Let's see how the AIDAR model enables you to differentiate your communication according to the lifecycle phase of the customer.
What's the first phase of the customer lifecycle? And the second?
Your customer starts off as a prospect, then becomes a visitor. In this chapter, I'll give some tips to better convert your prospects into visitors.
But first… let's lay the foundations of the communication.
Communicate Effectively While Remaining Relatable
At first glance, digital marketing and its massive communications can seem dehumanizing. Instinctively, the obsession with data and performance appears to contradict the notion of human relationships. However, one doesn't prevent the other.
I'd go even so far as to say that digital and traditional marketing are really both about human relationships.
The effectiveness of your communications depends on your ability to connect with the recipient of your message.
Attract the Attention of the Target Audience
When it comes to developing any relationship, the first step is always the same: you have to attract someone's attention.
The same goes for products and services, which must find a way to stand out to generate market interest.
Today's consumers are so in demand that their attention has become a scarce resource.
In some industries, dozens or even hundreds of advertisers are competing for the same person's attention. This increases advertising costs and reduces marketing effectiveness.
But don't let that discourage you! In this crowd of advertisers, not all of them have mastered the fundamental marketing or neuro-marketing techniques that make a message stand out.
In neuro-marketing, communication passes through all of the senses.
In digital marketing, you will primarily use sight and sometimes hearing (video marketing, audio content marketing). When you communicate with your prospects, carefully choose the words and the imagery that you use.
When it comes to grabbing attention, words are secondary to visuals. In a saturated advertising landscape, the consumer's eye does not take the time to read all of the editorial messages it sees. It first sorts by scanning the images, then the large headlines, and finally the subtitles.
Attract Attention With a Visual
For a visual to be effective, it must be engaging.
Things that are strange, surprising, intriguing, or eccentric.
Bright colors.
Food.
Cute or exotic animals.
Attractive or young humans.
Combination: attractive humans feeding surprisingly bright colored baby animals.
Attract Attention With Text
The size of your font can indicate the importance of the message. In theory, the larger your text, the more attention it'll attract. On the other hand, the longer it is, the more effort it will take for the reader, making them less likely to read it.
Every character, every word, every line counts. Marketing text (copy) should be precise and concise, or it will be lost.
Use the right keywords and be personal and direct.
Occasionally, take a look at YouTube's trending page to analyze which thumbnails and headlines work the best. I'd suggest you check some out now, but I'm afraid you'll get sucked in and won't come back to the course! :D
Get Creative With Alternative Techniques
What's new attracts attention.
Some unscrupulous marketers use people's misery to attract attention and then sell them a product, service, or idea.
Bad buzz is still buzz. Or, negative publicity is better than no publicity. Some celebrities use this to their advantage, especially when they make money by being famous (Nabila in France, Kim Kardashian in the U.S.). Those who master the art of bad buzz are always looking to provoke a reaction. In other words, being despised can reap big rewards.
These tips are useful if you want to attract the attention of as many people as possible. However, they do not always apply to all organizations. Whether visual or text, a company's communication must follow its graphic code and editorial guidelines. Not all organizations can afford to use bright colors, puppies and sugar to grab a prospect's attention.
On the other hand, if your target is precisely defined (like that of a luxury brand, for example), you'll want to avoid using copy or imagery that attracts the wrong audience.
There's no point in attracting someone's attention if you don't pique their interest. Tailor your communication according to your organization's marketing positioning.
Generate Interest in Your Site
Getting your prospect's attention is one thing; arousing their interest is another. You need to give your prospects an excellent reason to visit your site.
You selected your prospects because they are interested in what you're doing. If you attract people who have no interest in what you offer, then your targeting is too broad.
If a prospect has all of the right characteristics to buy your product but aren't interested, you aren't conveying your message well enough. The human brain is continuously (consciously or not) scanning its environment for:
Opportunities to improve its condition.
Threats to avoid.
You can use this very primary mechanism to your advantage. Your target will inevitably be interested in solving a current or anticipated problem.
Measure the Conversion of Prospects Into Visitors
How do I measure my efforts to attract visitors?
Imagine that to execute Mimine's marketing plan effectively, Zoë is launching an online advertising campaign with Facebook Ads, with a budget of €5,000.
There are different ways to pay for online advertising. For example, you can pay by the number of impressions or clicks.
Cost per Thousand Impressions
If Zoë decides to pay by the number of impressions, her CPM (cost per thousand impressions) will be €1.
CPM = (campaign cost ÷ number of impressions) × 1,000
CPM=(5,000 ÷ 5,000,000)×1,000 = 1
Cost per Click
Now let's say that with €5,000, Zoë was able to generate 75,000 clicks.
If she decides to pay by the number of clicks, then her CPC (cost per click) will be a little less than €0.07.
CPC = cost to the advertiser ÷ number of clicks
CPC = 5,000 ÷ 75,000 = 0.0667
Click Rate
To measure the effectiveness of the advertising, Zoë can watch an metric called the click rate or CTR (Click-through rate). This is how you calculate it:
CTR = (number of clicks ÷ number of impressions) × 100
CTR = (75,000 ÷ 5,000,000) × 100 = 1.5
In this example, Zoë's campaign click rate is 1.5%, which is excellent. The more attention and interest the ad gets from the prospects, the more this rate will increase, and the more effective her campaign will be in bringing visitors back to the site.
Let's Recap!
In this chapter, you learned how to turn your target audience into visitors to your site. This happens through:
Human communication with a strong message that creates a connection with the audience.
Techniques to attracting attention using visuals, texts, or alternative methods.
Turning that attention into interest.
Measuring efforts to analyze performance (and the cost of visitors).
So you've figured out how to make a prospect progress to the next phase of the funnel. Now you need to stimulate a desire to convert visitors into leads.
