Seriously, who wants to be sold to?
And yes, when you’re a business owner or marketer, it’s darn near impossible not to feel the urge to use social media, Google, email, and SMS to get your product or service seen by as many people as possible.
But unless you’re a big company like McDonald’s, in 2025, simply forcing your product into the public eye isn’t going to cut it.
Getting people to care about your product goes beyond just plain copy saying, “Buy this”, and uploading basic skew images on a background or a product video.
Understanding how to capture consumers’ attention and convert them into customers is crucial for achieving success in copywriting and marketing on any platform.
It’s also about selling at the right time.
Recently, I read the Boron Letters by Gary Halbert, one of the masterminds in marketing and copywriting.
In his writing, he suggests a proven formula that is still more apparent today: the AIDA Formula, a technique for getting your audience engaged in your content.
In this article, I’ll discuss the AIDA Formula and how it is still used in all facets of marketing today.
Using The AIDA Formula To “Arouse [The Audience’s] Desires”
Take a second to think about it – When you’re scrolling through Netflix at night, unsure what to watch, the thumbnail grabs your attention first.
A striking image or title that causes you to pause.
You click for more, and the trailer starts.
In under 30 seconds, it pulls you in with a gripping storyline, a mood, and a question you suddenly need to be answered.
You start imagining the experience — the escape, the laughter, the late-night binge you didn’t know you needed.
It feels like exactly what you’re in the mood for.
Without overthinking it, you hit “play.”
Not because you have to, but because every element made you want to.
This sequence of events and this experience perfectly sum up the AIDA Formula, a go-to model that helps you conceptualise an “aha moment” and/or visualise the benefit of the product or service being offered to you.
What is the AIDA Formula?
The AIDA Formula is a copywriting and marketing framework that provides a sequential outline for building content that arouses the audience, ultimately leading to improved engagement and purchases of a product or service.
The AIDA Formula (aka AIDA Model) was developed by advertising pioneer Elias St. Elmo Lewis in 1898 with the motto “attract attention, maintain interest, create desire”, and later, the fourth element, “get action”, was an added addition. (Toolshero)
To this day, the AIDA Formula is continually adapted and used by marketers and copywriters around the world, including Gary Halbert, as mentioned in the Boron Letters.
The 4 Pillars of the AIDA Formula – A Secret Weapon That Turns Cold Prospects Into Raving Buyers
Let’s break down the AIDA formula used by marketers and copywriters today so you can insert it into your sales funnel. Emails. Advertisements, copy:
1. Attention
If you don’t stop your audience from scrolling past your social media content or not opening or clicking on a link in an email, you’re stuffed (AKA Game Over).
Audiences are bombarded with hundreds to thousands of messages a day.
Your first job?
Be the pattern breaker.
Be the reason why you sparked their interest.
Gary Halbert used to glue actual coins to sales letters.
Why?
Because when someone gets mail and hears a clink, they stop and look.
That’s the edge.
For Marketers in today’s digital environment, it could be your header or subject line, thumbnail, imagery, or hook.
The fact is, you only have a couple of seconds to achieve it.
2. Interest
Now that you’ve caught their eye, don’t bore them.
Hit them with an insight.
A shocking stat.
A bold claim backed by truth.
Even a personal encounter or reimagining the experiences of your intended audience.
Basically, that’s “interest” 101.
It’s what drives your audience to become more invested and have a greater desire for what you’re trying to convey.
3. Desire
This is where you paint a vivid picture in the audience’s mind of the transformation they’ll experience—or the life they’ll live—once they have your product in their hands.
It’s about making the prospect feel it. Smell it. Touch It.
Many business owners and marketers make the mistake of thinking this is simply just listing the product features or specifications.
Nup.
As Gary Halbert says, “you must always do even the obvious.”
Creating a Feature + Benefit Table
“Sell the sizzle, not the steak.” – Elmer Wheeler
I know, it probably made you hungry thinking about it.
But your job here is to make the prospect feel the result, not just understand it.
The table below gives you a guide for the process of considering how features can be translated into benefits.
