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From Awareness to Obsession: Creating Demand That Pulls Buyers In

from awareness to obsession creating demand that pulls buyers in

Let’s be honest: most marketing today is about as compelling as a beige wall. We’ve all seen the same tired playbooks—“build awareness,” “nurture leads,” “convert.” Yawn. If your strategy stops at awareness, you’re not building a brand—you’re building a brochure. The real game? Creating obsession. The kind of demand that doesn’t just nudge buyers—it drags them in like a gravitational force. This isn’t about shouting louder. It’s about becoming so relevant, so irresistible, that your audience can’t look away. Welcome to the new era of demand creation—where attention is earned, desire is engineered, and obsession is the KPI that actually matters.

Why Awareness Is a Weak Finish Line

Let’s kill a sacred cow right out of the gate: awareness is not the goal. It’s the starting line. If your campaign ends with “they know who we are,” congratulations—you’ve just spent a fortune to become forgettable.

Awareness without obsession is like a Tinder match that never messages you back. You exist, but no one cares. And in a world where attention spans are shorter than a TikTok dance, “existing” isn’t enough.

The Real Funnel: From Curiosity to Craving

Forget the traditional funnel. Here’s the real journey your buyers take:

Curiosity: “Who are these people?”
Relevance: “This actually applies to me.”
Trust: “They get it—and they get me.”
Obsession: “I need this. Now.”

Most brands stop at step two. The great ones? They engineer every touchpoint to move buyers toward obsession.

Engineering Obsession: The Strategic Playbook

1. Build a Brand That’s Unignorable

If your brand could be swapped out with a competitor’s and no one would notice, you don’t have a brand—you have a logo. Obsession starts with identity. Not just what you do, but how you do it, why you do it, and the attitude you bring to the table.

Voice: Be distinct. Sound like a human, not a press release.
Point of View: Take a stand. Vanilla doesn’t trend.
Design: Make it scroll-stopping. If your visuals look like stock photos from 2012, you’ve already lost.

2. Create Content That Feels Like a Secret Weapon

Obsession is fueled by value. Not “content marketing” in the traditional sense (read: SEO sludge), but content that makes your audience feel smarter, faster, and more in control.

Give them frameworks, not fluff. Executives don’t want tips—they want tools.
Make it binge-worthy. Think Netflix, not Wikipedia.
Be the source they quote in meetings. If your content isn’t being screenshot and Slacked around, it’s not working hard enough.

3. Turn Customers Into Evangelists

Obsession is contagious. When your customers are raving about you in Slack channels, LinkedIn posts, and board meetings, you’ve hit the jackpot. But that doesn’t happen by accident.

Design for delight. Surprise them. Overdeliver. Make them feel like insiders.
Give them a story to tell. People don’t share features—they share feelings.
Make them look good. If using your product makes them the hero, they’ll never shut up about it.

Case Study: How One B2B Brand Went from “Who?” to “Holy Sh*t”

Let’s talk about Gong. They didn’t just build awareness—they built a cult. How?

They had a POV: “Sales is broken. Here’s how to fix it.”
They created content that slapped: Data-backed, funny, and actually useful.
They made their users the stars: Every case study felt like a success story, not a sales pitch.

The result? Gong didn’t just get attention—they got obsession. And that obsession turned into pipeline, revenue, and market dominance.

Truth Bomb

If your marketing doesn’t make someone say “holy sh*t,” it’s not marketing—it’s maintenance.

Obsession Is the New Demand Gen

Let’s stop pretending that “awareness” is enough. In a world drowning in content, campaigns, and competitors, the only brands that win are the ones that create obsession. That means being bold. Being different. And being so damn good they can’t ignore you.

So here’s your challenge: audit your funnel. Where are you stopping short? Where are you playing it safe? And what would it look like to build a brand so magnetic, your buyers chase you?

Because in this market, attention is rented. Obsession is owned.

Mark Gabrielli
Founder, MarkCMO
[email protected]
www.linkedin.com/in/marklgabrielli

“From Awareness to Obsession: Creating Demand That Pulls Buyers In”

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