AIDA Model: What is it and how to apply it in digital marketing?
Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2024 4:42 am
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Within the marketing and advertising literature, you can find a series of hierarchical models that explain how the purchasing process works . AIDA is one of the best-known models and in this article we will explain what it consists of, how it works and how you can apply it in your digital marketing strategy.
What is the AIDA model?
The AIDA model is a funnel-shaped representation of the purchasing process or cycle that is implemented as a copywriting technique.
It was proposed in 1898 by the American publicist Elias St. Elmo Lewis and refers to the cognitive, affective and behavioral stages that a person goes through before acquiring a product or service. These stages are:
Attention: the person becomes aware of content, a product or service that attracts their attention, usually through an advertisement.
Interest: within the content, the person finds a message that fits their interests, lifestyle or needs.
Desire: the person develops a favorable disposition towards the content, product or service offered.
Action: the person, motivated by rational or emotional reflection, executes a desired action such as buying, taking a test or requesting advice.
St. Elmo Lewis's goal was to create a stimulus-response model (advertising message-desired action) that would help marketers guide customers through a purchasing decision.
123 years later, this model is not only still valid but is fundamental in the formulation of strategies in the fields of marketing, advertising and sales.
Likewise, different hierarchical models or methodologies similar to the AIDA stages have been proposed, such as DAGMAR and the buyer's journey, within inbound marketing.
The DAGMAR model, proposed by Russel H. Colley in 1961, whose acronym in English means “Defining Advertising Goals for Measured Advertising Results” is also known as ACCA for its stages in English: awareness, understanding, consideration, action.
AIDA Model
In all models, the purchasing process is expressed in the form of a “funnel” because at each stage the number of people who make it to the end is reduced. For example, people who were attracted by an advertising message do not necessarily end up buying; nor do those who show interest end up moving on to the desire phase.
It is common to see how the AIDA formula is complemented at the end with an “S” for “satisfaction”, under the argument that the product has to ultimately satisfy the consumer. In this sense, customer satisfaction does not lie solely in advertising, but in the quality of the product or service.
But the most important thing you should know is that the AIDA model is used as a copywriting technique to design advertising messages , either in text or audiovisual format. In digital marketing and advertising, this technique is implemented in the creation of copies for social networks, emails and commercials.
Below we will give you some tips on how you can apply AIDA when sending an email, presenting a product in an online store, creating a promotional web article or creating an advertisement.
1. Attention: “What is that?”
We can say that for about a century now, people have been exposed to hundreds of advertising stimuli (visual and auditory) every day that fight to capture their attention. Given this scenario, it is certainly difficult to create messages that quickly arouse interest and motivate users to perform a desired action.
This first phase therefore represents a significant challenge for marketing specialists, advertisers and communicators in general: it is not easy to create messages that quickly stand out from the competition.
However, a good starting point is to conduct market research or create buyer personas to know where to focus your messages. Then, it is important to think of titles or catchy phrases , and of course, in line with the audience you want to attract, since it is the first thing that will catch their attention.
To create eye-catching email titles or subjects, we recommend:
Use numbers
10 ways to make…
5 tricks for…
8 examples of…
50 phrases that…
20 apps for…
Ask questions that spark curiosity or generate empathy
Are you tired of…?
Would you like…?
Since when is it not…?
Have you ever thought that…?
Did you know that…?
Address the reader informally
5 sales strategies you can implement in your company
10 SEO mistakes you can't make on your website
How to improve your organizational culture?
9 steps you should follow to create a purchasing process in your company
How to conduct a competitor analysis in your company?
Apply copywriting formulas to headlines
Copywriting formulas work as a framework for creating messages poland number for whatsapp that are capable of persuading. AIDA, in itself, can be considered one of them.

However, there are some formulas that are implemented exclusively in the creation of titles. We show you:
End result or benefit + specific time period + goal: “Increase your engagement by 20% in 3 months without much effort”
How to + keyword + promise: “ How to get more visitors to my blog in simple steps; how to make a shopping budget correctly.
Negative sentence + keyword: “Don’t waste any more time implementing strategies that don’t work”
Call to action + keyword + promise: “ Learn how to improve your website’s SEO with this checklist”
If you want to learn copywriting formulas applied to emails, read also: 10 examples of emails to increase sales with cold clients
2. Interest: “I like what I see”
At the interest stage, the person must view some type of content that continues to feed their curiosity. To do this, we recommend:
Show shocking data or facts
Tell stories that are emotional
It captures common problems or situations of joy or pain that are easy to identify in everyday life and that continue to keep the reader active and connected with the article, advertisement, publication or email.
Show information about the product or service, either through text descriptions, photos or videos.
Of course, such content should relate to the first words that caught your attention; it is just an extension of the title or topic chosen to attract the user.
3. Desire: “I want it for myself”
In the field of advertising, communicative messages must not only attract attention and arouse interest, they must also reach a third moment: generate desire, that is, the desire to obtain it.
This is the phase in which the message must direct the detected needs or interests towards a specific desire.
Therefore, at this point people must be clear about why your product or service is what they need to solve the problems or challenges you previously presented so that they feel identified.
