Fabulous AIDA on advertising
Whenever I hear any of my clients saying “that doesn’t work” I smile and ask for their evidence. It was no different on Thursday when we were looking at advertising ideas with J who was working on getting more clients locally. Looking over the wording of the advert she had used I could see why she was not getting results. J had described her services in the advert (as you would) but was not aiming at anyone in particular, no interest was generated nor was there an emotional hook; the call to action was not very compelling either.
Given that we are all subjected to thousands of adverts everyday, we tend to switch off if we don’t see its relevance to us within seconds I explained. J was intrigued, she sat back in her seat as I continued sharing: A good way to get a customer to engage with an advertisement is to use AIDA:
A – Attention (Awareness): attract the attention of the customer. The more niched you are (in the advert) the more you will be directly speaking to the reader and attract them.
I – Interest: raise customer interest by focusing on and demonstrating advantages and benefits (instead of focusing on features, as in traditional advertising). Offer something your competition doesn’t; or is not seen to offer.
D – Desire: convince customers that they want and desire your services and that it will satisfy their needs. Connecting with reader’s emotions is very powerful: “sell the sizzle not the steak”
A – Action: lead customers towards taking action and/or purchasing.
I paused and watched as J was digesting the information. She was starting to see the importance learning how to target a market effectively. I explained that this was a known and trusted advertising and marketing process and I would also add the following steps:
1. Bring your advert right up to date by printing your QR code on the advert so that smart phone users can take action immediately by scanning your code and be visiting your web page or your Facebook page in seconds. (You can get a free code at www.qrstuff.com in seconds, they are the new barcodes you see on posters and printed ads)
2. Ideally have a way of capturing customer’s details by offering an E-book, a free report or a free session when they do visit you online. You can keep in touch if they are not ready to engage right now.
3. Measure responses and try different adverts until you find one that works well (based on results). You can try different ones that speak to different clients (niche and micro niche).
You don’t need to have all the above in place, build up to it one step at a time but it is good to have an overall plan. Be on the lookout for the adverts that grab your attention and notice how they are worded and put together.
J grabbed a pen and quickly redrafted her advert. The result was much more powerful, once she had refined the aim of her campaign to just one section of her audience: it just spoke to you! J’s body language made it quite clear that she was pleased and much clearer as to where she was going with this and the steps she needed to take.
I took a sip of my coffee and we continued chatting over all the other places she could try publishing her ads for free. She was ready to go online too so I mentioned that sites such as Gumtree have produced results for other clients and are worth looking into.
It was time for me to put on my coat and head out into the wet and windy London streets. It was a lot darker and colder now but as I made my way towards the Embankment for my next meeting, I felt a warmth and comfort that reminded me how much I loved and enjoyed the work I do.
