how does advertising work

How Does Advertising Work?

Advertising has been changing and evolving throughout the years, in order to be the best way of communication between the customer and the company. The main purpose is to inform people about the available brands on the market, helping the process of choosing which one is the right one for each person. That is amazing, right? By the time you open the newspaper or you turn the television on, you can see advertisements for products that can be interesting, meaning that without this form of communication you would probably never hear about these ones, so I’m sure that we can agree on its importance!

Advertising is not only important for customers but also for the company itself! But how? Well, it helps producers to know their competitors and it helps make people more aware of the newly launched products. It can also create goodwill and loyalty from viewers, so that by the time they associate the advertising to the brand, they know that they are buying quality products.

Lastly, society is also affected by advertising, by helping to educate people. If you can grab people’s attention for a product, you can also expose social issues, for example, liquor consumption, smoking, and also child labor. Now, we understand why advertising is so important, but how does it truly work? To simplify, the AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action) model was created, and this is a hierarchy that explains how the process works in the audience. So, let’s get through the different stages that make advertisements catch the attention and actually work. Stay with me!

Attention!

This is the first stage in this model and it’s very important because, first of all, you need to grab the viewer’s eye to your advertisement. It can be achieved by the image’s quality, so a good design and the best lettering are crucial to this step. The goal here is being quick and well directed to your target, using powerful words, or an amazing picture that will stay in their minds.

Interest

Some experts say that this step is the most challenging one to apply, because you can have the customer’s attention, but will they spend their time understanding the message of the brand or its products? The engagement is totally necessary when it comes to advertising and it’s easy to understand why it’s difficult. There are some tips that will help you turn this into an easier step, and therefore helping to pass the message quicker and in a more effective way, like for example, using bullets and subheadings. Your message will be better understood with this approach!

Desire

Desire is where the customer turns from “I like that” to “I want that”, but how do you achieve this? Simple! (at least in theory) By proving that it is possible to reach the results or the benefits that your product can make and how it will make an impact on your lifestyle! That way, the consumer will develop the desire towards the brand or the product’s features and benefits. My advice is to enforce your ideas with other people’s testimonials as proof that your brand is amazing and it actually works.

Action

Last but not least, the goal of this step is making your potential clients decide and act on their decision, by purchasing the service or the product. It would be pointless if people had the interest, the desire, and after listening to all the advertisements that you made, still didn’t act and buy! So remember that, even if the customer absorbs all the information that you provide, he can still look around, give it a trial, and only then decide on teir action.

Satisfaction

I know that satisfaction doesn’t traditionally insert itself in the acronym AIDA, but nowadays this formula is supplemented with the consumer’s satisfaction, because only there you can increase repurchases. This is a great form of advertising, because your audience gets their advice from others, satisfied with your product. This will increase confidence in your brand and plays an important role in sales!

Final Words

Perfecting this advertisement process can be challenging, but never stop understanding what will work for the people that your target audience consists of, because it will totally make a difference in your business. Lee Clow once said that good advertising is a dialog with people, and now you can understand why! Have a nice day and thank you for reading.