Creating compelling copy is at the heart of digital marketing, but sometimes we simply run out of ideas.
That’s where relying on marketing models becomes so important — these help us master our copywriting efforts even if we’re stuck on how to proceed.
And one of these frameworks is the AIDA marketing model.
AIDA stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. By keeping this framework in mind when writing your copy, you can tailor your marketing message in a specific way so your text stands out.
But how exactly does AIDA help you do this? In this article, I’ll take you through the four terms that make up the AIDA model and help you understand each stage a little better.
A is for Attention
Your very first goal is attracting the attention of your readers so they will pause long enough to open and actually read your email or blog.
Grabbing a reader’s attention is vital at the beginning of the text, and you’ll find this aspect particularly important in your headline, subject line, or the introduction of your blog or article.
But how exactly do you grab your reader’s attention in a world where everybody is vying for attention?
Here are a few ideas:
- Focus on catchy headlines: If you craft a catchy headline with powerful, action-oriented words, readers are more likely to stay on or click through to your article. Incorporating questions, numbers, and bold statements work quite well, but you can also look at my guide on writing great headlines for more ideas.
- Add engaging visuals: This won’t necessarily work if you’re trying to get potential readers to click through to your article via the SERPs (Search Engine Results Page), of course, but it can work wonders elsewhere if you have the chance of adding an eye-catching image. This could be the introductory image to your article, but it could also be the image you choose to display together with your article link in an email or social media campaign. You can even choose a video or infographic instead of an image. Newspapers may be onto something with their old adage of “if it bleeds, it leads,” but, of course, I’m not talking about shock or clickbait images here. Instead, simply look for highly relevant visuals that may be particularly interesting to your audience.
- Personalization: Using your reader’s first name or catering content to a particular demographic works particularly well for email newsletters. However, it’s worth being aware of the fact that personalization can be overdone, and it quickly feels fake if not used in the right way.
Once you’ve grabbed someone’s attention, you’re ready to move on to the next step.
I is for Interest
Now that you’ve got their attention, you need to hold it just long enough so they keep on reading.
It’s worth remembering that your content is there to serve the reader — what are their needs, and what can you offer them to make their lives better or easier?
The number one way to spark your reader’s interest is by providing a solution to their problems.
There are a number of tips I can offer that could help you do this:
- Know your audience: This goes without saying, but you can’t offer a solution to your reader’s problems if you don’t know who your reader is. Consider who your article is targeting and why these people would be reading your work, and then create interest accordingly.
- Use storytelling techniques: Even if you’re writing engineering content, which is often factual and very technically oriented, you’re still writing for humans. If you manage to create an emotional connection with your audience, your message will become more memorable.
- Use clear and concise language: This may not necessarily pique your reader’s interest, but not using clear and concise language will certainly cause them to lose interest very quickly. Keep your text simple and easy to read, even if you’re targeting well-educated engineers. Your message should always remain clear and well-constructed.
So you’ve managed to grab a reader’s attention, you’ve piqued their interest … and now what?
D is for Desire
Once you’ve grabbed someone’s attention and managed to retain their interest long enough for them to continue reading, you need to “reward” them for this and create a desire. This will be a want or a need, either to learn more about your product or to want to know how your narrative continues.
Since we’re talking about engineering blogs, it’s most likely that you’ll be focusing on building a desire for your product or service.
Here are some of my favorite ways to do this:
- Highlighting benefits and not features: This idea isn’t new when it comes to marketing, but it’s a golden one for a reason. It’s not enough to tell your readers about the amazing features of your product or service. Instead, you need to tell them how these features translate into benefits for them. How does this feature improve your reader’s life? How does it save them time, effort, or frustration? They won’t care about your features until they see the value these bring to their own lives.
- Using social proof: No matter how much we try to isolate ourselves, humans are still social creatures, and we often rely on social proof to make our decisions, especially purchasing decisions. So if you manage to include testimonials, user reviews, case studies, or even product endorsements, you’ll manage to build credibility and trust. If your reader can see that others have already benefited from your product or service, it’ll boost their desire to either find out more or go ahead and invest.
- Scarcity and urgency: This is a route that can backfire since it’s often overused, but sometimes creating a sense of urgency really does work. If you’re offering a limited-time offer or exclusive deal, for example, your reader will be more tempted to go ahead and take action. After all, no one likes missing out.
While I wouldn’t say creating desire is the most difficult part, it can also be the section where a lot of your readers drop off.
If you’ve managed to get their attention and pique their interest but then fail to create a desire for your product or service, or even to just keep on reading, your reader will eventually just click off from your page.
And that means you’d never get to the last letter of the AIDA model.
A is for Action
If, however, you’ve managed to build a need or want for your reader, you’ll be on to the last part of the AIDA model — encouraging action!
At this stage, the final step of the AIDA marketing model, you’ll want to guide your readers towards making a decision or taking a certain action.
Your CTA (call-to-action) should be clear, compelling, and easy to follow.
If, at the end of your content, you’d like the reader to call your business or buy your product, you should end with clear CTAs that reflect “Call Us Today” or “Buy Now”. It doesn’t even have to be sales-oriented. You may simply want your reader to subscribe to your blog or accept a free e-book. These can also be clear CTAs.
There should be no confusion as to what your reader should be doing next, and you should definitely make it as simple as possible.
Putting it all together
AIDA, as you’ve now seen, stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. It’s a very simple framework to follow that’ll help you structure your copy or content well, and guide you on what you should be doing at each point.
You don’t have to do all of this alone, though. If you want to grab your customer’s attention, then let Engineering Copywriter write some fresh and relevant content for your site. You can contact me directly for a chat here.
AIDA Marketing Model FAQs
The AIDA model works well for all types of content, but you can also apply it to only one section of your content. I find it works particularly well in crafting compelling introductions to longer-form blogs or articles.
Unfortunately, urgency or time pressure is often overused by companies, and many people have started distrusting companies whenever they see a limited-time-only deal online. This is particularly true for social media.
But this just means you need to work even harder on being honest and transparent. Be genuine in your interactions and, if you say that there is limited stock, for example, then really mean it.
If you’re writing an informational-based long-form article, it’s not necessarily relevant to include a CTA. But, it is worth remembering that most content will have some sort of call to action involved, even if this is just clicking over to the next article to continue reading great content.
