Steven Bowen
We will demonstrate here what are those facts lacking in the AIDA model which has kept it aside and people started preferring “6+1 Model”. Let us start with an introduction to both of these models in details:
Contrast between AIDA and the 6+1 Model: Which one is better?
While going though copywriting, you might probably stumbled across the acronym of AIDA which stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. The main concept that lies behind this model is that you must attract attention and persuade someone to take action. This in turn requires to raise interest in them which might make them feel desirous to take the required action. This is what AIDA model means to convey. Although, this formula has been used by copywriters for a long time and is the copywriter’s and advertisers best friend, still it seems a bit incomplete. Now, you must be thinking that if it includes everything and is the copywriters as well as advertisers best friend, then what it is lagging behind. Yes, the thing which it is lacking is “Context”.
Every day we’re bombarded with headlines like these that are designed to grab our attention. In the day today world which is full of advertising and information, delivered in all sorts of media from print to websites, billboards to radio, and TV to text messages, we are bombarded with several headlines grabbing our attention. As the world of advertising and copy-writing is becoming more and more competitive, every message has to work extremely hard to get noticed. And not only the messages, but every report you write, presentation you deliver, or email you send is competing for your audience’s attention. With the increasing competition advertising campaigns have also become more and more sophisticated. One of those campaigns appeared in the form of “6+1 Model”
The “6+1 Model” has been appeared as one of the best alternative to AIDA model in the field of copy-writing. It involves several traits including Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, Conventions, and Presentation. Each trait signifies some interesting fact and has its own meaning. Let us see below. as per this model:
Ideas– make up the content of writing piece.
Organization- is the internal structure of the piece, the thread of central meaning, the pattern of logic.
Voice- is the writer’s music coming out through words, the sense that a real person is speaking to the readers.
Word Choice- is just about the use or misuse of words. It is about the use of rich, colorful, precise language that communicates and inspires the reader.
Strong sentence fluency is marked by logic, creative phrasing, parallel construction, alliteration, and word order that makes the reading feel natural.
Conventions- guide the reader through the text making ideas readable and understandable. Actually convcention is the fine combination of spelling, punctuation, grammar, capitalization, paragraphing etc.
Finally the presentation implies how the writing looks to the reader.
Now, the concept of these two must have become clear to you. one thing you should note that the AIDA approach miss the “context” factor which is the critical component of any advertising component and in copywriting. Without the availability of context, action likely won’t result, even if you call for it. Thus we can say that AIDA doesn’t give all of the ingredients that combine to result in action that is what we ultimately want. This trouble has been resolved in the “6+1 model” approach. Let us see how:
Finally proving the 6 + 1 Model is better than AIDA
Although “6+1 model” is a little more complex, it involves information that AIDA lacks but that is needed in order to write effective copywriting. This model better perform the task in six steps along with one extra thing in bonus which it covers along the way. Let’s get started with the first step.
Step 1: Context
When targeting to the audience or third person in order to get his/her attention, one frequent question can occur in the other side mind that “Who are you, and why are you targeting him/her?”Thus before trying to get attention or anything else, it is required to establish context in order to stand out from the crowd. The context targeting to audience must clear his confusion and could answer his query like “Who are you talking to him and why?” Once this is cleared to the audience, he/she will revert you back. Thus, it is advisable to create as strong a context as possible.
Step 2: Attention
Once context has been established, now the important thing is to grab attention of the audience. This can be done in several ways depending upon your profession. For example: if you are writer, you can do so with an impressive headline; if you are designer, you can grab attention of the audience by showcasing an eye-catching presentation, etc.
Step 3: Desire
Next to attention in the marketing world comes desire. It is not necessary that if you have grabbed attention of your audience you have succeeded. It depends upon your art how you have drawn audience’s attention; their attention may remain for next of fifteen hours or can flush away in the next 15 seconds. So your art lies in the fact that in that very duration while audience is attentive to you, generate a desire or interest in him that must inspire him/her to take the action and moved to next step.
Step 4: The Gap
The gap in between the duration you have grabbed the audience’s attention and generated a desire in him/her to take the required action is very much critical. During those duration you have to represent yourself in such a way that you must convince them in an effective manner to take action of some kind. You must communicate with them in impressive manner. And at the meanwhile, you must also be ready to make you understood the difference between what will happen if they do nothing and what will happen if they take advantage of your product or service. This is well termed as establishing the gap.
Step 5: Solution
This steps demonstrate that if the audience or readers disagrees to continue with you, you must keep the ready-made solutions to convince them as well as you. It is advisable to never leave the reader in this state; so once the gap is established, you should transition quickly into your solution.
Step 6: Call to Action
The last but not least, which you have to do finally is, to end with a call to action. This in turn requires you to do two things:
- The first one is to identify the single next step that you want your audience to take when they’re done with reading. Here, it is advisable not to provide an array of options such as “Call us on the phone or visit our website or follow us on Twitter or…many more”, just provide one next action to make them proceed.
- The second one is explicitly ask the audience to take that action; just not do beating about the bush.
Credibility: The Extra Step Along The Way
Apart from the above explained six steps, “6+1 model”, as the name signifies, cover an extra step along the way as a bonus, and that point is credibility. If you have successfully crossed out the above steps, it means you are on the right track and be will be on your way to a sale. But adding one more ingredient to it, i.e. credibility will make it more interesting and exciting as well.
It does not make any sense how you cover the entire steps in your copywriting content or selling any products or doing product promotion, unless you cannot convince the audiences well. Thus it is very much necessary to well set the audience’s perception of whether a speaker is qualified to speak on a given topic; which in precise term referred as credibility. You must make the readers or audiences to believe what you say, or what you want to say.
In order to establish credibility, it is required for you to start with understanding, showing the reader that you understand their reality intimately after all, even if you don’t really know their situation. Better explain the audience why they should trust you, demonstrate social proof showcasing how many other people have already trusted you and taken the action you want them to take, showcase your expertise, and above all apply risk-reversal whenever possible.
Conclusion:
Going through the concept as discussed above, you must have come to know where the 6 + 1 model succeeds over AIDA model. AIDA fails to do that which are successfully done by “6+1 model”. The 6 + 1 formula impels you to account for the different responses that readers will have as they digest your copy, and in this way forces you to establish yourself as a source of authority in the reader’s eyes. We hope, you must have enjoyed the post.
