Wednesday
Nov032010
Test your AIDCA
Wednesday, November 3, 2010 at 7:30AM
A clear message, making it possible for employees to act decisively is an important act of leadership. The art of writing well might take years to acquire, luckily there are shortcuts, go ahead and test your skill:
Photo by gregw66 Flickr CC
As well known as SWOT analysis is for strategy, as known is AIDCA for marketing. The acronym stands for:
Tip: If you want more details on the basics, Mindtools have a great little article.
Now for something a little bit different. How about taking your latest email or message to the organization and rate it on a scale of 1-5 (1=Strongly disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=Neither agree or disagree, 4=Agree and 5=Strongly agree), to see where you stand.
Rate Attention (1-5) by taking a look at your message and ask yourself: What is this? Why have I been sent this? Is it for me?
Rate Interest (1-5) by asking yourself: Is this relevant? Does it tell me something I should know? Why am I spending valuable time reading it? Are there headings so I can skip the less important things? Does it involve me?
Rate Desire (1-5) by asking yourself "what is in it for me"? What do I have to gain? Is it easy to see the benefits early and in clear wording? Is it obvious that you should continue reading?
Rate Conviction (1-5) by asking why you should believe the promise, is it credible? Has anyone else tried it?
Rate Action (1-5) by asking yourself what the message wants you to do, is it clear? Is it easy? Does it make any difference if I do it today? (or should I stuff it into the pile of other things to do later... and probably forget?)
After having summed up the score, see how close you came to the maximum 25 points. Try it once a day for a week and see how you develop. It is a simple but curiously effective little exercise to improve your basic communication skills.
As Churchill said:
What do you think, is this exercise difficult or inspiring?
Photo by gregw66 Flickr CCThe classic AIDCA
As well known as SWOT analysis is for strategy, as known is AIDCA for marketing. The acronym stands for:
- Attention - To get the readers attention, you might simply start with their name.
- Interest - To get interest is deeper than attention, concentrate on the reader's needs.
- Desire - To make the reader really want your solution, describe its features as benefits.
- Conviction - Testimonials is a great way of increasing your solution's credibility.
- Action - Lastly, be very clear on what you expect the reader to do as a next step.
Tip: If you want more details on the basics, Mindtools have a great little article.
Rate your writing
Now for something a little bit different. How about taking your latest email or message to the organization and rate it on a scale of 1-5 (1=Strongly disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=Neither agree or disagree, 4=Agree and 5=Strongly agree), to see where you stand.
Rate Attention (1-5) by taking a look at your message and ask yourself: What is this? Why have I been sent this? Is it for me?
Rate Interest (1-5) by asking yourself: Is this relevant? Does it tell me something I should know? Why am I spending valuable time reading it? Are there headings so I can skip the less important things? Does it involve me?
Rate Desire (1-5) by asking yourself "what is in it for me"? What do I have to gain? Is it easy to see the benefits early and in clear wording? Is it obvious that you should continue reading?
Rate Conviction (1-5) by asking why you should believe the promise, is it credible? Has anyone else tried it?
Rate Action (1-5) by asking yourself what the message wants you to do, is it clear? Is it easy? Does it make any difference if I do it today? (or should I stuff it into the pile of other things to do later... and probably forget?)
Keep track of your progress
After having summed up the score, see how close you came to the maximum 25 points. Try it once a day for a week and see how you develop. It is a simple but curiously effective little exercise to improve your basic communication skills.
As Churchill said:
"Criticism is easy; achievement is difficult."
What do you think, is this exercise difficult or inspiring?
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