How To Use The AIDA Method To Improve Your Writing


by Brian Scott - Date: 2010-07-05 - Word Count: 846 Share This!

If you're a relatively more experienced writer, there's a very good chance you know of and have used the AIDA method. However, if you've never heard of it before, don't worry. This entire chapter is dedicated to helping you understand it.

With that said, let's get started with the "attention" portion of AIDA:

A) Attention

When it comes to writing a sales letter, the AIDA method tells us to focus on attention first. Why? It's simple. If you never catch a person's attention to begin with, there's no point in going any further with your sales pitch, because no one is going to read it.

If you haven't guessed yet, getting a reader's attention starts with a well-crafted headline. As we went over earlier, a good headline is the difference between a 1% converting sales letter and a 5% converting sales letter.

If you catch people's attention immediately with your headline, then you will have the rest of the sales letter to convince them to buy. If you never catch it to begin with, then you may never get that chance.

Of course, it is important to note that "attention" doesn't end with the headline. From there, you have to push hard to keep the reader moving. You can do this by including a small paragraph after your headline that mentions important benefits.

And this brings us to our next section: interest.

B) Interest

The second component of AIDA involves building interest. This generally has three different parts.

Part #1: Introduce a Problem

If you've done your market research, you understand that problems trip up customers in your niche all the time. For instance, if you're in the golf niche, your customers probably struggle to putt well; or find themselves coming up too short too frequently on long drives.

Furthermore, your product is probably designed to tackle at least one of these problems that customers in your niche encounter all the time. And this is exactly why introducing a problem is important.

You can start with something like this for our example above: "Do you have trouble putting consistently? Is your mental game adding strokes to your actual game? If so, you might be suffering from..."

After that sentence, you would proceed to explain the problem that the typical person in your niche encounters on a regular basis. You would build up the problem, so that it is both detailed and recognizable.

And once you did that, you would move to the next part.

Part #2: Introduce a Solution to the Problem

The next part in getting the readers interest is introducing a solution to the aforementioned problem. Once you do this, the reader will begin to have hope that the problem can be solved; and that he can improve in whatever areas he is struggling.

Of course, the solution should subtly move in the direction of your product; however, you should not explicitly introduce it initially. Instead, you should explain how certain strategies can be used to overcome the problem; however, they are involved and many are not able to carry them out.

As the reader begins to sense that you might be able to help them with their problem, their interest in the sales letter will start to grow. And this is precisely when you move into the next phase of the "interest section."

Part #3: Introduce Your Product AS the Solution

Now that readers have spent time reading about the problem in question and have considered the solutions you have suggested, it's time to build a strong bridge between the two.

You can do this by explaining exactly how it is that your product is a solution to the problem in question. And furthermore, explain how the reader's life or business will be difference once they gain access to the product and are finally able to overcome the problem in question.

After working through this part, you will move on to the "decision" portion of AIDA.

C) Decision

Earlier, we discussed "calls to action" and the build-ups that precede them. When it comes to the AIDA method, the build-up to the call to action is called the "decision" portion of the sales letter.

In this part, you will want to transition from introducing your product as the solution to the problem to convincing readers that they absolutely must have it.

For the rest of the sales letter, you should provide copious amounts of supporting material, including endless strings of benefits and bonuses. Your goal should be to maximize the probability that a reader will make the decision to buy before they get through this section.

Once they have made the decision to buy, there's only one thing left to do.

D) Action

The final portion of AIDA involves telling people to take action. Put simply, this is your call to action (or calls to action). It should not only include multiple links throughout the body of the sales letter, but a final, and well-displayed "buy now" button at the bottom of the page.

Additionally, the "action" portion of the sales letter should include a p.s. and p.p.s. after you include your signature. These can be used to compel readers to return to the "buy it now" button to avoid missing out on an opportunity.


Visit Brian's website, http://www.FastCashFreelance.com and learn about freelance writing and writing for money as a part-time or full-time writing career.n
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