AIDA: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action

Order a pitch or message as attention, interest, desire, then one clear action.

Practitioner wisdomE. St. Elmo Lewis, around 1898 · advertising model; Strong, 1925 · The Psychology of Selling

Over a century old and widely taught, but research suggests buying is not always so linear.

Why it works

It forces you to earn attention before you explain, and to end with an ask. Many messages fail because they skip the first step or forget the last.

How to do it

  1. Attention: a first line about them, not you.
  2. Interest: one fact or insight they did not know.
  3. Desire: what changes for them, with proof.
  4. Action: one small, specific next step with a time.

What to say

Saw your new plant in Satara. Most new plants struggle to find shift supervisors in the first year. We placed six for a food plant in Pune last year. Shall we speak Tuesday at 4?

Avoid

Ending with let me know if interested. That is not an action, it is an exit.

Example

For a mailer to cold storage owners in Agra, Ritu opened with the new potato season dates, gave one staffing fact, showed one client result, and closed with a call time. Replies came from three owners.

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