Sam Parr
@thesamparr·May 19
The single skill that has impacted my business career more than anything was copywriting.
Specifically AIDA - attention, interest, desire, action.
PS: I stole this example from @nevmed.
He’s been my #1 copywriting influence. And Frankly, personal influence.
I'll give you an example.
So let's start with the A.
Instead of saying “I'm gonna convince you to drink more water”, say “hey, have you ever seen those big meatheads at the gym who carry around a used gallon of milk that's full of water?”
That grabs your attention.
Then I make you interested.
”You see, the reason why they're doing that is because if you drink water within 1 hour. Working out, you will grow muscles 30% more than if you didn't drink water.”
Then I make you desire it, “you see, the thing about water, it's got this magical compound called an amino acid that repairs muscles incredibly quickly and it's super easy. In fact, water's free.”
Then I'm gonna be super specific on how to act on it.
”And so while you're working out, don't do this 3 hours later, you have to do this while you're working out. Carry 1 gallon of water. It can come from the tap, it could be sparkling water, it doesn't matter, but you have to drink it while you're working out.”
And so, this is a significantly better way of convincing you, someone who cares about building big muscles, to drink more water.
By the way, obviously, everything I just said is made up.
But AIDA (attention, interest, desire, action) works.
AIDA is the mullet haircut of copywriting: it’s been around forever, looks simple, and still absolutely crushes. Sam Parr stole an AIDA example from Neville and used it to show how a boring idea (drink more water) can suddenly feel urgent, exciting, and obvious to act on. You can steal the same structure for your emails, sales pages, and ads. Here’s how to plug your product straight into this formula and get more people to actually do what you want.
How To Plug Your Offer Into This Formula
Take Sam’s gym-water story and swap in your product: 1) Picture the exact moment your buyer is struggling or behaving in a weird-but-relatable way. 2) Drop a surprising, results-focused insight that explains that behavior and makes your solution sound like a shortcut. 3) Translate features into simple, emotional wins plus ease (“saves you an hour,” “feels automatic,” “costs less than lunch”). 4) End with one specific action: click, book, reply, buy. One ask, one path, no options to wander off.
The AIDA Breakdown You Can Steal
- Attention: Start with a vivid, specific scene or pattern interrupt (“big meatheads at the gym with a milk jug of water”) instead of a generic promise.
- Interest: Reveal an unexpected, results-focused reason that hooks curiosity (a simple behavior that supposedly boosts results by a huge percent).
- Desire: Stack the emotional payoff and ease (“repairs muscles fast,” “super easy,” “water’s free”) so it feels dumb not to want it.
- Action: Give one clear, concrete instruction with timing and how-to details so the reader knows exactly what to do next.
AIDA In The Wild (Modeled Off Sam’s Example)
HubSpot could grab attention with “Ever notice how your sales reps live in 17 different tabs?” then build interest by revealing how scattered tools quietly kill follow-ups.
Calm could spark desire by painting the end-of-day meltdown, then promising your brain a ‘3-minute off-switch’ that feels easier than scrolling Instagram.
Shopify could drive action by showing a phone buzzing with orders and then giving a single next step: “Install this one app and launch your first product page in 10 minutes.”
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