This semester during my electronic marketing class, the students will be creating their first blog. After setting up their blog websites in Weebly (Yes, I love the Weebly . . . simple and clean.) Their first blog assignment will be to apply the AIDA marketing model by evaluating 2 websites. I thought it might be a good idea to lead the way with a blog on a website. Let us consider AirFareWatchDog.com . . . Please note the red triangles that highlight the AIDA in the screen shot below:
A=Attention: Obviously, visitors to the AirFareWatchDog.com website expect to find the best air fares available today when they arrive at the website. The folks of AirFareWatchDog.com deliver on that promise immediately. Yes, the prime real estate in the top left corner of the page is the logo but immediately located to the right below the logo is a light blue box with the headline “Search for Best Airfare Deals.” My attention is captured immediately upon arriving at the website.
I=Interest: The designers have ensured that even if I do not know a particular destination to consider for a trip, they provide the lowest fares available today from my home city. Of course, they start with the lowest airfare available in order to secure my interest and draw me into exploring the opportunities for my next trip. When I clicked on the Airfare Details for flights from my home city, a pop-up box provided me with an immediate opportunity to act by subscribing to the website. Their “Get Our Best Fares in Your Inbox!” teaser line was clean and simple to understand.
D=Desire: It is my opinion that the designers slip up a bit by failing to deliver on the desire. Yes, there are options in the navigation bar to search for low fares to a city, check out their Watchdog Community, or a variety of tools including writing a review, but they are easily overlooked. If it were my website, I would include a lead-in to a “hot news story” related to travel fares, a recent review of an airline, or list of recent new routes or published promotions. It could be a simple box between the Lowest Fares and Follow Us on Twitter. The key here is to get the individual to see the benefit of checking out the website on a regular basis and not just when they are considering a trip. Admittedly, there were several features that automatically pop-up once you started exploring the airfare deals, such as the opportunity to save up to 30% by booking your flight and hotel together. This was clearly an effective message that communicated how the website could save you money. Further demonstrating the benefit that could be secured by visiting this website . . . saving me money on my travel.
A*=Action: (Note the A* denotes Action on the graphic below.) This is where this website shines in its simplicity and effective delivery of Action opportunities. The “Search for Best Airfare Deals” is front and center above the 600px “fold” of the website (Viewers do not need to scroll down to Act.) I really like how the “From” box is pre-filled in with my home city making it very easy to proceed with a search to find the fares that best meet my needs. They also provide action opportunities with the “Follow Us on Twitter,” “Join Us on Facebook” and the “Tell Us What You Think” boxes. When I visited the site today, the current poll results indicated that the most important factor to visitors when booking a flight was price (by 83%).
Overall, the AirFareWatchDog.com website does an excellent job of moving visitors from attention to action with their overall layout and use of color, graphics, and whitespace.
A=Attention: Obviously, visitors to the AirFareWatchDog.com website expect to find the best air fares available today when they arrive at the website. The folks of AirFareWatchDog.com deliver on that promise immediately. Yes, the prime real estate in the top left corner of the page is the logo but immediately located to the right below the logo is a light blue box with the headline “Search for Best Airfare Deals.” My attention is captured immediately upon arriving at the website.
I=Interest: The designers have ensured that even if I do not know a particular destination to consider for a trip, they provide the lowest fares available today from my home city. Of course, they start with the lowest airfare available in order to secure my interest and draw me into exploring the opportunities for my next trip. When I clicked on the Airfare Details for flights from my home city, a pop-up box provided me with an immediate opportunity to act by subscribing to the website. Their “Get Our Best Fares in Your Inbox!” teaser line was clean and simple to understand.
D=Desire: It is my opinion that the designers slip up a bit by failing to deliver on the desire. Yes, there are options in the navigation bar to search for low fares to a city, check out their Watchdog Community, or a variety of tools including writing a review, but they are easily overlooked. If it were my website, I would include a lead-in to a “hot news story” related to travel fares, a recent review of an airline, or list of recent new routes or published promotions. It could be a simple box between the Lowest Fares and Follow Us on Twitter. The key here is to get the individual to see the benefit of checking out the website on a regular basis and not just when they are considering a trip. Admittedly, there were several features that automatically pop-up once you started exploring the airfare deals, such as the opportunity to save up to 30% by booking your flight and hotel together. This was clearly an effective message that communicated how the website could save you money. Further demonstrating the benefit that could be secured by visiting this website . . . saving me money on my travel.
A*=Action: (Note the A* denotes Action on the graphic below.) This is where this website shines in its simplicity and effective delivery of Action opportunities. The “Search for Best Airfare Deals” is front and center above the 600px “fold” of the website (Viewers do not need to scroll down to Act.) I really like how the “From” box is pre-filled in with my home city making it very easy to proceed with a search to find the fares that best meet my needs. They also provide action opportunities with the “Follow Us on Twitter,” “Join Us on Facebook” and the “Tell Us What You Think” boxes. When I visited the site today, the current poll results indicated that the most important factor to visitors when booking a flight was price (by 83%).
Overall, the AirFareWatchDog.com website does an excellent job of moving visitors from attention to action with their overall layout and use of color, graphics, and whitespace.
A screenshot of the airfarewtchdog website with AIDA points identified.
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