don't market any offer until you read this
introducing: the 4 stages of competence
Last week, I was on a call with one of my mentors, and we were discussing a psychological framework that I’ve been thinking about in a marketing context.
It was one of those moments where something you have been thinking about gets attached to an existing concept and suddenly clicks in a whole new way – like finding the missing puzzle piece that makes everything else make sense.
He was talking me through "The Four Stages of Competence" – a learning model that explains how we master new skills.
But as he was talking, my mind started racing with the marketing implications.
Every single marketing message you create is targeting people at a specific competence stage, whether you realise it or not.
And when your marketing misaligns with your prospect's competence stage, it fails – no matter how good your copywriting, design, or offer might be.
In this mini essay, I'm going to break down how understanding these four stages can transform your marketing from "meh" to magnetic.
(This is a longer one, but trust me – it's worth it.)
The Four Stages of Competence: Origin
Before I dive into the marketing applications, let's understand what these four stages actually are and where they came from.
This model first appeared in the 1960s in a textbook called "Management of Training Programs" written by three professors at New York University. It was later popularised in the 1970s by Noel Burch at Gordon Training International.
Many people mistakenly attribute this model to Abraham Maslow (the hierarchy of needs guy), but it doesn't actually appear in any of his major works.
What's fascinating about this model is how accurately it describes the psychological journey all of us go through when learning any new skill – from driving a car to mastering Facebook ads.
The Four Stages Explained
Stage 1: Unconscious Incompetence
"You don't know what you don't know."
The person doesn't realise they have a deficiency. They're not even aware there's a problem that needs solving or a better way of doing things.
They might even deny the usefulness of the skill altogether.
The critical point here is that before someone can move to the next stage, they must first recognise their own incompetence and see the value in the new skill.
How long someone stays in this stage depends entirely on how strong their motivation is to learn.
Stage 2: Conscious Incompetence
"You know what you don't know."
At this stage, the person recognises they have a problem and that a solution exists.
They understand their limitations but don't yet know how to overcome them.
What's interesting is that making mistakes is actually integral to the learning process here.
Those mistakes create the awareness needed to improve.
Stage 3: Conscious Competence
"You know what you know, but it requires focus."
No, the person can perform the skill, but it requires concentration and deliberate effort.
They're thinking through each step.
The skill can be broken down into steps, and there's heavy conscious involvement in executing it.
However, if they break their concentration, they lapse back into incompetence.
Stage 4: Unconscious Competence
"You know what you know, and it's second nature."
The person has had so much practice with the skill that it's become "second nature" – they can perform it easily without thinking about it, like driving a car or typing without looking at the keyboard.
At this level, they can often perform the skill while executing another task entirely.
They may also be able to teach it to others, depending on how they learned it themselves.
Why Most Marketing Fails: The Competence Mismatch
Here's the key insight: Your marketing message must match the competence stage of your ideal prospect.
Let me show you what happens when there's a mismatch:
Scenario 1: You're Selling to Stage 1 (Unconscious Incompetence) with a Stage 3 Message
Imagine you sell an advanced email marketing automation tool.
Your ideal customer is someone struggling with low open rates, but you launch a campaign focused on "How to segment your list for 35% higher engagement rates using behavioral triggers."
Why it fails: Your prospects don't even know they have an email marketing problem yet.
They're thinking, "My open rates are fine!" or "What the hell is a behavioral trigger?"
Your message sails right over their heads.
Scenario 2: You're Selling to Stage 3 (Conscious Competence) with a Stage 1 Message
Now imagine you sell high-level business coaching to experienced entrepreneurs.
But your messaging focuses on "Why entrepreneurship is better than a 9-5" and "Basic steps to start your business."
Why it fails: Your prospects are way past this. They're thinking, "No shit, I've been running my business for 5 years."
You insult their intelligence and position yourself as a beginner.
The Competence-Aligned Marketing Framework
Here's how to align your marketing with each stage of competence for maximum impact:
Marketing to Stage 1: Unconscious Incompetence
Goal: Create awareness of a problem they don't know they have.
Key Strategy: Longer Copy & More Broad Messaging
Messaging Example: "93% of business owners are making this cash flow mistake without realizing it.
The critical insight here is that you're not selling a solution yet – you're selling problem awareness.
You need to help them recognize there's a gap before you can position yourself as the bridge.
In this stage, people will often deny the value of learning a new skill. Your job is to make the cost of not learning it crystal clear.
