Sell More Stuff: Legitimizing Scarcity
Still in an undisclosed location doing dramatic things. In the absence of a real explanation, please assume I am on a deserted island with my Colombian lover.
I’m on a bit of a “sell more stuff” kick lately in case you haven’t noticed. (The other day’s comeback post was about offering too many choices as part of your marketing strategy.) Today, I’m on scarcity.
For newbies, scarcity is a big time marketing strategy. Short version: “Buy now ’cause they’re almost gone!”
Scarcity in marketing is a tough nut. On one hand, it’s arguably the best way on earth to sell your shit. On the other hand, done improperly — and it’s almost always done improperly — it’s as dirty as a Tijuana lady of negotiable affection.
My mother just bought me a book about — shocker — marketing. It’s called “YES! 50 secrets from the science of persuasion”. It’s got 50 little mini essays about, you guessed it, the science of persuasion. One of my favourites is about an uber-famous infomercial writer who upped sales by, like, a gazillion percent by changing three words in their script.
Three words, dudes.
Version one (the classic): “Operators are waiting, please call now.”
Version two: “If operators are busy, please call again.”
“On the face of it, the change appears foolhardy. After all, the message seems to suggest that potential customers might have to waste their time dialing and redialing the number until they finally reach a sales representative.
“That skeptical view, however, ignores the power of the principle of social proof. In brief, when people are uncertain about a course of action, they tend to look outside themselves and to other people around them to guide what they do.
“Consider the mental image likely to be generated when you hear “operators are waiting”: scores of bored employees filing their nails or clipping coupons while they wait by their silent telephones — an image indicative of low demand and poor sales.
“Now consider how your perception of the popularity of the product would change if you heard the phrase “if operators are busy, please call again”. Instead of those bored, inactive representatives, you’re probably imagining operators going from call to call without a break. In the case of the modified line, home viewers followed their perceptions of others’ actions, even though those others were completely anonymous.
“After all, [goes the thinking] if the phone lines are busy, then other people like me who are also watching this infomercial are calling too.”
Here are some random thoughts about scarcity.
Hopefully you’re bright enough to pull them together into a cohesive whole. Clearly, I am not.
Avoid arbitrary scarcity. Maybe I’m a nerd here, but when I see a product — especially a digital product — with a sales page that screams “ONLY THREE LEFT!!!” I seriously wonder WHY there are only three left. Are they losing their domain name? Has the price of bytes gone up? Seems pretty arbitrary to me.
In my case, this is particularly relevant. SEO School is coming off the virtual shelves on August 8th. This is because it’s a supported product, and I’m the only one supporting it. If readers have questions, I answer them. If they need advice, I give it, and there’s no limit. It’s not like one question per person. Lifetime support, dudes. I’m the last stop on the SEO School train, and enough people have bought it that I can’t afford to sell more and subsequently give shitty service. As far as I’m concerned, this is a legitimate reason for something to be scarce.
If you can’t come up with a damn good reason to make a scarcity plea, don’t make one. If you wouldn’t honestly sell this shit to your mother using the same pitch you’re making to your potential customers, back to the drawing board go you.
Subtle is better. This one is divisive. If you make a huge screaming deal about there only being a few slots/copies/whatever left, you CAN sell more. You can also alienate yourself and totally screw any future product offerings.
What you’re looking for here is the perfect balance between hitting people over the head with your offering and letting the scarcity factor go unnoticed.
You know how everyone has that thing they unknowingly stock up on? For my mother, it’s yellow t-shirts. If she sees one, she buys it. For my husband, it’s MP3 players, which tends to be a little more expensive. For me, it’s brown shoes. I can’t walk by a pair of brown shoes without at least considering whipping out the debit card.
Walmart had a sale on. I was in there buying diapers, not because I saw a particularly attractive SALESALESALE sign. But I saw a pair of shoes that I sort of liked. (Aside: Remind me to tell you about the time Michael, nine, wouldn’t let me buy a pair of platform espadrilles because “they make you look like a Mexican midget.” Never mind. I think I might have just told you.)
I’m not feeling particularly witty today, so I’ll cut to the chase and say that the shoes were on sale, they only had one left in my size, and I bought them. I didn’t need them, I didn’t particularly want them, but I bought them anyway because I figured that if I wanted them tomorrow and they were gone, I’d be pissed.
And I run a fucking marketing company.
