A Simple Formula To Improve Your Small Business Marketing
As a marketing consultant, I see a lot of clients in the same boat – trying to market their business with little budget and even less direction! I am in that same budget boat – though I’m lucky to have the knowledge!
A lot of my small business owner clients ask where they should focus and how can they make what they currently do, work better. There are many ways to do this of course, some areas needing more expertise than others, but there is one simple formula you can apply, to every piece of marketing you currently do, that will help.
AIDA.
What?! I bet you are thinking “oh no, she’s going to start talking marketing jargon” and you would be right BUT in a really simple way. This is not rocket science. It just provides focus – a framework if you like. A checklist – and we all love a list!
So what is AIDA?
AIDA stands for Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. The assumption is that the buyer passes through several steps in the influence process, no matter what they are buying. First, attention must be developed to get them to take notice, you then need to get them more interested in it, then they must really feel they need it or it would solve a problem, and finally you want them to take action – to buy, sign up, book, order.
This simple formula can be applied to almost every marketing activity – you simply need to think about it before you do that social post, that blog, that email campaign and ask yourself….
Does it tick every AIDA box??
Some ideas to get you going…
Getting ATTENTION – You need to have a hard hitting, intriguing, “i can’t not click on that” kind of headline. Whether it’s a blog title or social post or email title it needs to hit the button – which means understanding what your customers or potential customers want and need, and appealing to that. Do they want offers? Can you create an offer they can’t refuse? GAP for example do a great job on me with this – I get regular emails of “30% off today only” offers – I just can’t help myself – click and a new pair of cute PJs for my child are arriving next day delivery! Do they want a problem solved? Are they interested in the topic? Is it free advice that can really help them? Ask yourself – SO WHAT? Would I click on this if I was them?
Generating INTEREST – So now they have noticed you, you must keep their interest. This spans everything from talking to them in a simple way so they find it easy to engage with your marketing and providing them with the information to confirm that their initial attention is valid. Provide them information about the benefits they will get, how it will help and how others have benefited – testimonials and case studies are key here.
Driving DESIRE – This is almost the hardest bit. Many sales drop off at this stage because the customer wants it, but not quite enough – they are not convinced. This is the convincing stage. You need to back up your benefit claims with examples, blogs relating to the subjects, case study examples, success stories – show them the potential results they can get from their purchase. The customer needs to feel you are credible and trustworthy so ensure you convey that through your marketing and brand.
Making ACTION – Hopefully by now the customer feels comfortable about the purchase and wants to take action. Your job is to ensure the CTA (call to action) is clear. Very clear. Research shows people need clean, simple action language – BOOK NOW. BUY NOW. CALL US NOW. Make it super easy for a potential customer to get in touch and do business with you. And don’t forget to look after them afterwards – so they will hopefully recommend you, and come back to you in future.
Whatever marketing you are currently doing, try applying this simple formula to make it work better for you – ask yourself, does this piece of marketing – this email, this social media post and the process the customer will go through – tick all of the AIDA boxes?
Good luck!
To find out more about how I can help you have a look at my services here or give me a call for a chat.
