#155 Blog Post: AIDA

http://dennyhatch.blogspot.com/2022/05/155-blog-post-aida.html 

 

#155 Blog Post.  Tuesday, May 10, 2022.

 

Posted by Denny Hatch

 

Why eMarketers Break Rules:
They Were Never Taught AIDA!

 

The ad above showed up as the second paragraph of a news story in my daily digital New York Times. It ran for several days

 

It resonated.

 

I immediately remembered being bumped around and hassled by gypsy pickpockets in Spain and how our friend Huguette’s sunglasses were ripped from her open handbag in the middle of a rowdy New York City crowd. She was damn lucky they didn’t get her wallet.

 

Is their pants pocket really and truly pick-pocket-proof? If so, maybe I would order a pair of these slacks (if affordable) for travel.  

 

Quite simply, this little illustration in the middle of an online news story got my ATTENTION.

 

“ATTENTION” is the first “A” in “AIDA.

 

The full acronym: Attention - Interest - Decision - Action.

 

These are the four basic steps—the inviolate sequence—needed to make a sale and get an order.

 

“AIDA” was the first lesson I learned when I went to work for Grolier Enterprises (Dr. Seuss Books by mail and Encyclopedia Americana Yearbook by mail) in 1965.

 

AIDA is true for the retail environment, direct mail, off-the-page advertising and/or in the digital world of email and the Internet.

 

In print direct marketing, the Attention-getter is the:

 

• Teaser copy on the Outside Envelope.

 

• My late great friend Bill Jayme called the direct mail envelope, “The hotpants on the hooker.”

 

• Headline on the Ad

 

• “Johnson Box” at the top of a direct mail letter.

 

Interest is the main sales pitch. A personal, convincing letter — one writer whispering in the ear of one reader — that creates an emotional bond that promises benefits, benefits, BENEFITS. Backed up by a brochure, illustrations, facts, figures and testimonials.

 

Decision is the behavior changer—where the prospect decides to become a buying customer.

 

And the final A for Action is the order mechanism that makes it real easy to order.

 

CothingArts Did NOT to Generate Interest

I clicked on the little ad above and my computer screen and was immediately co-opted by the series of giant splashy landing pages of www.clothingarts.com.
https://www.clothingarts.com

 

I was suddenly blitzed with a repeating razzle-dazzle kaleidoscopic slide show:

• 8 enormous slides changing every 4 seconds.

• Images of men’s and women’s lower-torso outerwear.

• Plus, a slide of fireworks exploding over the Eiffel Tower.

• The last slide was the curious slide below from  Easter Island.

• Each of the 8 slides offered 5 places to click for more information.

• That’s 40 click choices (including a shopping cart) to be made in 32 seconds.

• Whereupon the cycle is repeated all over again. And again. And again. Till boredom did us part.

 

 

Have a Quick Look at This Slide.
It Breaks Two Cardinal Rules.

 

• Question: Can you see the 3 invisible words to click on: “Apparel,” “Testimonials” and “About”? (You gotta squint mightily to see these words—just to the left of the wee word “CART” at upper right).

 

• Broken Rule #1: “Never set your copy in white type on a black background and never set it over a gray or colored tint. The old school of art directors believed that these devices forced people to read the copy; we now know that they make reading physically impossible.”

—David Ogilvy

 

• Broken Rule #2: The words, "Explore Our Cubed ® Travel Journal.” Cubed ® means nothing. Zero. Zip. Nada. This is internal corporate private-speak gibberish and a waste of the reader’s time.

 

Today’s Hotshot Digital Marketers
Don’t Know Squat About Distance Selling

The teaser ad at the top of this screen is headlined:

“PICK-POCKET PROOF®

TRAVEL-WEAR

YOU WANT.tm“

 

How does this pick-pocket proof pocket work?

 

How was it different from other pick-pocket-proof garments? (Such as the cargo pants and photographer’s vest I already owned.) How did these guys manage to get “pick-pocket proof” Registered ®? Obviously they have a Unique Selling Proposition. (USP).

http://dennyhatch.blogspot.com/2018/10/26-your-toughest-copywriting-challenge.html

 

Or do they?

 

IMO, there’s no difference in snail mail/direct mail and email.

 

“All mail is opened over a wastebasket.” —Leah Pierce

 

“With email you’re a mouse click away from oblivion.” —Denny Hatch

 

In direct mail it is imperative to have a riveting outside envelope to catch the eye and get Attention.  Otherwise, all your hard work is deader than Kelsey’s nuts!

 

Unlike the direct mail envelope to grab attention, all email looks alike in the inbox. Savvy old-time direct mail copywriters know to spend hours perfecting an intriguing, benefit-oriented subject line.

 

Direct marketing newbies spend hours tinkering with their message and copy until it's j-u-s-t   p-e-r-f-e-c-t and then slam out the first subject line that pops into their empty heads and click “SEND.”

 

Recently I got this cold email from Jon Kelly. A stranger. I don’t know a John Kelly.

 

 

I was intrigued. I clicked on it, skimmed the stories. Well-written, new stuff. Worth a sign up for a free newsletter.

 

Here's how John Kelly communicates with  me:

 

 

A letter!

 

 

He does not blitz me with giant revolving sales pitches à la the ClothingArts crowd. He is luring me into his  world gently and respectfully. Building a warm, trusting relationship.

 

The more I get to trust him and like him, the more likely I am to read his stuff and eventually spend money with him.

 

Takeaways to Consider

 

• Attention - Interest - Decision – Action is the inviolate sequence of how get inside a prospect’s head and change his/her behavior.

 

• “In direct marketing there are two rules and two rules only: Rule #1, test everything. Rule #2, see Rule #1.” —Malcolm Decker

 

• “Direct marketing is intimate advertising.” —Stan Rapp

 

• Direct marketing is NOT throwing shit  against the wall and betting the recipient will spend time sorting through a pile of  miscellany and make a purchasing decision. 

 

• The beauty of e-marketing is the ability to offer a simple click to bring the prospect into an extraordinary razzle- dazzle world of excitement and alternate reality.

 

• Hitting on a prospect with 8 flashy revolving slides and 32 click choices in 32 seconds emphatically AIN'T intimate advertising. 

 

• About the subject line/initial message: “Keep it short. For many recipients, especially those reading your emails on mobile devices, shorter is often better. We recommend you use no more than 9 words and 60 characters.” —mailchimp.com

• To find out how and why “Pick-Pocket Proof®" Travelwear is unique, proprietary or different from an old-fashioned zipper on a pocket, you have to go through the entire website. Finally at the end is the dissertation and description of what is “Pick-Pocket Proof®."

• These eMarketers buried their USP at the very end!

     

 

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