Let them think they’re getting a steal. For a very brief moment during the Brown Shoes # 843 incident, I mentally did a double take. I looked around me, wondering why nobody else had already snapped up the last pair of brown eight-and-a-half-wides. I thought to myself, “Are these people stupid? Do they not KNOW?” (It couldn’t possibly be because the shoes were actually ugly or that I was the only one in the store with duck feet.) I was nearly furtive in the shoe grabbing.
Then I went outside and called my best friend to tell her Walmart was having a shoe sale.
The better you are, the less you have to say. The truly exclusive stores don’t need to advertise their sales. Walmart sends three flyers a week. Nothing is wrong with either tactic, but it’s a good idea to know where your product stands in the Louis Vuitton to Walmart spectrum and market yourself accordingly.
So, that’s it. The official IttyBiz stance on scarcity. If you want SEO School, it’ll be up till next Friday.
So…Jamie’s on board with this Columbian lover? Never mind.
Why is it most scarcity types scream? Televangelists with the “we’re only praying for ingrown toenails for the next 3 hours so get your credit cards out,” the Oxy guy on cable, even the Disney vault guy is intense. Sheesh.
Really, to get distance from that mob makes you consider giving stuff away and going with the honor system.
It was so nice to find a new post from you in my feed reader.
Zappos do it, but I’m not sure they are doing it too well. EVERY SINGLE TIME I place something in the shopping cart, a red-font text informs me that there are only “3″ or “2″ or “1″ left in that size.
Needless to say, since it happens every single time, I just came to recognize it as a scam and ignore it.
I do wonder if it evokes a sense of urgency on a subconscious level.
You are much better at it.
Oh, great, so now I can’t make any more money off of you? It’s aaallll about YOU, isn’t it, Dunford?
Hell, I’m just happy you wrote something. Nice to hear from you. Decent treatise on scarcity.
Glad to see you posting again, really missed that. ;)
Scarcity is not only a “nice” trick because it emerges some kind of urgency in the targeted consumer to act fast, but it is also a subtle way of giving this guy the very important feeling that if he purchases one of the last few items left he will belong to an exclusive group of people. “Hey, 997 of 1000 items have already been sold. If I quickly get me my copy then I belong to the exclusive thousand people who have this product!”
As consumers, we always want to feel special or have the feeling that we made a good deal that nobody else made. That’s how limited editions of CDs/DVDs/etc. work. There is this deodorant for example (Axe in Germany, Lynx anywhere else as far as I know) and they have this “limited edition” and I like it very much. So, next time I went to the store I grabbed me three of them. Time is passing and today I’m still buying the same limited edition. It’s five years later now, though.
I have to say that nothing makes me more sceptical then “last chance to buy” because it’s so often followed up by “well we decided to give you ONE more week AFTER that…which will go on forever.
It’s like the parent that says “This is the LAST time I’m going to tell you…” and then you stand in the check out counter and listen to her say it five more times.
Glad you are back today. So sorry to hear you have to spend your time out on a deserted island with a really hot lover. Hope things turn around soon :)
@Wendi - I was thinking about what you said about how everyone does this and therefore it’s not very believable (because, you know, sometimes I think). And I realized that the reason doesn’t have to be an airtight alibi. It only has to be good enough so people can give themselves permission to buy something they already want.
@Micheal: I like that, I will definitely keep that in mind if I ever have to come up with a sales-letter. It’s an interesting concept: We need something that gives us the permission to buy something even though we already want it.
Now, excuse me please, I’m going to try to find the permission to go into debt to get that BMW 650…
“…home viewers followed their perceptions of others’ actions, even though those others were completely anonymous.”
Heh. The human brain clearly wasn’t designed for TV. “Anonymous” isn’t even the right word for these non-people; as far as the viewers know, they don’t verifiably exist at all!
The really screwy part is that it works *even when you see it coming*.
Sometimes I worry the human race is going to market itself into extinction.
Naomi,
The way it’s done is all about who you’re doing it to.
But nevermind the Columbian lover. ;)
If you scream, you get a certain group of people saying yes to your scarcity. If you go subtle and exclusive, a different group will pick up on the message.
“It’s a good idea to know where your product stands in the Louis Vuitton to Walmart spectrum and market yourself accordingly.”
Yup. Well said.
Regards,
Kelly
Scarcity, if you use the tactic appropriately, can allow you to charge a premium price.
Numbered prints come to mind. Better yet, the artist’s proof. Wouldn’t you pay more. Or, try and buy a Prius right now. I’ve seen them at $5k over asking. Many years ago a company I worked for a company that helped launch a new brand of premium vodka. They went to all the high-end bars and clubs and told the bar tender they could only have one bottle. This was to be served to their best customers for $50 a shot. Vodka at $50 per is crazy. Huge success.
