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Video Summary
What’s one small thing you can do right now that will make a difference for your business?
Today we’re digging into a business model that is more than 100 years old. And what’s most amazing is that this model is so effective it is still widely used today! It’s called the AIDA model and it was developed by Elmo Lewis. Elmo worked as an advertising strategist, and he developed this model as a perfect sales pitch.
The model describes a series of steps or stages that customers follow when making purchasing decisions. Continue reading to learn more.
Video Transcript
What’s one small thing you can do right now that will make a difference for your business?
Hello, my name is Jeffrey Kirk.
Today we’re digging into a business model that is more than 100 years old. And what’s most amazing is that this model is so effective it is still widely used today. First, let me ask you a question… What are your business goals? If one of your goals is to encourage customers to buy something, then you’re on the right path! But before your customer actually buys a product or service, he or she will have to go through different consumer stages.
How do you get that to happen? If someone doesn’t even know your business exists, how do you get them ready to buy? Well, guest what… That’s what I‘m talking about in this video!
There is a particular model, a marketing formula, that was created in 1898. It’s called the AIDA model and it was developed by Elmo Lewis. Elmo worked as an advertising strategist, and he developed this model as a perfect sales pitch. The model describes a series of steps or stages that customers follow when making purchasing decisions.
I’m sure you recognize that catchy titles and headlines in advertising has greatly affected our daily lives. We see the impact everywhere from websites to billboards, social media to TV commercials, and even in text messages. Every piece of content you see or anyone else sees, was created with the intention to grab the attention of its viewers.
And this does not just apply to advertising… even in our simple emails and social media posts – we want to be noticed. We want attention. And the more things grabbing for attention, the more competitive and precise the attention grabbing becomes.
AIDA Model
It’s a fight to attract the attention of your best audience, get them to take interest in whatever you are offering, make them want it, and finally persuade them to do what you want them to do! And this is what the AIDA model represents… The acronym, A‑I-D‑A, stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. These are the stages your target audience must take to become a customer – these are the steps in their customer journey.
Since the AIDA model shows a hierarchy, each prospect must successfully pass through one stage in order to proceed to the next. And with each stage, you lose prospects. The numbers drop as they proceed to the final action.
For example, let’s say you run an online ad and it captures the attention of 1,000 viewers. That is, 1,000 viewers stop momentarily to scan the ad. 20% of them, or 200, are interested enough to click on the ad. They end up on your website where you offer something for free because you want to get them on your email list.
As they read through your offer, 25% of those 200, or 50, desire what you are offering. And now they have to take action by giving you their email address. Giving out their email address has a perceived cost, and 40% of those 50 believe the value of your offer is worth more than the value of their email address. In the end, you get 20 new subscribers.
Understanding each step of the AIDA model can help you strategically plan your next step for your business… What should you do to help consumers move from one step to the next? Let’s talk about each of the steps…
Attention
First is attention. Most of your target audience doesn’t really know your brand exists, so for you to be able to introduce your products and services to them you have to really grab their attention. I have seen some models say the first step is awareness, and not attention. However, I prefer attention as the A in AIDA because I may be aware of a business in town, but until they get my attention, nothing happens.
So, in the online world, how do you attract attention? I already brought up advertising. But there are many more ways. Social media posts can work. So does a blog. Do you have a blog for your business? If not, you should start one! I’ve got other videos on that topic.
Investing in your own blog and creating content about what your business offers not only establishes authority in your industry, but it also connects you to your target audience. Or should I say Google connects your target audience to your blog?
This connection can begin with a simple search. In that process your audience discovers the answers they need that can be found in your blog. And suddenly you have someone’s attention, and their first click. What are their pain points? What are they searching for? And what do they want to know?
When you take these questions into consideration, you’re aligning with your audience and you begin to provide the value that they’re looking for. With photos, and videos, and even podcasts you can share social media and attract a bigger audience.
Social media provides a large platform for you to reach a wide audience to share your content. The bigger the audience, the more traffic you can find that is interested in your offer. Use catchy and powerful headlines to make a statement that will make your target audience stop and read what you say next.
Interest
Once you’ve got their attention, it’s time to work on increasing your audience’s interest level. You can increase interest by focusing on the benefits and by demonstrating the advantages your prospects will receive.
If your prospects don’t find your products and services interesting, then they will not be able to move to the next step of the consumer journey, so you have to be extra careful at this point. With a website, make sure your content is easy to the eyes, and your site doesn’t have a lot of annoying pop-ups. Use interesting illustrations, timely images, and videos to make sure your prospects don’t get bored.
Focus on your target audience and on what is most relevant to them. Show the benefits of what you offer and why it is exactly what they’re looking for. Communicate in a clear and precise manner and establish a connection with the readers. In this stage we want to add a little excitement to make your audience like you and actually stay for the next step of their journey, which is desire.
Desire
Desire is the act of making your prospects feel that your product is what they need right now. In order to show them this is what they need, you have to explain why that is true. Provide information about what they are going to achieve once they buy the product and why they should trust your brand.
You must be able to clearly demonstrate that your solution will satisfy their needs. Being trustworthy and positioned as authority are also key points here. But don’t wait for the desire stage to start building trust and authority. By then, it’s probably a little too late. You can do that throughout the process by continually serving content and referencing past articles as well as pointing to your other platforms.
If your prospect is already following you and learning to rely on you, then when it comes time to solve their problem you already have their trust. Now, let’s dive in to the last step… which is finally taking action!
Action
All that you have done to this point leads your prospects to this final step, so make sure it is clear what action you want your customers to take. It’s really sad when you’ve given A‑I-D with attention, interest, and desire all being in great shape, and your prospects are ready to buy, convert into customers, and they don’t know how. They get frustrated and you lose them.
Clear calls-to-action are great for showing your prospects what to do next and helping them continue on their customer journey. Do you want them to subscribe? Sign-up for something? Download something? Purchase something? Make it clear!
Before you even plan your offer and write your calls-to-action, establish your goals so that you can be clear in creating relevant calls-to-action which are properly placed throughout your content.
And finally, if this is on your website, make sure there is a seamless conversion system in place to handle the actions. Buttons must work. And, if collecting payment, that must work smoothly too. Your new subscriber or client should experience a flawless checkout process so be sure to thoroughly test it!
How are you going to put AIDA to work for you? What’s one small thing you can do right now that will make a difference for your business? Comment below to make it a commitment. You’ll be glad you did.
Your business deserves to be found online. Please subscribe to my channel for more online marketing tips, and have a great day!
