This is the last in a series of 3 articles about making an advert as effective as possible. Many marketing adverts suggest a mnemonic to make sure each advertisement and each marketing letter contains all the essential ingredients for success.
A I D A is a mnemonic for adverts.
A stands for Attention. This is the headline that I discussed in the first article. Your headline has to reach out and grab the reader’s attention and entice them to read your advert. This is the sole job of a headline and is why you need to practice writing them constantly.
I stands for Interest. Once your headline has done it’s job, the body of your advert has to be interesting, persuasive and informative enough to retain the reader’s interest and start building the next stage of AIDA. I discussed this in the second article.
D stands for Desire. If the body of your advert has done it’s job, the reader should have their interest heightened to a point where they really want your product/service. This is the level necessary to provoke the last part of AIDA. You bring the reader to a point of being informed about your product/service and demonstrated that it is necessary for them to have what you are offering so….
A stands for Action. Your advert’s final, essential ingredient is a call to action. You need to tell the person reading it what they need to do next. Either ring your telephone number, go onto a website, call into your shop – whatever you want them to do to convert their interest into a sale.
In all your advertising, in all your marketing activities, you are being a salesman in print. If you are having trouble writing effective copy for your marketing, try recording some conversations that you have with some customers that result in a successful sale. All you need is a small dictaphone or microphone on your computer. Once recorded, have it typed out and you will be able to pick out the golden nuggets of the conversation that were the truely effective persuaders. You can then use these nuggets again and again knowing that you are being the most effective in print that you can be.
In the next article, I will explain how important testimonials are in your marketing effort and how their use can transform the effectiveness of your campaign.
~Ray