There was a classic statement from a company executive I read once (can’t remember who) that said, “I know we waste 50% of the money we spend on advertising, I just don’t know which 50%”.

That might be okay, but not ideal, if you are a big company with a big marketing budget. Most of my clients don’t fall into that category, so I am insistent that money spent of direct advertising is as effective as possible and is intended to generate an action or response by a prospect. Generic, brand advertising is for companies with money to burn.

That prospect might be an ideal applicant for a job, or a prospective client for your services. The formula/framework I suggest you use when writing any piece of marketing copy (web homepage, flyer, advert, case study, etc) is A.I.D.A. It is an acronym for how to structure the copy from top to bottom. This is what each letter means:

A	Attention.  What is the headline that will grab your audience by the throat, stop them in their tracks and make them read on. The key emotional hot button
I	Interest.  Some sub-headlines that will reinforce the main headline and drill down deeper on the emotional hot button topic.
D	Desire or Demand.  This is where you can explain more detail of your offer, the key benefits that you provide and why someone should buy/work with you
A	Action.  What do you want the person to do? Call you? Email you? Download something? One clear call to action that will move the prospect to the next stage.