On a daily basis, consumers are over saturated with content that’s intended to grab their attention and persuade them to take a particular action. From subscribing to a newsletter or making a purchase to opting for a 30-day free trial version of a software, and more, they’re asked to do too much.
If anything, that means businesses now have to work harder to ensure that their content doesn’t end up being like a needle in a haystack that doesn’t grab the audience’s attention. While it may be discouraging to think of how competitive the industry has become, the light at the end of the tunnel is that there are basic principles you can follow to stand out from the crowd.
Have you ever heard of the AIDA model? If you haven’t, now’s the time to get introduced to it to unlock the door to more qualified leads.
What Is the AIDA Formula?
The AIDA formula stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. Simply, this model serves to describe the steps that customers go through before they’re actually customers – in other words, the customer journey. It takes you from the very beginning, when customers are still in the awareness stage of the marketing funnel, all the way until they make a decision.
In essence, the AIDA model was introduced to help marketers understand how customers differentiate between brands to make up their mind about the final buying decision. Based on that, marketers would be able to tailor their communication efforts to the consumers’ current stage of the sales funnel.
Today, the model is used in digital marketing, public relations, sales strategies, and beyond. Now, let’s detail the different stages outlined by the AIDA model.
1. Attention
In today’s digital marketing world, not only do you need to be quick to be able to attract your target audience’s attention, but you also need to be concise and straightforward in your marketing and communication.
For instance, think of powerful words, appealing images, compelling action-based subject lines, intense personalization, and similar. These are all ideas that’ll encourage your audience to open your content and go through it. Better yet, they’ll anticipate and wait for it later!
“Creative disruption” is the key, but remember to keep it relevant to your audience’s passions and problems, but at a sweet spot where it can also appeal to all prospects!
2. Interest
Great, now you have the attention of your target audience, but are you holding it?
In other words, are they interested in continuing reading? Remember, keeping your audience interested is more challenging than grabbing their attention. In this phase, you’ll want to stay focused on your audience’s precise needs and desires. Basically, give them a reason to stay!
Expectedly, your content should first provide value to your target market by showcasing that your business genuinely understands what they need and is on a mission to solve their problems and put an end to them.
But what’s equally important is to make your content skimmable and easy to read so that more visitors are encouraged to go through it. For that purpose, rely on bullets, subheadings, short paragraphs, and emphasizing important points through bolding and italicizing.
The bottom line of this stage is to make each one of your customers feel as if they’re the only one you’re speaking to – that’s the power of personalization!
3. Desire
In the interest stage of the sales funnel, your words said that you understand your prospects and their pain points. But at the desire stage, it’s time to show your potential customers that your offerings solve their problems in reality and cater to their precise needs. Plus, they need to feel that they can’t live without your offerings now that they know that a solution exists.
This is where the talents of your sales team come into play to put your offerings on display. As part of the sales process, it’s a must to highlight the features of your products and services, as well as their technicalities and specifications (if applicable).
But what you shouldn’t neglect is to illustrate how the specific features of your offerings provide functional benefits for your prospects. For instance, instead of saying that your eyeglasses boast Blu-ray glasses, emphasize that Blu-ray glasses reduce glare, keep eyes protected, and minimize digital eye strain.
Your prospects need to see or at least imagine how your business can help make their lives better, even if on a small scale. Standard techniques of inducing desire are through client testimonials on social media, infomercials, before and after photos, case studies, interviews, and more.
Once you do it right, you’ll have qualified leads that are well on their way to the purchase stage of the funnel!
4. Action
Lastly, the final stage of the AIDA model is where the magic happens! Now’s the time to finally end your content with a call to action. To do it right, elicit a sense of urgency in your audience to encourage them to take action immediately and not wait a single second.
That works particularly well with sales, limited-time offers, temporary free trials, and similar ideas aiming to transition businesses from the lead generation stage to the acquisition or purchase stage.
In Conclusion
Converting qualified leads into customers has never been easier to wrap up, the AIDA model is a tried and tested formula for effectively converting qualified leads into customers. While it’s certainly easier said than done, the key lies in your digital marketing strategy. If you understand your target audience very thoroughly, you’ll be able to align your messaging to their buyer personas.
After that, all that needs to be done is to identify the current sales funnel stage that your prospects are at and tailor your marketing efforts accordingly. And remember: awareness leads to interest, interest leads to desire, and desire leads to action. That’s what AIDA is all about!
