This Marketing Principle from 1898 is the Key to Success in 2021 and Beyond

In 1898 E. St. Elmo Lewis formalized a marketing principle that is as powerful today as it was then. If you’re not harnessing the power of this principle, your marketing effort is only firing on one cylinder.

AIDA is well-known by professional marketers, but it is mostly unheard of among real estate investors. Why? Most investors haven’t realized that they are a marketing company selling real estate services. By implementing AIDA you will gain an unfair advantage over others in your market who still think they are a real estate company that does marketing.   AIDA is an acronym that stands for: Awareness (or Attention), Interest, Desire (or Decision), and Action. This acronym is usually presented as a layered funnel where the Attention layer is at the widest top. Each layer represents a journey that your seller, contractor, and real estate agent are traveling before they decide to do business with you.   AIDA is the key to successful marketing on bandit signs, social media, networking events, and anywhere else you need to convince an audience that you are the best choice.

Getting Your Messaging Right

Each layer of the journey requires different messaging in order to appeal to your audience at the right time. Most investors focus all of their marketing efforts on the last layer of the funnel: Action. Because residential redevelopment depends on buying from motivated sellers, this makes a lot of sense. We want to speak with sellers as soon as they are ready to sell. But what is happening before they pick up the phone to call you? A lot.

AIDA Layer By Layer

To discover where all your opportunities are, let’s dissect the AIDA funnel layer by layer.

Awareness

At this level, your audience is not aware of you, or may not be aware of their problem. This is a cold audience that doesn’t know, like or trust you… …Yet. Your job at this level is to be credible, informative, and thought-provoking. Get them to start thinking about their situation. Posts that Target Awareness – Real estate market updates – Share blog articles – Differences between cash sales and conventional sales – How real estate agents can benefit by working with your team

Interest

Not that you’ve gotten their attention, it’s time to start showing them all the reasons you are the best choice. Your job is to show off. How do you solve different kinds of seller situations? How do you overcome rehab challenges? What are other people saying about you? Posts that Target Interest – Testimonials or case studies  – What is the process to like? – The benefits of working with a cash investor as a seller, agent, or contractor

Decision

Eventually, that cold audience is ready to make a decision. In the case of sellers, they may run through this funnel in a matter of hours or days depending on their distress. For agents and contractors sizing you up as a business partner, it could take weeks or months before they trust you enough to work with you. Your job is to be consistent. Consistency builds trust. Keep showing up. Keep posting on your social media, keep producing informative blog posts, and be unstoppable. Most importantly, remember to include a call-to-action (CTA). CTAs let your audience know what they need to do to take the next step.

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