Marketing to Stage 2: Conscious Incompetence
Goal: Position your solution as the bridge to competence.
Key Strategy: Be clear and describe your solution.
Messaging Example: "The 3-Step Framework That Turned Our Client's Facebook Ads From Money-Losers to 5X ROI Generators (Even Though They'd Failed With 3 Previous Agencies)"
This stage is where many marketers shine because the prospect already knows they have a problem.
Your job is to showcase a clear, manageable path to solving it.
Remember that making mistakes is integral to learning at this stage, so content that normalizes the learning process and shows how to overcome common pitfalls works extremely well.
Marketing to Stage 3: Conscious Competence
Goal: Show how your solution saves time and reduces effort.
Key Strategy: Optimisation + efficiency.
Messaging Example: "Stop Starting From Scratch: These 27 Pre-Built Email Sequences Have Generated $13M For Our Clients (And They Can Be Implemented In Under 30 Minutes)"
At this stage, your prospect is competent.
They understand the what and the how – now they want to make it easier and more efficient.
The psychological insight is that people at this stage are prone to lapsing back into incompetence if they break concentration.
Your marketing should emphasise how your solution makes competence more reliable and consistent.
Marketing to Stage 4: Unconscious Competence
Goal: Provide next-level mastery or delegation.
Key Strategy: Innovation + done-for-you.
At this stage, the skill has become second nature to your prospect.
So why would they need your help? Two reasons:
They want to reach an even higher level of mastery
They'd rather focus their unconscious competence elsewhere and delegate this particular skill
Your marketing should acknowledge their mastery while offering either advanced innovation or complete delegation.
The Multi-Stage Marketing Matrix
Most businesses and offers don't serve prospects at just one competence stage.
They serve people across multiple stages.
This means you need different marketing assets for different stages:
The Competence Progression Pipeline
Here's a step-by-step process for building what I call a "Competence Progression Pipeline":
Step 1: Map Your Audience
First, determine what percentage of your ideal customers falls into each competence stage. For example:
Stage 1 (Unconscious Incompetence): 60%
Stage 2 (Conscious Incompetence): 25%
Stage 3 (Conscious Competence): 10%
Stage 4 (Unconscious Competence): 5%
Step 2: Create Stage-Appropriate Entry Points
Develop specific marketing assets tailored to each stage's awareness level:
For Stage 1:
"The Problem You Don't Know You Have" lead magnet
Eye-opening statistics in ads
For Stage 2:
"How to Solve X" content
Comparison charts
Implementation guides
For Stage 3:
Templates and shortcuts
Advanced training
Optimization strategies
For Stage 4:
Done-for-you service offerings
Executive briefings
Strategic partnerships
Step 3: Design Progression Pathways
Create clear paths that move people from one stage to the next:
Stage 1 → Stage 2: Broad educational content that deepens problem awareness
Stage 2 → Stage 3: Implementation tools and frameworks
Stage 3 → Stage 4: Delegation and done-for-you solutions
The Competence Paradox
Before I wrap up, I want to share one final insight from my mentor – what he calls "The Competence Paradox."
Here it is: The further you progress in your own competence journey, the harder it becomes to market to beginners effectively.
This is why so many experts struggle to grow their businesses.
They've forgotten what it was like to be a beginner.
They're at Stage 4 (Unconscious Competence), but most of their market is at Stage 1 or 2.
They use jargon that bewilders newcomers.
They make assumptions about what people already know.
They skip crucial foundational concepts that seem obvious to them but are revelations to their audience.
The solution?
Regularly reconnect with beginners.
Interview your best clients and ask what messaging resonated with them.
Remember the questions you had when you were starting out.
Keep a "beginner's mind" when crafting your marketing.
Your Competence-Aligned Marketing Challenge
I'll leave you with a challenge:
Identify which competence stage the majority of your ideal customers are in
Create one new marketing asset specifically designed for that stage
Test it against your current messaging
I'd bet good money you'll see an immediate lift in engagement, conversions, or both.
The beauty of this framework is that it forces you to see your marketing through your prospect's eyes – not your own.
And that perspective shift alone can transform your results.
Remember, people may have several skills at different competence levels, and each skill requires practice to remain at a high level of competence.
Your marketing needs to recognise where they are in their journey – and meet them exactly there.
To your success,
Charlie McCormack - The Webinar Wizard