While marketing and advertising are not exact sciences, there are methods to creating good advertising pieces, and more importantly, increasing your sales. One such method is the AIDA Method. AIDA stands for attention, interest, desire, and action. It means approaching your copywriting and ad layout in a way that persuades the reader that they want what you have to offer.

Putting the AIDA Method in place

So, you’re ready to create your newspaper ad or online banner ad. Problem is, instead of creating, you’re just sitting there staring at a blank page. It’s not necessarily writer’s block. It’s more about knowing where to start. The answer is you have to start at the beginning.

ATTENTION:

The first step in the AIDA Method is grabbing the reader’s attention. Since the first line of any good ad is a headline, this is where you want to start. You need to write an eye-catching, attention grabbing, witty, funny, or interesting headline. If you get them with the headline, then you are almost guaranteed they will read the rest of your ad. This can make writing a headline difficult, so many copywriters work on the rest of the copy first and write the headline last. This gives you time to formulate a great headline, and a terrific headline may pop into your head as you are writing.

Adding a benefit to your headline ensures that you hit your readers hard from the get-go. Announce a special discount. Offer solutions to a problem they have. Entice them with an emotional appeal. All great ways to catch the eye of your target market and “hook” people into reading.

Here are some bad headlines turned into good headlines:

Bad headline: Copywriting Tips for Beginners

Good headline: 5 Easy Ways to Write Copy That Sells

Bad Headline: Environmental Tips for Homeowners

Good Headline: 7 Simple Ways to Make Your Home Eco-chic

Bad Headline: Buy Your Holiday Cards Now

Good headline: Sale into September with Holiday Card Savings

Bad headline: Business Management 101

Good headline: Affordable and Effective Ways to Increase Revenue

INTEREST:

Next step: use the body of your copy to talk about a problem or challenge your reader is facing. For example, if your product is baby gates, then you want to bring up to Mom how nervous she always feels with baby toddling around near the stairs or by the hot stove. Spend a few paragraphs warming up your prospects by discussing their issues at length. Always use the second person for this part - meaning, “you” and “you’re — just like you’re talking privately with friend.

DESIRE:

Once you’ve got the reader identifying with the problem, it’s time to churn their desire. Talk about how the product or service can help them, solve their problem, or meet their need. Play on emotions here. “You’ll rest easy with our safety gates, knowing that Baby is free to explore his surroundings while remaining out of harm’s way.”

According to advertising legend David Ogilvy, these are some of the best persuasive words to use in your copy because they work:

suddenly
now
announcing
introducing
improvement
amazing
sensational
remarkable
revolutionary
startling
hurry
miracle
magic
offer
quick
easy
wanted
challenge
compare
startling
bargain

ACTION:

Okay: so your headline grabbed the reader. They want and need your product or service and now they’d like to know how to get it. Tell them and give them a couple of options. It’s ime for “Action” - the call to action, that is. “Buy now!” “Call now!” “Enter to win.”

Provide a phone number, a Web site, a location address–a couple of ways they can get what they want. If you only give one choice then you may lose some of your customers. While some do not mind picking up the phone, others just want to get online and order it without ever having to speak to someone.

How AIDA increases sales:

The AIDA method works because it’s an easy-to-follow formula that can keep you on track as you write your ad copy. Strong copy does a great job of tugging on emotional strings - and that’s how you lead people through the various mental states that get the sale.

The AIDA Method specifically works for writing ad copy, but some of the same principles apply when copywriting for other types of collateral like press releases, articles, brochures, email blasts, and Web site copy.

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