---
title: Matching ad formats to the buyer's state — the T-E-E-P framework and awareness levels
slug: teep-funnel-stage-creative
summary: Sarah Levinger's Trigger → Exploration → Evaluation → Purchase framework for choosing ad formats by psychological state (with Ridge ring examples), how to weight the mix by business goal, and Dara Denney's awareness-level expansion (unaware → product-aware).
domain: marketing
tags: [ad-creative, funnel, awareness-levels, creative-strategy, formats, meta-ads]
related: [customer-research-for-ads, brand-reality-capacity-and-alignment, creative-diversity-levels, creative-account-diagnosis, meta-ad-format-tier-list]
sources: [yt:pV0tM1gSJiU, yt:ZydGeio1DGQ, yt:lWpSmxuwSts]
updated: 2026-10-24
---

# Matching formats to the buyer's state (T-E-E-P)

## TL;DR
- Ads are served to brains in **mindless-scroll mode** that resist clicking away; choose the creative stack for the **psychological state** of the viewer, not trends or the founder's taste.[^1][^2]
- T-E-E-P (from a Google digital-purchase study): **Trigger, Exploration, Evaluation, Purchase**; most brands only run creative for two of the four.[^3]
- Weight the mix by goal: top-of-funnel → trigger formats (consider link-click/traffic optimisation); sales growth → evaluation + purchase; cost reduction → formats the team makes at top quality.[^4][^5]
- Tag every inspiration ad with its T-E-E-P phase so the swipe library is browsable by state.[^6]

## Details
**The four phases and their formats:**[^7][^8][^9]
| Phase | Viewer state | Job | Formats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trigger | pre-aware, hasn't searched | name the moment; "feel seen, not sold to" | relatable micro-moment ads, surprising stats |
| Exploration | knows the problem, curious, low commitment | earn the right to say more; talk about the *industry* | short video, visual hooks, memes, ASMR, generation-matched authority (e.g. dermatologist) |
| Evaluation | comparing, skeptical | evidence about *us* | testimonials, before/after, education, case studies, comparison tables |
| Purchase | card in hand | remove friction, let them buy | offers (50% off, free gift), long-form, founder ads |

**Ridge rings example:** trigger — "3 out of 4 men misplace their wedding band"; exploration — "he finally wears his ring after seven years of marriage"; evaluation — a comparison table (Sarah has run table ads for ~6 years and "never seen them not work"); purchase — the offer.[^9][^10]

**Weighting by goal.** Top of funnel needs a wide net: short-form, pattern-interrupt, novelty; spread the rest evenly. Growth needs depth, proof, specificity, trust — not short hooks. For cost reduction, *quality is a cost reducer*: the best possible story, relatable content that attracts identity-aligned (cheaper) customers.[^4][^5]

**Inspiration sources by state:** Motion inspiration library, Meta Ad Library (30+ days running is a signal, but some brands keep decoy ads alive to mislead competitors), TikTok Creative Center, GA content paths and heatmaps, YouTube analytics drop-offs, and **30–60 min/week of organic scrolling** every Monday. CTR "lies sometimes" — check which creative actually drove purchases (post-purchase surveys).[^11][^12][^13]

**Awareness levels (Dara Denney).** Level 2 of [[creative-diversity-levels]]: unaware → problem-aware → solution-aware → product-aware need different messaging. Iteration idea: take a winner and move it *further up-funnel* (more educational, humorous, curiosity) — it almost always extends its life.[^14][^15]

## Disagreements / caveats
- Sarah would put top-of-funnel on **organic** (cheaper, feeds ads) — her strongly held view, outside most strategists' control.[^16]
- Dara counters that up-funnel isn't always right: in a crowded category go solution-aware (see [[creative-account-diagnosis]]).

## See also
- [[meta-ad-format-tier-list]] — which formats are "supporting cast" (mid-funnel) vs scalers
- [[people/sarah-levinger]]

[^1]: yt:pV0tM1gSJiU @ 48:45 — Sarah Levinger
[^2]: yt:pV0tM1gSJiU @ 50:19 — Sarah Levinger
[^3]: yt:pV0tM1gSJiU @ 51:50 — Sarah Levinger
[^4]: yt:pV0tM1gSJiU @ 55:00 — Sarah Levinger
[^5]: yt:pV0tM1gSJiU @ 56:34 — Sarah Levinger
[^6]: yt:pV0tM1gSJiU @ 1:08:53 — Sarah Levinger
[^7]: yt:pV0tM1gSJiU @ 58:09 — Sarah Levinger
[^8]: yt:pV0tM1gSJiU @ 59:42 — Sarah Levinger
[^9]: yt:pV0tM1gSJiU @ 1:01:12 — Sarah Levinger
[^10]: yt:pV0tM1gSJiU @ 1:02:44 — Sarah Levinger
[^11]: yt:pV0tM1gSJiU @ 1:05:46 — Sarah Levinger
[^12]: yt:pV0tM1gSJiU @ 1:07:17 — Sarah Levinger
[^13]: yt:pV0tM1gSJiU @ 1:08:53 — Sarah Levinger
[^14]: yt:ZydGeio1DGQ @ 04:47 — Dara Denney
[^15]: yt:lWpSmxuwSts @ 08:04 — Dara Denney
[^16]: yt:pV0tM1gSJiU @ 53:25 — Sarah Levinger