AIDA Formula: A Small Synopsis

The AIDA formula is an acronym used in business and marketing that refers to a list of events that should be experienced between seller and buyer. When all of these events come into play, then it is far more likely a sale will take place. The AIDA formula stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, Action and occasionally with an S at the end for Satisfaction.

The first necessary step in cultivating customer interest is in capturing attention. This may also be referred to as ???awareness.??? The seller must capture the attention of the customer, not only in the sense that the customer turns the seller??™s way and begins to process information, but in that they are genuinely interested in the message and are willing to give their full attention to the seller.

The next step is in raising the customer??™s interest, so that they will be inclined to listen more, perhaps even agreeing to a full presentation and demonstration. Sellers can continue to draw interest by demonstrating features of the product, advantages it can offer the buyer and other benefits associated with making this purchase. You will notice that the seller always emphasizes the buyer??™s interests, appealing to buyer??™s instinctively selfish desires. The message should always be ???this is not about me??¦this is about you.???

Desire is the next step that should be addressed, as the seller must convince the buyer that they want??”they desire??”the product or service. Of course, this part may well be a lie. The buyer may not have a need or even a desire for this particular product. Therefore, the salesperson will have to create this desire within the buyer, perhaps craftily using a combination of other desires to create this brand new need. (Hence, why some companies use sex to sell jeans) The buyer must feel the desire building in the sales conversation, and want to satisfy this overpowering need.

Then there is the final step, which incites buyers to take action. Taking action could mean buying the product, signing up for the service, agreeing to the contract??”but in essence buying the seller??™s marketing campaign. Some sellers have incorporated an additional step into the AIDA formula in ???Satisfaction???. That is, continually satisfying the needs of a buyer so that they become repeat customers and give referrals.

AIDA has become an increasingly important principle in business due to the advent of online marketing. AIDA or lack of AIDA can indeed make or break a business.