Opportunity knocks only once, you better be ready to open the door.
For a limited time only…
There were only 500 copies made and there won’t be any more…
It was really difficult to write this lesson on the powerful persuasion principle of scarcity. All of the phrases I tried to use to illustrate this concept kept triggering the SPAM filters in my email software.
The reason these phrases are on the ‘hot lists’ of all the email programs is because of the way they have been abused by spammers. They used these scarcity invoking phrases because they work!
Researchers have traced the desire to get something that is restricted all the way back to the developmental age of 2 – that is when children first become aware of themselves as individuals. It starts that early and never lets go.
Human beings are more powerfully motivated by the fear of loss than the desire to gain. So, when a marketer invokes the idea that we may ‘lose out’ on an opportunity, the urgency to purchase whatever they are selling rises – even if we don’t really want it…
——————————————————————-
The Marketing “Gurus” don’t want you to find this site…
——————————————————————-
…We also are conditioned to associate rareness with value. So, when the number of copies of a product is limited, suddenly we are more willing to pay top dollar. This is a strategy that is well utilized by many marketers who are selling expensive products. It is a key strategy in the Mass Control process that Frank Kern teaches and he uses it in nearly every promotion that he does.
One unique twist to the power of scarcity is when an abundant item becomes scarce. This radically amplifies the urgency to buy a product.
One technique that is employed in many big product launches is to announce a sudden surge in the competition for the already limited product. The marketer starts by limiting the quantity of their product that is available. Then, they announce how many people have joined their product announcement email list to demonstrate the competition for their limited product. Then, as launch day approaches, they just so happen to mention how some other person sent out a promotion to their mega-huge list of subscribers ‘completely by surprise’ radically increasing your competition (and making the product seem more scarce!)
That little ploy has generated millions of dollars by creating a launch day feeding frenzy.
There are many ways to introduce scarcity into your marketing. If your product itself isn’t scarce, you can offer a special bonus that is. Coaching sessions are popular because the coach’s time is limited and that creates a very real reason for the scarcity. You can also offer something ‘licensed’ where the limitation is how many copies you could afford.
The only type of scarcity strategy to avoid is one where the scarcity is a lie. If there is no good reason why a product is limited, people will see through your attempts to make it scarce. Even worse, if they catch you selling more than the number of copies you said were available, your reputation will be trashed.
So, your challenge as a marketer is to identify real limitations you can place on your offers and then invoke the scarcity principle in your marketing to turn up the buying pressure.
Now, print this email out immediately. It could disappear at a moment’s notice and you will never remember all of the brilliant advice I gave you unless you put it onto paper 😉
Tomorrow’s email is the most popular lesson I have ever written. I am constantly getting compliments on it from the people who read it, so I know you’ll love it too!
Andrew Seltz
The Go-To Guy!
www.GoToGuyEnterprises.com