Within the marketing and advertising literature, you can find a series of hierarchical models that explain how the purchasing process works . AIDA is one of the best-known models and in this article we will explain what it consists of, how it works and how you can apply it in your digital marketing strategy.
What is the AIDA model?
The AIDA model is a funnel-shaped representation of the purchasing process or cycle that is implemented as a copywriting technique.
It was proposed in 1898 by the American publicist Elias St. Elmo Lewis and refers to the cognitive, affective and behavioral stages that a person goes through before acquiring a product or service. These stages are:
Attention: the person becomes aware of content, a product or service that attracts their attention, usually through an advertisement.
Interest: within the content, the person finds a message that fits their interests, lifestyle or needs.
Desire: the person develops a favorable disposition towards the content, product or service offered.
Action: the person, motivated by rational or emotional reflection, executes a desired action such as buying, taking a test or requesting advice.
St. Elmo Lewis's goal was to create a stimulus-response model (advertising message-desired action) that would help marketers guide customers through a purchasing decision.
123 years later, this model is not only still valid but is fundamental in the formulation of strategies in the fields of marketing, advertising and sales.
Likewise, different hierarchical models or methodologies similar to the AIDA stages have been proposed, such as DAGMAR and the buyer's journey, within inbound marketing.
The DAGMAR model, proposed by Russel H. Colley in 1961, whose acronym in English means “Defining Advertising Goals for Measured Advertising Results” is also known as ACCA for its stages in English: awareness, understanding, consideration, action.
AIDA Model
In all models, the purchasing process is expressed in the form of a “funnel” because at each stage the number of people who make it to the end is reduced. For example, people who were attracted by an advertising message do not necessarily end up buying; nor do those who show interest end up moving on to the desire phase.
It is common to see how the AIDA formula is complemented at the end with an “S” for “satisfaction”, under the argument that the product has to ultimately satisfy the consumer. In this sense, customer satisfaction does not lie solely in advertising, but in the quality of the product or service.
But the most important thing you should know is that the AIDA model is used as a copywriting technique to design advertising messages , either in text or audiovisual format. In digital marketing and advertising, this technique is implemented in the creation of copies for social networks, emails and commercials.
Below we will give you some tips on how you can apply AIDA when sending an email, presenting a product in an online store, creating a promotional web article or creating an advertisement.
1. Attention: “What is that?”
We can say that for about a century now, people have been exposed to hundreds of advertising stimuli (visual and auditory) every day that fight to capture their attention. Given this scenario, it is certainly difficult to create messages that quickly arouse interest and motivate users to perform a desired action.
This first phase therefore represents a significant challenge for marketing specialists, advertisers and communicators in general: it is not easy to create messages that quickly stand out from the competition.
However, a good starting point is to conduct market research or create buyer personas to know where to focus your messages. Then, it is important to think of titles or catchy phrases , and of course, in line with the audience you want to attract, since it is the first thing that will catch their attention.
To create eye-catching email titles or subjects, we recommend:
Use numbers
10 ways to make…
5 tricks for…
8 examples of…
50 phrases that…
20 apps for…
Ask questions that spark curiosity or generate empathy
Are you tired of…?
Would you like…?
Since when is it not…?
Have you ever thought that…?
Did you know that…?
Address the reader informally
5 sales strategies you can implement in your company
10 SEO mistakes you can't make on your website
How to improve your organizational culture?
9 steps you should follow to create a purchasing process in your company
How to conduct a competitor analysis in your company?
Apply copywriting formulas to headlines
Copywriting formulas work as a framework for creating messages poland number for whatsapp that are capable of persuading. AIDA, in itself, can be considered one of them.

However, there are some formulas that are implemented exclusively in the creation of titles. We show you:
End result or benefit + specific time period + goal: “Increase your engagement by 20% in 3 months without much effort”
How to + keyword + promise: “ How to get more visitors to my blog in simple steps; how to make a shopping budget correctly.
Negative sentence + keyword: “Don’t waste any more time implementing strategies that don’t work”
Call to action + keyword + promise: “ Learn how to improve your website’s SEO with this checklist”
If you want to learn copywriting formulas applied to emails, read also: 10 examples of emails to increase sales with cold clients
2. Interest: “I like what I see”
At the interest stage, the person must view some type of content that continues to feed their curiosity. To do this, we recommend:
Show shocking data or facts
Tell stories that are emotional
It captures common problems or situations of joy or pain that are easy to identify in everyday life and that continue to keep the reader active and connected with the article, advertisement, publication or email.
Show information about the product or service, either through text descriptions, photos or videos.
Of course, such content should relate to the first words that caught your attention; it is just an extension of the title or topic chosen to attract the user.
3. Desire: “I want it for myself”
In the field of advertising, communicative messages must not only attract attention and arouse interest, they must also reach a third moment: generate desire, that is, the desire to obtain it.
This is the phase in which the message must direct the detected needs or interests towards a specific desire.
Therefore, at this point people must be clear about why your product or service is what they need to solve the problems or challenges you previously presented so that they feel identified.