Content That Fits the Way We Think

  • June 20, 2019

If your copywriting doesn’t resonate with some part of your reader, then it might as well just be gibberish. It’s that mental connection, that feeling of something speaking directly to you that opens up a reader, emotionally, to your website. If you want to sell a product, you must first get your audience’s attention and show what you can do for them, only then can you persuade them that you’re offering them something unique. From that point onwards, you can close the deal with a killer call-to-action and land another happy customer.

For all of these things to happen, however, your website’s content must be planned out from the very beginning. It must be strategised to effectively trigger that mental connection with the reader – you really have to get into the reader’s mind, but to do so, you must first place yourself in their shoes.

The Full Package – An AIDA Friendly Website

Incorporating AIDA into copywriting is fantastic, but it’s only as effective as its environment allows it to be. In this case, your website is the environment – the appearance matters. To achieve great results, remember that web hosting and Web Design should factor in AIDA too!

Close the Deal

Any reader that makes it all the way to the end of your website copy is ready and willing to take that leap of faith. To get them to jump, head-first, into your product, you need to write a fantastic call-to-action. Your approach to writing this call is the real sink or swim moment – are you going to improve your conversion rate with a sale? Or are you going to lose the customer’s interest at the last hurdle?

Fuel Their Desire

Now they’re starting to take your words seriously. They can either turn you away with a simple mental rejection, such as “well I don’t really need this” or “I tried something like this before and it didn’t work” but if your copy is good, you will still have them wrapped around your finger. Remember, you’re offering them salvation from something that plagues them – not just a product from a shelf.

So, to fuel their desire, go back to that pain or problem that they have. Now, cross reference that with the features that make your product so great. Without hyping up your product, showcase just how much the reader would benefit from having your product. Through your copy, you want to establish the feeling that you aren’t trying to make them want your product, but that you’re simply showing them what it can do for them.

Grow Their Interest

Now you have them interested. You want to grow this interest further. You can do this by talking about the reader (everyone likes hearing about themselves!) instead of what you have to offer.

So, drop the talk about great features and all your supposed ‘key selling points’ and focus on the reader’s problems, their pains, and their desires. Let them know that their struggles aren’t endless; there is a solution out there for them.

Get Their Attention

You need something major, something OBVIOUS, that the reader can’t simply ignore. This should be in your headline, meta description (for search results), or the first line or two of your website copy.

The attention grabber will be used to start a conversation. It may be presented as simply breaking the ice with your customer, or it could be a more aggressive sales spiel, it’s up to you. You just need to grab their attention.

What is AIDA and How Is It Used in Copy Writing?

AIDA is a marketing technique based on an order of events that need to take place for effective consumer engagement. Seeing as copy writing is essentially a form of advertisement, whether directly so or more subtle, the AIDA approach is very effective.

The AIDA principle uess: Attention (Awareness), Interest, Desire, and Action.

The idea is that the reader has to journey through each of these stages, before acting on your offer or consumer promise. You can’t close the deal at any one stage – just think about it:

  • You can’t sell someone something by saying, “LOOK HERE! Try our product for free today!”
  • You can’t sell someone something by saying, “LOOK HERE! Our product is 100% natural. Try it for free today!”

However, you CAN sell someone something by saying:

  • “LOOK HERE! Our product is 100% natural. No more jitters, headaches, or stomach pain – and you can even try it for free today!”

Notice all four stages of the AIDA principle are present in the last example, where only one or two are present in the first, hopeless examples. Basically, you have to truly engage the reader in order for the call-to-action to work, and the only way to do this is to hit all four AIDA stages.

Decide Your Approach

First things first, you need a killer hook or ‘unique selling proposition’ to present to the reader. This doesn’t have to be done in the traditional sense. An example of a unique proposition might be starting off with a random story, to grab the reader’s interest straight away –  although, direct copy writing (i.e. a relevant story, rather than a random one) is usually best. If you’re unsure, then hire a professional website content writer.

Once you know your approach, your writing tone, and the general voice that you want your content to have, it’s on to the actual content creation.

While writing, you should use the AIDA approach.

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