Recruiting participants is one of the most important steps in launching a successful mentoring programme, and one of the most common challenges for first-time Program Coordinators. This guide introduces the AIDA model, a proven framework for planning your recruitment campaign from first awareness through to sign-up.

What is the AIDA model and how does it apply to mentoring recruitment?

AIDA is a marketing framework that maps the journey a person takes before committing to something new. It stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. Applied to mentoring programme recruitment, it gives you a structured way to think about what potential participants need to hear, and when, to move from vague awareness to actively signing up.

Each stage below outlines what your communications should achieve and how to get there.

Attention: How do I make potential participants aware of the programme?

Before anyone can be interested in your programme, they need to know it exists. At this stage your goal is simple: get the basics in front of the right people. Cover the essentials, what the programme is called, when sign-ups open, and who is eligible to participate.

Effective attention-grabbing elements include a clear and memorable programme name, well-designed visuals, and communications placed where your target audience will actually see them, email, Slack, intranet, or notice boards depending on your organisation.

Interest: How do I get potential participants to want to know more?

Once people are aware of the programme, give them a reason to care. This means clearly articulating the programme's purpose and connecting it to something that matters to them personally or professionally.

Consider what your programme is designed to achieve. Is it to increase diversity in leadership? Give new graduates access to experienced professionals? Support cross-departmental learning? The more specifically you can describe the benefit to the individual, not just the organisation, the more effective this stage will be.

Desire: How do I make people want to get involved?

Interest tells people what the programme offers. Desire makes them feel that it's genuinely achievable and valuable for them specifically. The most effective tool at this stage is social proof, real stories from real people.

Famous mentoring examples can help, but nothing is more powerful than familiar faces from within your own organisation. Identify your Mentoring Champions, people who have experienced meaningful outcomes through mentoring, and invite them to share their story. A short quote, a Slack message, or a brief video from someone your potential participants already respect can dramatically increase sign-up rates.

Action: How do I make it easy for people to sign up?

Even highly motivated participants will drop off if the sign-up process is confusing or hard to find. At this stage, your job is to remove every point of friction between intention and completion.

• Share the direct link to your sign-up form, don't rely on people navigating to it themselves.
• Send the link across multiple channels: email, Slack, your intranet, team meetings.
• If the process has more than one step, include clear instructions for each.
• Send at least one reminder, sign-up intent doesn't always translate to same-day action.

What recruitment style is right for my programme?

How you recruit is as important as what you communicate. Mentorloop supports three main recruitment styles, cohort-based, rolling intake, and always-on, each with different implications for how and when you run your recruitment campaign. Understanding which approach fits your programme will shape your entire AIDA execution.

Read more in the Mentorloop guide to recruitment styles.

Where can I get more recruitment templates and tools?

Mentorloop's free Programme Marketing and Recruitment Guide goes deeper on every stage of the AIDA model, with real-life examples, communication templates, and a step-by-step approach for coordinators running their first campaign or looking to improve an existing one.