Ok, first things first…
Who the hell is Aunt Aida? Does your dad have a long-lost sister that he hasn’t told you about? Or is she your mom’s secret twin?
To breathe. It’s none of those.
You see, “AIDA” is a wording formula. And if you use it when writing your copy, it will help you sell more products.
So what does AIDA mean?
A = Caution
I = interest
D= desire
A = stock
Look:
Always keep this formula in mind when writing copy. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb and say this:
Even if you don’t know other copywriting techniques and strategies, this formula will help you sell your products and services.
It’s basically what sellers use.
And all copywriting is print salesmanship.
The Dating Formula for High Converting Sales Copy
Here’s the thing:
When it comes to persuading someone to part with their hard-earned money, you can’t just say “Buy it.”
Instead, you have to court them.
On second thought, it’s the same as dating. If you’re out partying and there’s a woman you like, you don’t go up to her and say “do you want to come home with me tonight?”
(Or at least I hope not…)
Instead, you get their attention by making eye contact. Then you get him interested by going to say hi. Then you start flirting to increase his desire.
And it’s only then, once he sees you as his knight in shining armor for the night, that you ask him to return to yours.
Regardless, the same applies to your copy.
The first thing you need to do is grab the attention of your ideal potential customer.
I eat?
With your owner. And you need to make sure that you stop them in their tracks from reading the next line of your copy.
For the record, the best way to do this is to know your prospect’s state of mind. It’s something Eugene Schwartz talked about in his book “Breakthrough Advertising.”
Basically, if your prospect is already familiar with your product, then their headline starts with your product.
If they don’t know about your product yet, but just a wish they have, then start with that wish.
And if they’re not aware of either, then your headline should mention the market itself, so your ideal prospect can identify with it.
Forward.
Right, you have your prospect’s attention.
Now what?
You need them to be interested in reading further. Do this with your opening paragraph. A simple “if/then” formula works here.
For example, you could have started this post with:
“If you want to learn how to write sales copy that will make your ideal prospect tremble with excitement as they pull out their credit card to buy your product, then this article is going to be one of the most important things you’ll ever read.”
Or something like that.
Forward.
Next, you need to make your prospect want your product, and more specifically, the benefits they’ll get from it.
How do you do this? There are a few ways.
Stories are powerful, whether they’re yours or a client’s.
Begin the story at a negative point in time. Make your prospect think “Shit, this could literally be me!”
Then add salt to the wound by describing how things managed to get even worse (which will make your prospect think, “Damn, I still have all this coming up…”).
And finally, when your prospect is crying her eyes out and asking Mom for a hug, lift her spirits again. In other words, that’s when you present the solution that changed your life.
By now, your prospect’s desire should be through the roof.
And finally?
Your call to action.
If you’ve done all three of the steps above correctly, then at this point your prospect will really be wanting to buy.