For the last decade, I’ve worked in marketing departments promoting everything from crystal awards to welding materials and financial products.

But when I started writing books, it was unfamiliar.

I was not only promoting my book, but myself. Every written word might make or break my writing business.

Even so, there were things that my roles taught me that were useful for book marketing and writing.

I asked myself, “How could I use what I learned in those jobs to market my writing business?”

AIDA was my answer.

In 1924, Elias St. Elmo Lewis, an American Advertising advocate, created AIDA, which is still in use today. He formulated the slogan: attract attention, maintain interest, create desire, and get action. Today, we simply use attention, interest, desire, and action or AIDA.

You don’t need to be a marketing guru to understand it. You just need to know that your audience will be in one of these phases.

Let’s look at how to use it to promote your books and writing business.

The A in AIDA is for Attention or Awareness

If you look at the top of the funnel, awareness is at the top. The reader realizes the problem and searches for a solution.

A simple way to think of this stage is a customer asking, “What is it?”

You can create a plan to educate them on the problem and the solution. The solution would be your offer (book, free resource, course, and so on.)

For example, let’s pretend I need ideas for marketing my new book. I’m a new author and I’ve never done this before, so while I’m writing my book, I am plagued with the question, “how do I market my book?”

I am not sure at this stage what to do, but I know what my problem is. Sometimes you might notice this problem because of an advertisement on social media. The business is targeting this specific challenge because they know their audience.

With your brand, you want to do something similar, whether it’s an ad, a post, or something else.

For your writing business, consider:

• What problem do you solve?
• What might your audience be searching?

To better understand your audience, use groups and online forums like Quora, Reddit, or Facebook groups. For instance, I searched “book marketing” and found this example in the image: “What are some creative book marketing ideas?”

Once you understand the problems readers are having, you can create solution-based content that educates them about those problems.

When you think of the problems your audience faces, think of helpful content they can use right away and offer it as a free resource.

For readers in this stage, the following are useful for helping them find you:

• Articles
• Webinars
• Podcasts
• Guest Posts
• Videos
• Social Media Posts

The content you create can take time to build, but you will want to get this part right. This is the top of the funnel, where you are targeting a bigger audience.

The I in AIDA is Interest

The next stage in the AIDA model is to build interest. Think of this stage as the actions that lead to your customer saying, “I like it!”

Now they’ve gone from problem-aware to becoming interested in the solution you offer.

The goal is to get them to go from liking your idea, product, or brand to wanting it.

Use some of these ideas to stimulate interest:

• Web content
• Product pages
• Newsletters
• Social Media Posts
• Blog Posts
• E-mail Campaigns
• Guest posts or podcast interviews

Regularly, you need to get in front of your audience and build interest in your product, service, or your brand.

The D in AIDA is Desire

At the desire stage, the reader has decided that they view your brand favorably.

This is also the stage where everything needs to be real. Include reviews, testimonials, and real statistics to convince your audience of the impact it will have on them.

The Desire Stage Brings in Prospects

Other strategies include messaging and graphics that show the result of what will happen if they buy the product or service.

• What value does your brand offer?
• How will it improve someone’s life?
• What kind of growth will they see?

It’s not just about following a specific set of rules. It’s about building trust with your audience by addressing their common frustrations with real-life solutions.

Also, your reader can’t talk to you face to face. So they need to see the product or service from all angles. If it’s not a product in the traditional sense, but a service or intangible item, then make sure your imagery is showing the emotion.

Build desire with these ideas:

• Short Courses
• E-books
• First Chapter (in a book)
• Brochures
• Testimonials
• Free Community Board (Facebook groups)

You want to arouse desire in this stage so that your “prospects” become customers.

The Final A in AIDA is Action

If everything so far has gone well, your audience is now thinking, “I have to buy it!”

What action do you want them to take?

It isn’t always a purchase. Maybe you want to grow your email list.

Use elements on your website that move an interested audience into a decision. Create opt-in forms and make your CTA as clear as possible.

You don’t want your audience to get frustrated and leave your website because of annoying pop-up ads, a button that isn’t working, or a confusing process.

The following resources will drive action:

• Free resource library
• Templates
• Consultations
• Try before you buy
• 30 Day Money-Back Guarantee

These freebies are valuable and contain great content, which will hopefully lead to some of your audience wanting to purchase a paid class, resource, or product.

One strategy is using a tripwire. Offer a free resource and when they sign up, a paid offer is shown. There’s usually a countdown timer, and the offer is not too expensive.

(Note: I use system.io to help with this.)

If you plan on using this strategy, don’t expect that everyone will buy your product. Instead of focusing on a buy, focus on how you can provide valuable solutions for the viewer.

The best strategy is one that is authentic and honest.

Retention

There’s another stage to consider. It’s not a part of AIDA, but I think it’s worth mentioning.

After you have successfully turned your audience into buyers, then what?

Previous buyers can be your biggest evangelists!

They might become fans that spread your message through the blogosphere. They will most likely buy from you again, especially if you won them over with your valuable resources and products.

We could call this stage “Retention”. You don’t want your audience to drop off the radar after a sale. You want to keep them engaged.

Try some of these ideas to keep your current customers:

• Email campaigns
• Targeted ads or Retargeting
• Upsells
• Referral programs
• Special Memberships
• Discounts
• Rewards

The goal is to get the people that you’ve helped in the past to stay on your email list and continue to want what you offer.

Think of ways to re-engage with them and consider the best way to do that with your audience.

Conclusion

When you consider your personal branding strategy, I hope this has given you some ideas about how to create content that will target your audience and bring them back again.

Personal branding takes work to set up and use, but once you understand your audience, it becomes much easier.