AIDA model(AIDA)
Strategy and planning
Strategy and planning
AIDA is a classic model splitting a buying decision into four steps: Attention, Interest, Desire and Action.
The model dates from the late nineteenth century and is meant as a thinking aid, not a law. Its value is the order: no attention means no interest, no interest means no desire, no desire means no action. That makes it useful for spotting where an ad or page breaks down.
In practice you use it as a checklist. Does the headline catch attention? Does the opening paragraph make it relevant to this reader? Does the evidence — examples, reviews, figures — make it appealing? And is the next step concrete and easy?
Limitation: real customer journeys do not run neatly top to bottom. People jump around, compare, return weeks later. Modern variants therefore add steps such as trust and post-purchase loyalty.
Tip
Use AIDA as a tool to structure an ad or page, not as an exact picture of how customers decide. That way you get value from it without taking it too literally.
Related terms
- Marketing funnelThe marketing funnel describes the path to a purchase in stages: awareness, consideration, conversion and loyalty — with a share dropping off at each stage.
- CopywritingCopywriting is writing with a purpose: text that explains, convinces and leads to an action, in the reader's language.
- Call to actionA call to action is the button or line that moves a visitor to the next step: request a quote, call, add to cart, book a call.
- ConversionA conversion is an action you defined as valuable: an enquiry, purchase, download or phone call. The conversion rate is the share of visitors who take it.
- Customer journeyThe customer journey is the route someone travels from first contact to customer and beyond, including every touchpoint along the way.