AIDA is the copywriting template for bloggers who want to create compelling pages. AIDA is acronym for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. If you write your copy using these four points, you will keep your reader engaged and interested in whatever you are promoting.
Think of how the information in TV infomercials is presented: problem (attention), solution (interest), benefits (desire), sales pitch (action).
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Not sure what copywriting is?
Read my first post in this series: Copywriting for Beginners: The Basics
Whether you are writing for landing pages, sales copy, book covers, media releases, you need AIDA. And if you just want SEO-worthy copy to rank your website higher, then you need AIDA. Bloggers need AIDA.
Here’s how to use AIDA in your own copy
1. Attention
The first thing you want to do when you start writing copy is grab the attention of your visitors. The easiest way to do this is with a story that causes you to question “what happens next?”
Try rephrasing the next headline you write as a question
And see if you can turn it into a compelling one. For example, your headline might be: 7 Secrets Your Teenagers Will Never Tell You. The question that readers will ask is, “What isn’t my child telling me?” You always want to turn your headline into a compelling question, so your visitors are engaged with your copy and eager to find out the answer.
Related Post: 101 Great Blog Post Titles That Really Work (and they work for copywriting too!)
Use a great headline, a thought-provoking image (like a clock ticking down), and if you can, video to maintain the readers interest and encourage them to take action. It has been said that 80% of people do not read past the headline if it does not grab their interest.
2. Interest
Next up is making sure that you keep your readers attention by making your topic compelling and interesting enough to keep reading. Interest is all about making your offer interesting, by being funny, entertaining, or memorable.
An excellent way to pique interest is using statistics and facts in your copy.
Words like “75% of people who try this food will eat it again” or “Are you aware that 99% of all people do this before they get out of bed?”
This is also a great time to speak to pain points that your readers may have
such as “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a hot meal ready for you when you walk in the door after work?”
And do not forget about using stories to captivate your readers such as “Mary was tired of being so disorganized when it came to preparing meals for her family. Until she discovered this…”
Answer the “what’s in it for me?” question your reader has
After the headline, the main body of your copy should have amazing sub headings and an opening paragraph that grabs the reader and keeps them engaged. Now is not the time for click-baity headlines that do not lead to the answers your readers are looking for.
Now is the time for you to write a story about your own experience and how it was solved with this product you are promoting.
Many people are reading on mobile, so sub headings that help answer the “what’s in it for me?” are crucial. Remember to keep paragraphs short and concise while leading the reader down the path towards conversion.
Related Post: Copywriting for Social Media
3. Desire
Interest and Desire go hand in hand, because interest will develop into desire, which has intent. Your goal here is to give your reader enough compelling evidence that life will be better with this product. You want you reader to be able to picture how your solution will make their life easier in some way.
You need to appeal to your readers felt needs
Let them know what the benefits are and how it will make their life easier of better in some way. Be sure to use emotional words that speak to the solution. Or use inspiring words in your copy, like: easy, fulfilled, balanced, liberated, or unburdened.
In the example above, Mary may need a bit of convincing that an ebook of 75 slow cooker recipes will help her get organized at dinnertime. Offering a recipe ebook that comes with a shopping list goes further. And going one step further, you might include a list of ways to organize the food and do a weekly meal prep (prepping freezer meals for later in the week, for example).
In this case, you want to appeal to Mary’s desire to (a) get a good meal on the table with as little fuss as possible (b) give Mary more free time after work (c) Help Mary to feel like less of a failure and more of a food prep ninja.
If your product can convince Mary that it will meet her needs and for a reasonable price, Mary will jump at the offer.
Related Post: Copywriting for Online Ads
4. Action
Yes, the call to action. Get your readers to take immediate action by telling them to act now and click the button or link.
Make it easy for your reader to take action by telling them what you want them to do in clear, easy to understand language. Other words that can help your conversions are ‘act now’, ‘special bonus’, and “click in the next 15 minutes”.
As well, be sure to use clear language that tells the reader exactly what they are getting when they click. An example might be “click the link to get one month free and 10% off your first purchase”. Or “click the link to subscribe to my weekly newsletter. We will not spam you! and you get this free PDF as a gift from me”.
Offer a clickable link at the top of your landing page (above the fold) as well as the bottom. This makes it super easy for people to take action. Some people do not require all the sales copy to make a decision.
Related Post: Copywriting for Landing Pages
Related Post: Using Analytics for Copywriting
Conclusion
I hope that you have enjoyed learning how to use the AIDA template for your copywriting needs.
Please share this post with anyone that you think can benefit from it. And don’t forget to click the image below to sign up for my FREE my 5-Minute Guide to Copywriting.
Happy blogging! And follow me on Pinterest!
-Irma 🙂
Wow! I love your website! Thank you so much for making what I call a not so easy subject easy to read. I feel really motivated by it . I am still working full time but I want to create my online business and working from anywhere in the world like you. I shall be visiting your website again. All the very best from the bottom of my heart.
Hello Nerine and thank you for visiting us today,
I hope you enjoy the rest of the series!
Cheers,
-Irma 🙂
Hi Irma,
I love this post! I am always trying to improve my copywriting skills but sometimes it seems so complicated. This breaks it down in an easy and understandable way that I think anyone can use! This really helps me to understand the process better and is something that I can immediately apply. I have paid for books and programs that did not provide as much value as this did for me. Thank you so much! I will definitely be bookmarking this and sharing it.
That is so awesome to read Dan! Thank you for visiting us today and hope you enjoy the rest of the series 🙂
Cheers,
-Irma 🙂
This is a great series Irma! A great guide for piquing viewers interest. As a blogger, it can be hard coming up what to write for a headline, especially the subheading as well. Do you have any advice for headlines. Which is more important, a captivating headline with weak keywords or perhaps a simpler headline that’s getting a lot of traffic with little competing websites?
Hello Nate and thank you for visiting us today,
I have a blog post for that! 101 blog post headlines that work for most copywriting tasks. I use these headlines everywhere, including newsletters. There are tons of great ideas in there for most niches. Check it out and tweak it to your liking.
Cheers,
-Irma 🙂
Great post! I have been wondering about a way to come up with better titles, I will definitely be using the info in this post to better my own posts. Thank you!
You are welcome and thank you for visiting us today!
Cheers,
-Irma 🙂
Absolutely brilliant information here! I’ll be sure to include the AIDA strategy in my next promotional post, and this has certainly made it clear how to do so!
In fact, my next post will probably be my first promoting a product, so I’m hoping now I can get off to a great running start. 🙂
Thank you very much for the help!
James
I wish you much luck and success with your promotion James and thank you for visiting us today,
Cheers,
-Irma 🙂
Wow! I had never heard about the AIDA template prior to seeing your post. I can see how this can be extremely helpful to us bloggers! Thank you for your insight. I’ll definitely be applying this template to my future copy. Thanks again!
Best of luck with that Andrea and thank you for visiting us today!
Cheers,
-Irma 🙂