The ACCRA model - the path from AIDA to ACCRA

In the Online Marketing of companies, everything revolves around accompanying potential customers on their customer journey from the initial contact with products or services to the actual conclusion of the purchase. The so-called AIDA approach is used, which is divided into the 4 phases Attention | Interest | Desire | Action. The ACCRA model extends AIDA by a decisive point. The team at our agency for online marketing in Munich has taken a closer look at the advantages of ACCRA for you. AIDA-Ansatz angewendet, der sich in die 4 Phasen Attention | Interest | Desire | Action unterteilt. Das ACCRA Modell erweitert AIDA um einen entscheidenden Punkt. Das Team unserer Agentur für Online Marketing München hat die Vorteile von ACCRA einmal näher für Sie beleuchtet.

What is the ACCRA model?

Similar to the AIDA model, the ACCRA model combines the 4 phases Awareness | Consideration | Conversion | Retention, but expands them by the 5th phase Advocacy, which deals with customer care and retention after the actual purchase.

We will explain later why this extension is so important for the customer journey and the associated online marketing. In the following, we will first describe the 5 phases of ACCRA.

1. AWARENESS: Raise awareness among your target group

In this first phase, it is important that your target group becomes aware of your products or services in the first place. This is made possible, among other things, by using the company's own web pages, which provide a range of information that can be called up at any time in order to awaken a possible need in the prospective customer.

2. CONSIDERATION: Initiate considerations with potential customers

In this phase, potential customers start thinking about how they can use your offer to fulfill possible needs or solve problems. They engage intensively with guidebooks or blogs.

Here it is important for companies to deliver a real added value and clearly highlight the advantages of the offer. web design and Web Development help not only to ensure a professional and consistent look on websites and social networks, but also to position the most important information in the right places. In this context, Search Engine Optimization also plays an important role.

3. CONVERSION: Konvertieren Sie Ihre Kunden

Phase 3 is all about making sure your target audience is ready to convert, does so, and becomes a customer. This doesn't necessarily have to be an immediate purchase, but can also be conversions in the form of newsletter subscriptions, downloading whitepapers, arranging an initial meeting, and many other aspects.

4. RETENTION: Work on customer retention

The focus of this phase is on retaining the newly acquired customers in the long term. In this context, it is important to stay in close contact with your customers and to provide them with information and offers that bring lasting benefits, even after the conversion.

5 ADVOCACY: Turn your customers into brand ambassadors

The ACCRA model not only focuses on the customer much more intensively than the AIDA model, but also sees phase 5 as an opportunity to turn loyal customers into brand ambassadors.

This means that customers recommend your products and services offline and online to family and friends via personal recommendations or to strangers with experiences and reviews.

Promote this form of marketing by using appropriate platforms for the evaluation, which can include your own web development, but also evaluation portals or comment functions in social networks can serve as a basis.

What are the advantages of the ACCRA model?

The ACCRA model takes into account the fundamental areas of customer loyalty and recommendation by customers. With this approach, the customer journey is further accompanied by marketing and online marketing activities and you avoid losing sight of your customers.

Instead, you achieve that your customers are convinced of your brand, like to buy from you again and become regular customers.

In addition, you automatically generate a high level of customer loyalty, which ideally develops so well that your customers are happy to recommend your offering to others.

What role do touchpoints play?

So-called touchpoints, where customers come into contact with your company on their customer journey, can be found throughout the entire customer journey.

At this point, it's good to know that there are direct and indirect touchpoints. At direct touchpoints, customers come into contact with your company directly via phone calls, chats, or in a personal conversation, among other things. Indirect touchpoints include your websites, social media channels, and other touchpoints.

Whether direct or indirect touchpoint, make sure you don't make false promises and are authentic. Be sure to have important information ready, thereby establishing the customer's sense that they are the focus of your attention.

Conclusion: This is how you can practically implement the ACCRA model in online marketing!

Recommendations made by your customers are a strong sales argument and are optimally taken into account within the framework of the ACCRA model.

Focus more on your customers and their needs and ensure intensive and long-lasting customer loyalty from which both sides benefit. We would be happy to support you with our full-service agency in the practical implementation.