James
Well, the scarcity thingy worked for me! I have been procrastination on SEO School since it came out for one reason or another. Even though I have pimped it and your blog to several others, I still hadn’t paid for and downloaded it myself! Thanks for the kick in the butt Naomi!
ugh and I can’t spell! procrastinating, not procrastination.
[...] I just learned that Naomi Dunford will stop selling her ebook SEO School on August 8th. In her post Sell More Stuff: Legitimizing Scarcity, she explains why: “This is because it’s a supported product, and I’m the only [...]
Well, I am glad to know that you are still with us, I was getting worried there for a bit. Thanks for being so transparent about what you are all about. Scarcity is about $$$, and marketing is about getting people to pay attention to that scarcity, right? That sounds about right.
Dear Naomi,
Am interested in Columbian lover.
How many are left? Am I too late?
~Allena
Naomi,
Do you have a layaway plan for Christmas? For the book not the Columbian lover. Sheesh everything over here is in the gutter.
First off, I’m good with the layaway plan for the Columbian lover for Christmas! Oh, hell, Monday is my birthday- send him Overnight!
Naomi, I too am always so glad to hear from you- your time away causes the perfect example of how scarcity draws great interest! I wanted to comment on how cool it is that you have the integrity to pull the book so you don’t drown under the service promise. It shows integrity for your customers and it shows integrity for yourself in knowing where to draw the line between profit and service.
Brown shoes? For me its (man, I hate to admit this) books and ebooks. I gotta have ‘em. I have an ex-husband who had the balls to tell me once that if I ever read half the books I bought I’d be a friggin genius. Doesn’t matter a bit that he was right, it was still a lousy thing to say. Hence, the ex- part of the husband.
Finally, Michael, I completely agree with this statement: “It only has to be good enough so people can give themselves permission to buy something they already want.”
My daughter has had her eye on this little red convertible. Not a new car, by any means, but a convertible for a busy mom of three little rugrats. She was having a tough time justifying buying the car until her son climbed on her car, which was on its last legs, and shattered the windshield with his foot.( no injuries, he’s fine) Her immediate response: Within 48 hours she was transferring the title of the little red convertible into her name! Obviously, the first priority was the child didn’t get hurt, but oh boy now I can buy the cute car was CLOSELY followed behind!
Teresa Hall
Hi Naomi
I would really love to buy a copy of your SEO Ninja book. I only managed to read the review of your book on copyblogger today! Is there any possbility of you accepting just one more customer, namely me?
Kind regards
Andrew
Hi Naomi,
I’m in the same boat with catching up on my RSS feeds on the weekend, saw Brian’s post on Copyblogger and, well, the rest is pretty self explanatory. Can I flip Andrew for the last copy?
Steve
I suggest Andrew, Steve and I thumb-wrestle for the last copy.
ALTERNATIVELY, I’d be willing to buy it with a solemn promise to never tap you for even a minute of soul-sucking customer service or one-on-one advice in the year 2020. I’d be happy as a lark to pay you for a copy just to simply read it. What say you Naomi?
Naomi,
I just ready the review on copyblogger. I am sorry that you are “cutting off” you manuscript, understanding the service platform and structure that is needed to support your product.
I do believe a forum of readers could be setup via BBoard for those who read, comment, review, and help. This group cannot access your service, but can buy the book and join the forum.
You can alway peek in and comment without becomming involved in all the BS.
If not, I would gladly pay for the e-book without the customer service help.
Dave
Please send me a compelling email utilizing either the word ’shyster’ or ‘pudding’ and I’ll strongly consider it. Video footage of the thumb war would also suffice. :)
Oh, Naomi, please publish them here!! Please????
I Naomi will hate me for this but is there anyway I can get a copy off of someone who originally got this ebook before the 8th deadline. Im catching up on my blog readings and just came across this article. I’m willing to pay - hell isn’t the book industry based of off resale? Help a bother out…… And no I will have no question for Naomi so don’t think by helping me I will be causing more headaches for her!!!
Jeremy
[...] in knowing more about SEO, I’d recommend Naomi Dunford’s ebook, but unfortunately she’s stopped selling it. In the meantime, check out this brief introduction from Aaron Wall, who knows more about this [...]
Bummer, I totally missed this post when I got behind on my reader. I just today sent out my post about how everyone MUST have this book. What a shame. Oh well, it’s the price of pay for getting so behind on my Reader and just marking stuff as read.
Good luck with things. Hope things calm down for you. Better yet, I hope you’re still on your tropical island with your Latin lover ;-)
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