Copywriters, advertisers, designers, and other promotional professionals have been struggling for hundreds of years to uncover the secrets to selling successfully. Marketers have been studying the sales process, identifying traits that customers share, and actions they take throughout every step of the retail decision-making process. There are four main steps that consumers are taken through by advertisers, each leading into the next until a conversion is completed. This is known as the AIDA principle, and it’s pretty simply to follow once you know it:
The AIDA Principle
Attention
The first thing a copywriter wants to do is grab the attention of the reader. There’s very little chance that they’ll read any further than the heading if it doesn’t grab their attention immediately. Likewise, the first sentence of each new section should also get a reader’s attention. Giant roadside billboards, streetlamp posters, banners hung from over-freeway bridges, and other visual advertisements are all designed to grab your attention. Once they have it, it’s easier to get you to consume the rest of the message.
Interest
You’ve got their attention with hard-hitting headings and rock-solid first sentences. Now it’s time to actually get them interested in what you’re selling. You can grab any person’s attention, but whether or not they buy into your offering will depend on how interested you’re able to get them. This is done by making the content relatable to them, where they feel like – even though they don’t need your haemorrhoid cream right at that moment in their lives, they might in the future.
