What is the AIDA Model in Marketing and Why It Is So Important?

In 1898 Mr Lewis wrote a beautiful definition of good advertisement, “The mission of an advertisement is to attract a reader, so that he will look at the advertisement and start to read it; then to interest him, so that he will continue to read it; then to convince him, so that when he has read it he will believe it. If an advertisement contains these three qualities of success, it is a successful advertisement.”

In other words, copy is only good if it attracts attention, generates interest, and creates conviction, in that order.

This became popular as AIDA model and has shaped the views on marketing and sales strategies for over 100 years. I believe it’s a very practical thing which can help you define the goals of your marketing campaigns and pull or push customers to purchase action or to put differently – it’s a proven model to convert strangers into customers.

AIDA is an acronym which stands for Awareness, Interest, Desire & Action. This is a logical sequence for making any marketing or sales strategy work by making the customer traverse the journey from being aware of your product to actually buying it.

Awareness: How do you make the prospective customers aware of your product or service? Personalization and guerrilla marketing are two perfect ways to master this step of capturing the attention or making the customer aware of your product/service.

Interest: How do you gain their interest in your product or service? 

Desire: What makes your product or service desirable? It can be cognitive (giving features, results or any other information which customers want) or affective (feeling) but the customer should feel intensely about the product. It takes the purchase away from the need towards the want. 

Action: What are the calls to actions? Finally what makes the customer shell out the money and carry your product or service home?  Good advertising should elicit a sense of urgency that motivates consumers to take action immediately. One commonly used method for achieving this goal is making limited time offers (such as free shipping) or discount to first n orders etc.

A major deficiency of the AIDA model and other hierarchical models is the absence of post-purchase effects such as satisfaction (or dissatisfaction), consumption, repeat patronage behavior and other post-purchase behavioral intentions such as referrals/recommendations or participating in the preparation of online product reviews. Just to cover this, post purchase behavior of the buyer, a letter R for ‘Retention’ has been added and you may as well hear the model being called as AIDAR Model.

  

What Is Marketing Mix and Why It Is Important for Growth?

A marketing expert named E. Jerome McCarthy created the Marketing Mix /4Ps in the 1960s. This is a basic thing for marketing professionals in theory but many entrepreneurs get it wrong on the ground while executing the plan and face failure. This article will help you understand the basics of the Marketing Mix. If understood and executed well, you can deliver what your customers want, when and where they want and at what price do they want. Bingo … that’s the recipe for success in business. Let’s get started.

The marketing mix is a foundation marketing model for businesses. Broadly it refers to the set of actions or tactics that a company uses to promote its brand or product in the identified market. The 4Ps – Product, Price, Place & Promotion, make up a typical marketing mix.

Product: refers to the item actually being sold or service being rendered. The product or service must deliver a minimum level of performance; otherwise even the best work on the other elements of the marketing mix won't do any good. The product can be intangible or tangible as it can be in the form of services or goods.

Price: refers to the value that is put for a product or service. It depends on costs of production, targeted segment, ability of the market to pay, supply - demand and a host of other direct and indirect factors. There can be several types of pricing strategies, each tied in with an overall business plan. Pricing can also be used as a demarcation, to differentiate and enhance the image of a product or service. Generally adding elements of service to the base product is a great way to charge some premium or differentiate your product. E.g. FREE installation with the geyser or AC will definitely attract more customers. Even the assurance of quality in terms of guarantee can help you charge more.

Place: refers to the point of sale. In every industry, catching the eye of the consumer and making it easy for her to buy it is the main aim of a good distribution or 'place' strategy. Retailers pay a premium for the right location. In fact, the mantra of a successful retail business is 'location, location, location'.

Promotion: this refers to all the activities undertaken to make the product or service known to the user and trade. This can include advertising, word of mouth, press reports, incentives, commissions and awards to the traders. It can also include consumer schemes, direct marketing, contests and prizes. Promotion boosts brand recognition and hence sales. Promotion compromises of – Sales Organization, Sales Promotion, Advertising & Public Relations.  

All the elements of the marketing mix influence each other. They make up the business plan for a company and handled right, can give it great success. But handled wrong and the business could take years to recover. The marketing mix needs a lot of understanding, market research and consultation with several people, from users to trade to manufacturing and several others.

Later on with the advent of Services Marketing as a subject 3 more Ps – Physical Evidence, Process & People.

With everything available at just the click of a mouse, today’s consumers are more empowered than ever, with greater expectations for brands to meet their requirements with relevant, easy-to-use content, and to provide a product offering that meets expectations.

Marketing is must to sell your products or services and succeed in this competitive era. In the quest to grow, all entrepreneurs do something or the other to spread the word. Figuring out the right marketing mix before you get started on marketing can help you save efforts, time and money.

The marketing mix breaks down what’s needed to make a business work, but success isn’t attributed only to modeling theory templates like Marketing Mix. It’s attributed to the depth of insights used to develop each stage and the excellence of execution.

