A formula is a general guideline – not a ‘paint-by-numbers’ process to an instant sales letter. It’s a roadmap designed to help you get to your desired destination in the most direct way possible. Formulas are established methods or formats that have worked for others to produce results.
Essentially, a formula is a way of organizing and presenting your material in a way that generates sales. Successful formulas are founded upon an understanding of human behavior. It’s not merely a matter of extolling all the virtues of your product – it’s about adapting a strategy that attracts an audience, addressing already existing ‘wants’, and then serving up an appealing offer that’s crafted in a way to push the emotional hot buttons of targeted prospects.
Sound sales letter formulas work well both in the online and offline markets. It’s a planned presentation, the same kind of sales pitch an effective salesperson would use to persuade interested prospects.
The A.I.D.A. Method For Writing Effective Ads
- Attention
- Interest
- Desire
- Action
Grab your prospect’s ATTENTION. Expand his INTEREST. Build the DESIRE to a feverish pitch, and move your prospect along towards taking ACTION. Essentially, the AIDA Formula is about converting a passing interest into an intense desire for ownership to the point where action is taken immediately.
- 1. Attention – Every sales letter must command an audience – first and foremost. You simply have to catch surfers/readers/prospects INSTANTLY as they land at your site.
The attention-getting task is primarily left to your headline. You’ve got to hit their sweet spot – quickly and definitively — with a headline that catches their attention and grabs their interest. The best headlines draw the eye and generate excitement. They mesmerize and captivate prospects, compelling them to read on.
2. Interest – You can’t begin to build serious interest if you don’t first have your prospect’s undivided attention. With the prospect’s attention, it’s crucial that you fuel his interest. Intensify his interest and curiosity. Clearly the best way to do this is to pile on the benefits. Give him benefits of value and significance. Make it clear how your product will enhance his life in some way. Tailor your benefits to the audience.
3. Desire – Continually build prospect interest to the point where that interest gets converted into desire. Desires drive people – it’s a force that comes from within. Once your prospect’s interest becomes a desire to won, the sale is almost a sure thing. Make them an offer they can’t refuse. Add irresistibility by providing far more value in terms of products, than you ask in price. Pile on helpful and in-demand bonus items, a strong guarantee and limit your offer.
Converting interest into desire is all about salesmanship. You want to make your offer sound so advantageous… so easy… so affordable… and the perfect solution to your prospect’s problem.
4. Action – This is where you either close the sale or lose the prospect. You want positive action NOW. That’s the target and that’s the mindset you must adopt if you want to make your sales letter a direct-response tool. Close your letter by asking for action. It’s an important final step in the process… but one that many seem to miss.
It’s not enough to grab the attention of target prospects, stack multiple benefits sky-high, and generate a burning desire with a superb offer and guarantee – you also need to lead to buy. Make it easy to buy with multiple payment and ordering options. Make the action phase a logical and reasonable conclusion to your benefit-laden presentation. That’s it… short and sweet. Easy to learn and recall at will. The AIDA formula can be tremendously effective on it’s own. You can also take its basic framework and adapt it into your own formula, method, or system.
The AIDA formula is the best known and probably the oldest advertising formula ever developed. This one is clearly time-tested and proven effective beyond any shadow of a doubt. With just 4 basic elements, it’s also very easy to remember.
AIDA provides a solid foundation for any type of advertising – including sales letters. If you used nothing but the AIDA method, you could, with a little practice develop powerful, persuasive sales letters.
