How AIDA Model is a framework for today’s marketing strategies?

Every industry has its own set of inescapable jargon, and for the marketing industry, one of them is the AIDA model. AIDA model is a term thrown around by marketers to express why they wish to position the brand in a certain way. However, without a detailed explanation, it may be difficult for the brand owner to comprehend any/all of the terms being thrown at them. So in today’s blog, we aim to simplify what the AIDA model is and why it is necessary for you to understand where your brand stands in it using examples of two hypothetical brands.

What is AIDA?

AIDA stands for Awareness, Interest, Desire, and Action. It helps brands identify which stage it is positioned in and what kind of marketing tone it should follow to engage with their consumer base. Consumers typically move through each stage of the model to complete the purchase journey. Like any other funnel, every subsequent stage of the funnel has fewer consumers than the previous stage.

Breaking down the funnel

Awareness

When you are trying to sell a product where the target audience is not quite knowledgeable about the product, it is quite likely that the brand will fall into the awareness stage. When you are in the awareness stage, the idea should be to reach as many people in the target market as possible and spread information about the need for a solution (and not the product per se). Blogs, newspaper articles, and seminars are some of the ways with which you can get the word out about the product or service.

Interest

Once enough people are aware of the existence of a problem, and its solution thereof, the brand must start differentiating itself from the competition. It is imperative that the brand establishes itself as relatable to consumers' needs and trustworthy during this stage, as you want the consumer to have a positive and cordial image of you in their head when they eventually think of buying the product. The marketing tone during this stage must clearly list out all the reasons why your brand’s products are superior to all the other products out there in the market.

Desire

After you have managed to establish enough interest in your product, the next step is to filter out the audience who will actually buy your product from people who are just interested in it. Retargeting is best suited at this stage of marketing to convert the consumer. An example of this would be buying an iPhone. Hypothetically, even if 1000 people are interested in buying an iPhone, not everyone falls under the target market. In this case, the target market is a subsection of those thousand who can afford to buy the phone, say 350 people. Hence, you will only be targeting the said 350 people when you market your product in the desire stage.

Action

So, the idea in the desire stage is to narrow your target market to an extent where every person you target could very likely be a buyer of your product. Promotions and discounts are ideally most effective during this stage as the consumer has a strong desire to buy the product. In this stage, you should ideally start aiming to optimise your campaigns to lower the cost of acquiring a customer.

Once you have the target customer clicking on your ad and visiting the landing page, it is your job to make sure that the experience of buying the product is seamless. The brand needs to make sure that the content that was advertised is not misleading or else it would result in a lot of interested customers dropping off and losing trust in the brand. Along with some offers and coupons (to push the customer to act), good UI and UX are a must for online purchases. Brands must also make sure that they are providing good after-sales service in order to keep the customer satisfied.

A different brand, a different approach

Let’s simplify this framework with the help of two hypothetical brands, one brand that sells aerated drinks and another brand that sells dental braces.

When you are trying to sell an aerated drink, the consumers are already aware of what an aerated drink is, and in most cases, they have an opinion on whether they would consume something aerated or not.

For brands such as these, there is already enough information and awareness out there. So when you are trying to market your product, your task is not to create awareness about what you are selling, rather advertise what separates you from your competitors, or your USP. In such cases, promotions, discounts, paid advertising, etc. work well, primarily because the audience that you are targeting is well aware of aerated drinks, and most likely has a strong desire in consuming such a product. All the brand needs to do is give a gentle nudge to the consumer to make sure the consumer acts on his instinct and buys the product.

However, when you are trying to market a product like braces, there is a distinct lack of knowledge about the product and its advantages. It is estimated that almost 45% of the population needs braces to correct teeth misalignment.

When you compare the number of people who have braces and who need braces, the answer is only a fraction of the population is actually going for the corrective treatment that it requires.

In situations such as this, it is imperative for the brand to understand it is still in the awareness stage of the model. The idea should be to create more awareness with the help of blogs, events, or free checkups. It doesn’t matter whether the dentist is providing the treatment at a 30% discount or a 50% discount, the consumers will lack the urge to act on the offers, simply because they lack the necessary information about why the treatment is necessary in the first place.

Final thoughts…

To conclude, brands need to spend a considerable amount of time figuring out their position in the model. Marketing strategies must be linked to the analysis. This not only involves deciding whether to start with promotions or not but also deciding whether the content has to be more informational or sales-y.

It is also worth noting that sometimes different products under the same business will be at very different places in the model, and as a result, both products will require very different marketing strategies to succeed.

Are you still wondering where your brand stands in the model? Or do you need help in crafting marketing strategies for your brand that are completely dependent on where your brand currently stands? Please feel free to get in touch with us by filling out the form below.