Businesses that can deliver on what their consumers truly want, and showcase how their brand will enrich their lives, will see the best results.

Top reasons of why most of the startups fail?

Start ups are exciting. More start ups mean an economy which is fertile for growth and a land full of dreamers. 137,000 Companies get started everyday in the world of which 90% i.e. 123,300 companies get shut down in the very first year. In India alone, 107 million people try to establish 85 million businesses every year. How many of these entrepreneurs really succeed? Very few! 

Most of the start ups fail to make a mark and die even before they pick up and start walking - you are right - I am pointing to first year death of start ups. In my opinion there can only be one of the two reasons behind this pre-mature death of any start up:

ONE - Product is not good.

TWO – Marketing is not good.

If the product is not appropriate – I can’t help. I think no one can help here. You, as an entrepreneur need to conceive and give birth to your baby called product. No matter how difficult or complex the process is; you need to take the pain yourself. You are the mom and dad both to your product.

But if the marketing has not been done properly; nothing to worry. It’s not rocket science. You just need to sing the song more melodiously and louder. Raise the voice, shout, cry, make some noise and get heard. If you feel you are already shouting on top of your voice and there is no scope for raising the volume – shout more often and shout at more places. If it’s still not enough get others along who can shout for you.  

Ah yes, knowing some tips and tricks before beginning can definitely help you in saving your hard earned (or your investor’s hard earned) money. Having some experienced & knowledgeable minds contribute to your Marketing Strategy can significantly shorten your learning curve and speed fast your growth curve.

Top Reasons of Why Rewards and Recognition Programs Fail?

As a rewards and recognition expert I consult lots of HR people and heads of organizations. They have good budget, a foolproof plan and big dreams for not only crafting but also executing a world class Rewards & Recognition Program in their organization. 
Yet, the blatant truth is - it fails in most of the cases. Here are two common killers of all the Rewards & Recognition Programs:
  

  1) The king of all killers for Rewards & Recognition Program is complexity. Organizations go on to announce too many, too long and too complicated programs which are difficult to announce, way more difficult to explain and hence impossible to follow. People end up missing very silly and simple things and hence don’t even qualify or just miss winning by small things. Even the competent people and teams end up feeling like losers which is clearly against the objective of the program.

  2) The queen of killers for Rewards & Recognition Program is delay to the fruit. Many people and teams qualify & win something exciting way ahead of the timeline yet the recognition is brought to them many months later in the next big event of the organization. By this time many of the people in teams may change and even if the people are there – they would have forgotten the excitement of the achievement. Bigger loss is – had the team been rewarded immediately, they would have ignited the spark in many more people/teams to do the same. Thus, building momentum, producing more winners, pushing the organization’s top line as well as adding to the culture of excellence.   

Make your Rewards & Recognition Programs simple and fast. Let people get wowed by your speed of bringing fruit of their karma. Let they not only feel like achievers and proud of their achievements but also inspires others to build a tribe of achievers.

Ultimately, the goal of any Rewards & Recognition Program is to build a tribe of achievers and reach excellence. Let’s get started with whatever we can do to bring the best from the people & do the due.

Rewards & Recognition is a powerful resource which is undervalued and underutilized.

It was mid June 2017. I was District 41 Director at Toastmasters International. My term was about to get over in few days and my District was leading the Dashboard as #1 District from more than 100 Districts across 143 countries with a significant margin.
We had reached at this leading position on the dashboard because of three main inputs:
1) A compelling Vision by
the leader i.e. myself in this case
2) An amazing and unstoppable team
3) A culture of Rewards & Recognition

In the mid June, I contacted one of my 28 Area Directors and asked if I could help him to make the Area Distinguished or better. He told me about a club which needed some six more members to become Distinguished which also could lead to his Area becoming Distinguished.

I agreed to visit the President & VP Education of the club with the Area Director. We got an appointment and reached. As we sat in the meeting, I allowed the hosts to speak about the challenges and why it's not possible to get new members at that time. I paid attention as if it was my first date with my fiancee, listening to all his concerns and reasons of why it can't be done. When the President was almost done. I thanked him for opening his heart out and giving a vivid picture of the health of the club.
Then I took  my Toastmasters membership pin off my coat and handed him saying, "My friend, you have been a great leader of the club. You have done so much so far. We have n number of reasons for not being able to do it but only one to do it - I WANT YOUR CLUB MEMBERS & DISTRICT 41 TO BE PROUD OF YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS. This pin is an advanced reward for your achievement of making the club Distinguished. I know you can do it, wear the pin when it's done."

I thought they will be able to make it a Distinguished Club by adding 6 more members (which they lacked) within a week.

The Club President surprised me by calling in 3 days with the good news that the Club has become Distinguished by reaching strength of 20 members and he was delighted to wear the pin.

Rewards & Recognition is a powerful resource which is undervalued and underutilized. Organizations which go on to become the best in their fields understand and treat this at prime priority.

This is the very realization which motivated me to start Muskurado Pvt Ltd - A Rewards & Recognition Company!