You can either click this link for an Example Google Sheet Template that is ready for you to use or create your own using either Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel:
4. Action
The last component of the AIDA Formula is ‘Action”.
This is where it’s the best time in your marketing content to “tell them exactly what to do”.
Whether it’s in the form of purchasing a product, sending an enquiry, visiting a product or landing page, or even downloading a high-value content offer.
And while you’re at it, inject urgency and provoke action like your life depends on it.
Of course, ensure it’s realistic enough to be believed and does not claim something that cannot be backed up or proven true.
Breaking Down Campaigns Using the AIDA Formula
Email Marketing: AllTrails
As an example of the AIDA formula being used in Email Marketing, AllTrails crafts an email campaign that smoothly guides the reader from curiosity to conversion.
Attention:
Starts with the subject line, “5 ways nature supports your mental health”.
It is then secured with a bold, research-backed headline: “The research is in.
As a recipient of this email, you know straight away that the email is going to be informational.
It is then backed by the first line, “The research is in,” instantly sparking curiosity, positioning the email as both credible and relevant.
Straight away, the subject line and first part of the headline promised a specific, vivid benefit that the reader is going to learn something.
The use of numbers is also a benefit from a marketing and copyrighting perspective.
“Numbers give your prospect a tangible object or logical idea to wrap their head around [as well as] structure”. (Sabri Suby)
Interest:
Nature boosts mental health.” This statement instantly sparks interest in the connection between nature and mental health.
With the email being connected to World Mental Health Day, the opening line gives the message timely importance.
Desire:
The last step of the AIDA Formula, to build Desire, the email presents five compelling benefits of spending time in nature.
This ranges from cutting stress and reducing inflammation to boosting energy.
These are not obscure claims but are supported by scientific insight, which adds trust and tangible value.
Action:
Finally, the email concludes with action, offering clear and concise calls to “Download the study” and “Start exploring.”
It’s obvious that the marketing and design team behind this advertisement ensured that they sold at the right time, with the CTAs being thoughtfully placed.
They also try to leverage the fact that if the prospect thinks that the information is helpful enough, then it’s a no-brainer to download the high-value content offer for more insightful information.
Social Media: Monzo
Monzo, a British online bank, incorporates elements of the AIDA formula into its social media content to engage its followers and inspire them to take action.
An example of this was a social media post they created, where they recreated a Friday Night binge watch with a guy choosing takeaway over his partner’s home-cooked meal.
@monzo nothing kicks off a Friday night like your Monzo reminding you how much you spent on takeaway 🤭 #monzo ♬ bounce i just wanna dance – фрози & joyful
Source: @Monzo
Attention:
The social media video starts with a guy picking up and looking at his phone.
This sparks attention in the viewer’s mind to be curious as to what the notification or message is about.
Interest:
The element of interest established in this advertisement comes from the dramatised string of messages going back and forth between the guy and her partner.
You might also be left thinking how on earth you could be rejecting a lovely meal by your partner.
Desire:
The social media video then recreates the vivid image of takeaway, iconic to a Friday night takeout night.
Action:
Although it’s subtle, the wink at the end is a form of CTA (call to action), following the inclusion of the Monzo notification.
This subtle CTA informally suggests to the audience to do the same and that the money can be tracked. Here, the CTA doesn’t need to be loud — the utility speaks for itself.
Monzo nails the AIDA formula by staying relatable and entertaining while subtly highlighting its core benefit.
These social media pieces by Monzo aren’t trying to sell hard — they’re trying to resonate first, then convert through relatability.
The AIDA Formula – Final Word
If your marketing content isn’t generating the clicks, leads, or sales, you’re likely missing one of these four steps.
Use the AIDA Formula.
Grab their attention. Build their interest. Stoke their desire. Drive them to take action.
This isn’t a theory.
This is the same formula behind 7-figure launches, high-ticket closings, and conversion rates that make competitors cry.
Plug it into your next campaign—and watch what happens.
Keen to learn more about Gary Halbert? Read my previous article: I Read Gary Halbert’s Boron Letters: 5 Brutally Honest Lessons on Marketing & Sales