People want what they can’t have. Thus, urgency and scarcity (arguably a type of urgency) are time-tested tactics for nabbing extra sales…
When it’s not scammy or dishonest, of course.
And that’s where physical products have an advantage over digital ones.
You can sell out of physical product inventory if it’s hot. You can intentionally buy a limited amount to run a limited-time offer. You can run into a supply chain crisis or two (*AHEM*) that makes your products available only for a limited time.
None of those scarcity tactics works with digital products.
People won’t (nor should they) believe your eBook, online course, or video training is in limited supply…
And businesses who pretend like theirs are make me cringe. Almost as much as the customers who fall for it.
(Come on. It’s lines of code.)
So does that mean you can’t use urgency in your marketing when selling a digital product?
Nope — far from it. Let’s look at some ways to ramp up the urgency in an honest fashion.
1. Have a Limited Number of Seats
This one toes the line between legitimate and “I have a limited number of digital copies.”
But when you do it right with a fitting product, yes, it’s legit.
See, you can limit the number of “seats” in a live workshop, coaching program, or something similar because there is only one of you.
Too many customers can spread you thin, making it tough to provide each one with adequate value for the price.
Even if you theoretically have unlimited space, you can still use “Save My Seat” button copy. That adds that sense of exclusivity (“I have my seat saved for this webinar!”) without pretending space is limited.
2. Deadlines
When you have an unlimited supply of the product itself, you can always limit customers’ time to buy.
Deadlines kind of feed into the first method. If you want to limit the number of people, you can use a deadline instead. Let them know you want to focus on your existing members first.
I did this with a client of mine who was closing their service permanently. If I recall correctly, we clinched several more sales before the doors shut for good.
Heck, you don’t have to close down your service entirely. Maybe just raise your prices, which is fully justified if demand is high or if you’re adding to the service.
Just let those who haven’t bought know that prices are going up by XYZ date due to tons of demand or additional features that are on the way. If they want to lock in the lower price, they have to get in now.
Of course, you can do the same thing with discounts and sales. Have a reason in most cases — but occasionally, you can employ the “just because” limited-time sale. Don’t overuse it, though, or you’ll weaken its sales potential.
3. Add a Limited-Time Bonus or Bundle
Who says you need to make the product itself available for a limited time?
Instead, you could add some urgency with a limited-time bonus.
One great example is offering some sort of live bonus.
For example, imagine you’re a sales coach selling a course on the subject. You might, for a limited time, include some live coaching sessions (such as mock sales calls) at no extra cost to the customer.
Or say you’re a personal trainer. You’re selling templated workout programs. As a bonus, maybe you offer some custom nutrition coaching to go along with it for a limited time.
Both of these also work in a limited-capacity fashion. You could say the first X people to sign up get that bonus.
Lastly, you could do limited-time bundle deals of your products. Combine products that work well together, then offer that discount.
Honest Urgency is the Best Urgency
It’s quite possible to inject urgency into your marketing and sales copy if you sell digital products. It mostly comes down to 2 things:
- Offering something extra for a limited time
- Bundling in something with true scarcity (like your time or a physical product)
By the way, I love helping companies that sell info products or digital products optimize their funnels and boost their revenues. If you want to do that, reach out to me today.