AIDA Model
Attention, Interest, Desire, Action framework for structuring persuasive marketing copy.
The AIDA model is a 120-year-old marketing framework that describes the stages a consumer passes through when purchasing a product or service: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. It remains useful as a scaffolding for financial adviser marketing because it forces a firm to separate the jobs that different channels and creatives must do.
Attention is the job of top-of-funnel advertising, PR, thought leadership and brand. The goal is to interrupt a prospect's attention long enough to deliver a one-line proposition. For UK advisers this is typically a compelling hook: a contrarian view on a common belief, a concrete benchmark statistic, or a named situation the prospect recognises ("if your pension pot is over £250,000 and you are 55-plus").
Interest is the job of mid-funnel content: educational blogs, guides, podcasts, videos that deepen the prospect's understanding of the problem the firm solves. The goal is to move the prospect from "this is a headline that caught my eye" to "I want to learn more about this from this firm specifically".
Desire is the job of social proof, case studies, adviser profiles and reviews. The goal is to move the prospect from "I understand the problem and solution" to "I believe this firm specifically is the right firm to solve it for me". This is where E-E-A-T signals matter most.
Action is the job of the landing page, the booking flow, and the immediate post-submission experience. The goal is to remove friction between decision and commitment.
Modern refinements to AIDA (AIDCAS, RACE, REAN) add retention and advocacy stages, which matter materially for adviser firms where referrals and long-term fees dominate economics.
See also: customer journey, funnel, RACE framework, conversion optimisation.