Some things in life are valued because they are beautiful or powerful or useful.

But other things are valued because they are scarce.

Rare minerals like diamond and gold are great examples of this. They hold so much value because they are in limited supply.

That brings us to the principle of using scarcity when writing copy.

What is scarcity?

Scarcity is a phenomenon where when something is in limited supply (or perceived to be), it becomes more alluring.

It’s no wonder that people go crazy on Black Friday.

I’m sure you’ve seen them camped outside stores in the freezing cold just so they could be the first to get in when the doors open.

It’s scarcity that drives people to take such drastic action.

Everything is on a crazy sale. A sale that happens only once a year! And everyone knows that the stock will fly off the shelves fast. That’s why they’ve got to act quickly.

When you inject an element of scarcity in your copy, you raise the perceived value of your product, prompting people to act fast.

It puts pressure on the customer, thereby creating a sense of urgency to act immediately otherwise he’ll end up missing out.

And the fear of missing out plays a huge part in why scarcity is so effective.

The fear of missing out or FOMO is the desire to want to stay in the loop. No one likes to feel left out of anything. And so this desire to want to stay connected to what everyone else is doing influences people to participate in the action.

2 ways to incorporate scarcity in your sales:

1. Quantity-related scarcity

This is where you emphasize that only a certain number of items are left in stock.

For example, if you have a webinar coming up, you could say, “Only 50 seats are available”

This increases the urgency and makes people take action immediately because they wouldn’t want to miss out.

2. Time-related scarcity

This is where you put a time limit on the offer.

For example, if you have a course on sale, you could say something like:

“The 50% offer on the course expires on 20th October midnight. After that, it goes back to full price.”

Your customers will be driven to buy the course now so that they save up on 50% of their money. 

Another great technique is adding a countdown timer on your offer page, which counts down the remaining days, hours and minutes. The effect of seeing time ticking away in front of their eyes compels the customer to act fast.

As we've seen, using scarcity in your copy is a powerful way to boost your sales. But it has to be done right.

Your customers are not stupid. If the deadline for your offer has passed, close down the sales. Don’t mislead people by keeping the page open for extended periods of time. You’ll end up losing credibility and any future use of scarcity in your copy will not be taken seriously.

If you would like my help in implementing this and other strategies to sell your high ticket products and services, get in touch with me by clicking the button below to apply for a complimentary consultation.