From blogs to videos, social media to e-books and everything in between, content marketing is a hot topic in marketing right now. And for good reason: it's an effective way to reach customers and build your brand. But do you know what makes content successful? What are the elements that make up great content that drives results? We'll go over those now!

AIDA is a marketing framework that has been around for over 100 years, but it's still as relevant today as it was back then. It's a four-step formula to develop effective advertising campaigns through which you can generate leads and sales for your business.

AIDA stands for Attention, Interest, Desire and Action—the four phases of the advertisement process:

Attention—This phase is the first stage where the consumer sees an ad or hears about something new. For example, if you're scrolling through Instagram at work (and why wouldn't you?) and see an ad from a clothing brand proclaiming "New Collection Now Available!" that would be an example of this phase in action. Your eyes will naturally move toward words like "new" because you want to know what's hot right now without having to do any research yourself!

Your content needs to catch attention. That's the first thing you have to do because without that at least some people won't read it.

This is where we can use social media to our advantage: on Facebook and Instagram (among others), we can post great images that will help us get attention. If you're writing an article about inspiring quotes and motivational sayings, post some images with these quotes in them! It's not hard; just Google "inspirational quote" or whatever phrase you want in quotation marks and see what comes up. You'll find plenty of pictures like this:

• Tell a story:

The most successful content on the internet is always the kind that tells a story. It could be an emotional one, but if it's not, make sure you still have something interesting or surprising in there. You can use a personal anecdote to tell your audience how you got started and what you've learned along the way—this will help them relate to and trust you. If they're invested in your success, they'll be more likely to buy from you over someone else!

• Write conversationally:

People don't want to read marketing copy—they want to talk with their friends about products and services they enjoy using every day (or at least once in a while). So don't sound like an ad; instead, write like someone telling friends about their weekend plans or favourite vacation spots (if those aren’t available yet). Your writing should be casual and conversational; don’t try too hard because it will only come off as insincere!

The next step in creating successful content is to create a desire for your product or service. The most common way of doing this is by creating a sense of exclusivity and urgency.

Include a call to action at the end of your content, like: "Don't forget to sign up for our newsletter," or "Click here if you want more information." This will make your reader feel like they're missing out on something if they don't take action.

If there are any technical reasons why you can't include links in your email (for example, if it's being sent through Office 365), use numbers instead of links so that people know what action they should take next: "We'll be sending out another email soon with more details about our service."

The best content solves a problem. It's tempting to share your brand with prospects and customers, but you'll have a much better chance at success if you position yourself as the only solution.

Don't just tell them what you do—show them. Showing is always more effective than telling because it engages the reader more deeply and forces them to engage with the information before they can buy into it or not. They'll need more time and energy invested in understanding how you solve their problems before they're ready to become yours.

As you’re writing your content, don’t forget that it should have a call to action. This is the point at which you ask your reader to do something.

For example: “If you want to learn how to use social media for business, click here now!”

Or: “To get more tips like these, subscribe here.”

Retention is a key metric in content marketing. It's important to keep the readers engaged, not only to get them to take action but also to build a loyal customer base and create relationships with your customers.

How do you retain customers? Provide value to them! Give your audience something they can learn from or use in their daily lives. This content will help them accomplish their goals and live happier lives—and that's what we're all about!

When you write with AIDA in mind, your content will be more effective at reaching your audience and driving results. You can use AIDA to develop any type of content, from blog posts to emails and even social media updates. Use these eight steps as a guide for your next piece of content and watch what happens!