Definition and origin of the method
Definition of the AIDA method
AIDA is a method widely used in digital marketing , a framework or a model to follow that will prompt a potential customer to action . Often the action in question is the purchase of a product or service.
But it can also be signing up for your newsletter or downloading a white paper.
AIDA is an acronym which stands for:
- A for "Attention"
- I for "Interest"
- D for "Desire"
- A for "Action"
Finally, it is a summary of all the phases a “lead” goes through during his purchasing process, rather in the case of relatively simple and inexpensive purchases.
AIDA is very often found in advertisements. But it's also the go-to model for creating a sales page, thinking up a marketing message, or writing a prospecting email.
Origin of the AIDA method
The AIDA method (or model ) was first formulated by Elias St Elmo Lewis in the early 20th century. He would have formalized the four phases through which individuals go when they are seduced by an idea or when they buy a product.
Lewis' postulate was therefore that it is possible to reconstitute this psychological state to persuade and entice people to buy a product.
Later copywriter Gary Halbert also helped popularize the method. Since then, this method has been widely used for copywriting in sales and marketing.
AIDA method: Attention
If one seeks to follow the AIDA method , the first step would therefore be to attract the attention of his prospect.
It's a fact: you have a few seconds to catch the eye of your prospects. And this, regardless of your communication medium: hooks on social networks, video advertising or with a more traditional poster campaign.
The important thing is to keep in mind that your product is not obvious. Not everyone necessarily knows him. So, precisely, how do we attract attention to this product? There are different methods for this:
We can play on the form of the marketing message:
- Use an all-caps title or bold, eye-catching typeface
- Calling out using an interrogative sentence or a surprising number
- Choose a powerful image (beautiful, original or funny) or remarkable colors
- Personalize a message with the first name of your prospect
But we can also try to capture the attention with the substance of the message:
- Write a thought-provoking sentence or on the contrary completely incongruous
- Write a promising message
- Use humor
- Highlight an exclusivity or a novelty in your sector of activity
AIDA method: Interest
The second step after capturing the attention is therefore to arouse the interest of your potential client.
How to arouse the interest of your targets?
It is obvious that you must first know them well in order to identify their needs , expectations and questions. You have to understand how you can help them. The important thing is to transcribe your empathy in your communication messages.
The ideal is to generate interest from the title or the first explanatory sentence . Indeed, if the person does not recognize themselves in your message, they will not go further. For this, use short sentences or pictures.
Finally, during this second phase, the goal is to clear up any doubts from your prospect. He must be thinking, “Okay, this ad speaks to me. I find myself. "
AIDA Method: Desire
The Desire stage of the AIDA method is perhaps the most difficult stage to approach.
It is now a question of touching the emotions of the target, of making him want to go further. Make sure that a state where he says to himself "why not?" reading your message, he now thinks "I'm really interested".
For this, you must appeal to strong arguments and show all the features of your product. Why is your product or service important to your prospect's life? What will he bring him?
Different arguments can be put forward:
- The scarcity of your product : if the customer does not buy it right away, the offer will be less attractive in the days to come
- The product is useful for saving the prospect time or money
- By joining your service, your client will be part of a real community and this is what interests them most (feeling of belonging)
To convince, you have to know how to highlight the benefits of your product.
AIDA Method: Action
Now that you have the attention of your prospect, his interest and finally his desire ... All you have to do is suggest that he take action.
Suggest, yes. But above all, be persuasive to close the sale!
On a website, you can expect a call to action button (call to action) will play that role. But beware, a simple "click here" no longer works. You can offer a free trial or a pop-up offer.
At the end of reading a blog article, one can also suggest subscribing to an e-mailing to receive other relevant information on the subject.
In a prospecting email, you can invite the prospect to make an appointment with your company's Sales team to answer their questions.
Examples of using the AIDA method
The AIDA method on a landing page
We have seen how AIDA works. Now let's move on to putting it into practice with an example.
Let's start with a landing page or landing page in French. The purpose of a landing page is precisely to get you to take action : to collect your e-mail address, to invite you to download an application or to register for a webinar. The AIDA method is therefore particularly suited to this type of page.
In the example below, we will study the case of Shopify. It is a platform offering you the creation of your online store to sell your products.
At first glance, the eye is drawn to the title of the page . The text occupies half of the screen and the background of the message is quite clear and direct.
Then, to generate interest in the service, the list of features mentions the benefits of the product. We can also see screenshots of the tool:
At the same time, we discover what the tool will allow to do in addition: sell more, accelerate its growth, have a competitive advantage with marketing tools ...
Finally, how to pique customer interest? By showing that the solution is really viable. The proof is that it is used all over the world and by many shops!
Now, to take action, the prospect can benefit from a free trial offer. Without adding his credit card. Rather convincing, no?
If you want to know more about how to create effective landing pages it's here !
AIDA in a B2B marketing email
Second example of using the AIDA structure with an e-mailing sent by Canva.
Canva is a graphic design platform that makes it easy to create posters, images or presentations.
In this e-mail, it is about an offer intended for professionals to create presentations.
First, from the subject of the email, attention is drawn : "Become productive with the pro offer - Create presentations like a Pro, all the time". On the one hand, we retain the word “productive” which is a strong word. We also notice the emoji which stands out in the middle of the titles of more classic messages.
When opening the e-mail, the title speaks volumes and suggests the interest of the product. It delivers a promise: “Canva pro. Creations quickly. Collaborate easily. For remarkable presentations ”.
To generate interest, images show what can be done with the product. We discover all the advantages of the product:
- it brings real personality and style to professional presentations
- an entire team can use the tool and update presentations without problem thanks to the history of changes.
Finally, to finish the job, the last part of the message puts forward other more “emotional” arguments: saving time, retouching like professionals, having access to quality photos.
And finally to take action? Action buttons placed in different places in the body of the message invite you to learn more: " Try the Pro offer for free " " Try these features ".
The AIDA method for writing a prospecting email
A little last for the road: the cold prospecting email.
What is a cold prospecting email? It's an email sent to someone who doesn't know you (and doesn't really want to know you) in which you ask them to give you time for a chat.
There are many ways to write a prospecting email and AIDA is just one of them. To make the exercise interesting we are going to show you an email that combines several strategies.
Take a company capable of deploying an inbound marketing strategy for its customers. When building her prospecting list, she identified a potential prospect through a job offer. The prospect indicated that he was looking for a generalist marketing profile capable of initiating an inbound marketing process for his company (yes good ok it's a bit easy, but when was the last time you visited an advertising site? job in your prospecting?).
Here is the email that the sales representative of the company proposed to him:
Spoiler Alert : Notre collaboration se passe très bien !