life coach, it could be:
Someone who’s checked all the boxes of success but still feels unfulfilled.
A parent who realizes they’ve lost their sense of self in the chaos of daily life.
A professional who wakes up one day thinking, Is this really it?
At this stage, people aren’t looking for coaching—they’re looking for answers.
This is where most marketing fails. It assumes that awareness = readiness.
But curiosity doesn’t work that way.
Curiosity isn’t about action. It’s about exploration.
If your marketing doesn’t give people space to explore their feelings and make sense of their experiences, they’ll move on. Not because they don’t need coaching, but because they haven’t yet connected the dots for themselves.
How to Support the Curiosity Stage in Your Marketing
Curiosity is fragile. If you push too hard—“You need to hire a coach!”—you’ll trigger resistance instead of engagement.
Instead, your marketing should guide people through three key steps in this stage:
Validating their feelings – Helping them see that their struggles are real and worth paying attention to.
Helping them name the problem – Giving them the language to describe what’s happening.
Opening the door to possibility – Introducing the idea that things can be different.
Let’s break these down.
1. Validate Their Experience
Before people seek solutions, they need to feel seen and understood. If they don’t believe their problem is valid, they won’t seek help.
What this looks like in marketing:
Sharing personal stories: “I remember the moment I realized I was stuck. I was doing everything right, but something felt off…”
Describing their inner thoughts: “You’re great at what you do, but lately, you’ve felt invisible in meetings. You keep waiting for someone to notice your work, but it never happens.”
Normalizing their struggle: “You’re not the only one who feels this way. Many high-achievers struggle with imposter syndrome, even at the top levels of leadership.”
The goal here is simple: make them feel seen.
If they don’t feel seen, they won’t keep reading.
2. Help Them Name the Problem
Many people stay stuck because they don’t have the words to describe what they’re experiencing. They know something isn’t right, but they can’t articulate it.
When you give them the language, you give them power.
What this looks like in marketing:
Providing clarity: “If you’re feeling constantly drained by work, but don’t know why, you might be experiencing leadership burnout.”
Framing their experience: “You’ve done everything ‘right’—built a career, checked all the boxes—but something still feels off. That’s not failure. That’s a sign you’re ready for a new level of alignment.”
Offering reflection questions: “Have you ever asked yourself: Why does success feel so exhausting? If so, you’re already in the first stage of change.”
This is where trust starts to build. When someone sees their story reflected in your content, they begin to believe that you understand them—and that you might have the answers they need.
3. Open the Door to Possibility
At this stage, people aren’t ready for solutions yet—but they’re open to exploring them.
Instead of selling, your job is to plant the seed that change is possible.
What this looks like in marketing:
Shifting their perspective: “What if success didn’t have to feel this hard? What if you didn’t have to prove yourself over and over again?”
Showing small wins: “One of my clients used to feel invisible in leadership meetings. After working together, she started leading the conversations.”
Inviting them to explore: “If this resonates with you, I encourage you to start noticing where this pattern shows up in your life. Awareness is the first step.”
Notice the absence of pressure. You’re not saying, “Book a call.” You’re saying, “What if things could be different?”
That’s what makes people lean in.
Why Most Marketing Fails at the Curiosity Stage
Many coaches unknowingly shut down curiosity by rushing to the sale.
They post things like:
• “If you’re feeling stuck, my coaching program can help.”
• “You need to invest in coaching to reach the next level.”
• “Are you struggling with burnout? Sign up for my program now!”
But at the curiosity stage, people aren’t ready to hear about solutions. They’re still exploring their emotions, trying to make sense of their reality.
If your marketing doesn’t give them space to process, they’ll walk away before they ever consider working with you.
How to Build Trust at the Curiosity Stage
If you want to create marketing that naturally leads to action, you have to respect the pace of change.
Here’s how:
Create content that speaks to their emotions before their logic. People decide with feelings first, then justify with logic.
Use storytelling to show, not tell. Let them see themselves in the experiences of others.
Don’t push for action too soon. Focus on engagement and reflection first.
Ask better questions. The right question makes people stop and think—which is the first step to change.
If you do this well, you won’t need to convince people to work with you.
By the time they move from Curiosity to Legitimacy—the second stage of the CLIMB framework—they will already trust you. They will already believe in the possibility of change. And they will already see you as the person who can guide them through it.
Marketing that guides instead of pushes builds trust. And trust is what leads to action.
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