Creative strategy for ads, pages & email
Most businesses only market to the 3% of people ready to buy today. The money's in the other 97%. Here's how to reach them.
The problem
Right now, about 3 out of every 100 people in your market are actively shopping. Everybody's ads, offers, and “Buy now” buttons are aimed at them. And this is where the competition is fiercest.
The other 97? Some don't know they have a problem. Some know, but don't know what to do about it. Some are researching. Some are comparing options. None of them are hearing from you.
Eugene Schwartz’s five stages of awareness
Your market isn't one audience. It's five, and each one needs to hear something different before they'll ever buy.
“Where do I sign?”
Needs: the offer. That's it.
“Is yours the right one?”
Needs: proof, comparisons, and a guarantee.
“What are my options?”
Needs: why your approach beats the other ones.
“Something's off. Not sure what.”
Needs: the problem named clearly, and proof it's fixable.
“Everything's fine.”
Needs: a story that names a problem they didn't know they had.
Most marketing only talks to the “most aware” segment of your audience. Which segments are you talking to?
The five stages of awareness come from copywriting legend Eugene Schwartz’s 1966 classic, Breakthrough Advertising, and they still hold. Percentages are a typical share of market, a common rule of thumb. Your market will vary.
Step one to successful marketing is always deep-dive research
The first job of a creative strategist: figure out who you need to talk to, and which problems they need solved.
Check off what you've actually done. Be honest. Nobody's watching.
Haven't done most of this? I'll do it for you.
The 24-hour, 6-source deep-dive audience discovery
24 hours of digging through what your customers, and your competitors' customers, actually say. You walk away knowing who your best customers are, what they really want, and the exact words they use to say it.
Got it. I'll be in touch about your deep dive. Or pick a time to talk now →
Step two: Does your message match?
Your ads, landing pages, website, LinkedIn, Google Business Profile, social accounts, and emails should all speak to the same person, at the same stage, with the same offer and the same guarantee. Where they don't match is where your sales break.
Hover or tap any link to see where it usually breaks.
Why it matters: Your first impression. Ads decide who walks in the door, and what they expect when they get there.
What the leak costs: The wrong people click, or the right people scroll right past. You pay for attention that never turns into leads.
Where it usually breaks
Why it matters: Where the ad's promise gets kept or broken. A mismatch here is the most common leak.
What the leak costs: People who clicked for one thing land on another and leave. Your cost per lead climbs, and the ad takes the blame.
Where it usually breaks
Why it matters: Where people go to check you out before they trust you.
What the leak costs: Inconsistent messaging leads to quick bounces. Visitors can't tell if you're the right fit, so they head back to Google and click a competitor.
Where it usually breaks
Why it matters: LinkedIn, Google Business Profile, and your social accounts are where people check you out, and often where they meet you first. Your social content should sound like your website, your landing pages, and your ads. Then your ads stop looking like ads. They look like more of your content.
What the leak costs: Prospects who check you out find a different story, or a dead account. Trust drops before you ever talk to them.
Where it usually breaks
Why it matters: Turns a visitor into a contact you can keep talking to.
What the leak costs: Fewer signups, and the ones you get are fake emails or the wrong people. Your list grows, but your sales don't.
Where it usually breaks
Why it matters: Keeps the conversation going until they're ready to buy.
What the leak costs: Subscribers go cold, unsubscribe, or mark you as spam, and the leads you paid for never buy.
Where it usually breaks
Red flag: If your open rate sits at a steady 15–20%, you're probably landing in spam. Apple Mail and Outlook inflate open numbers by opening emails automatically, so a healthy list usually reports much higher. Fixing deliverability alone can often double or triple your opens.
Why it matters: None of the above matters if your email lands in spam.
What the leak costs: Everything upstream works, and your email still never gets seen. Landing in spam also drags down every send after it.
Where it usually breaks
One broken link is the hole in your bucket that's costing you. You can pour all the ad spend you want in the top, and it still leaks out. Most companies have more than one. Do you know where yours are?
Where I come in
Support calls, sales calls, reviews, Reddit, Amazon, your site, your socials. I check what I'm told against what customers actually say, so we know who we really need to be talking to. It's a 24-hour, 6-source deep dive, not just some AI prompt.
Who are they speaking to, and at what stage? Most accounts are all row five. We build for the other four.
Ad to landing page to website to profiles. Same message, same offer, same guarantee. No whiplash.
A lead magnet or low-ticket offer worth trading a real email for. Not junk addresses that wreck your list.
A couple of quick multiple-choice questions at signup tell us who's who. Ready buyers get one message. The curious get another. The just-browsing get a third.
None of it matters if it ends up in spam. Authentication, list hygiene, and sending habits that keep you out of the junk folder.
The receipts
Three different clients from three different niches. Every number comes straight from their own email reports.
DeliverabilityRelationship coach · ~10K list
19% to 37%
Open rate on the same ~9,700-person send. Same list, twice the readers.
The fix: Cleaned a 15,000-contact list down to the real people, then fixed the technical setup Google checks before it lets you into the inbox.
Email copyOnline fitness coach + studio owner
16% to 44%
Average open rate, fall 2025 vs. 2026, across 64,000+ emails.
The fix: A new welcome series, challenge sequences and re-engagement emails, sent to the right segment instead of everyone at once.
SegmentationReal estate brokerage + online continuing education provider
2% to 17%
Click rate: whole list vs. the most-engaged segment, promoting the same month's classes.
The fix: Stopped blasting the whole list. Class announcements went only to agents whose licenses were up for renewal in the next few months, the people who actually needed the classes, starting with the most engaged.
Real client results. Yours will depend on your list, your offer and your market.
Every one of these started with finding the leak. Want to know where yours are? Ask about the deep dive →
Why a creative strategist
One strategist.
Every channel.
One conversation.
Your marketing is a symphony. Someone plays the ads. Someone plays the website, the landing pages, the email copy. They're probably all great at their parts.
Your creative strategist is the conductor. They bring everyone together to play the right tune for the right audience.
Without one, the audience leaves before the show ends.
Step three: Keep the conversation going
We've all heard the money's in the follow-up. What most of us haven't learned is how to use email to make that follow-up consistent, predictable, and effective.
Most people won't buy on the first visit. Email keeps you showing up until they're ready, and you own the list. But it can't be a string of “Buy now” messages. Stories, testimonials, pro tips, and how-tos show people why you matter, and every useful email moves someone one stage closer to ready.
The one rule
For every email that asks for the sale, send two or three that teach, tell a story, or solve a problem.
Frequency, one-job emails, the P.S. trick, and the full sending checklist are in the free guide. Get the Spam Jailbreak Guide →
Step four: Make sure they actually see it
The best email in the world does nothing in the junk folder. The free Spam Jailbreak Guide walks you through the fixes that actually move the needle:
You're in
Bookmark it. You'll want it again the next time a campaign tanks.
Open the guide → Or download the PDFYou said these are giving you trouble. I can fix that.
Got it. I'll be in touch about each one you checked. Or pick a time to talk now →