From E. St. Elmo Lewis's attention, interest, and desire sequence, first printed as the acronym AIDA by C. P. Russell (How to Write a Sales-Making Letter, 1921).
Orders a persuasive message into four stages (attention, interest, desire, and action) and checks that none is missing.
When to reach for it
When writing a pitch, a proposal, or a launch message that must move a reader from noticing to acting.
How it runs
- Open with a hook that interrupts the reader.
- Make the subject matter to this particular reader.
- Show what the reader could gain or achieve.
- Give one specific, easy next step.
- Check the draft for all four stages.
Where it sits in SOLVE eX
Go to the source
- The Psychology of Selling and Advertising, Edward K. Strong Jr., McGraw-Hill; credits Lewis with the attention, interest, and desire slogan, 1925
- How to Write a Sales-Making Letter, Printers' Ink, 1921