Getting people to ultimately convert and buy your product is something that’s notoriously challenging to do. Many companies struggle with it for months, if not years. But what if it were as simple as creating a sense of urgency in customers? What if you could sell twice as much just by putting a time limit on when they were able to buy?
This is one of the most powerful ideas in marketing, and it has proven effective across multiple industries and situations. Companies that are able to successfully generate a sense of urgency among their customers are more likely to be the ones that thrive long-term. Here in this guide, we discuss why urgency matters so much and how you can use it.
It triggers fear of missing out
One of the biggest things that urgency does is trigger FOMO. People fear they’ll miss out if they don’t make a purchase immediately. You’ve probably experienced this yourself when you’ve been shopping for anything. If you’ve ever seen a timer that tells you how long you have left to take advantage of a sale, it makes you much more likely to want to buy. You know that you want exclusive access or to get the deal, and it’s a big emotional drive. But sometimes it can override your logical brain.
It overcomes procrastination
One of the reasons businesses use services like Sendtric, which allows them to place timers in emails, is that it enables them to incentivize their customers and clients to overcome procrastination. If customers see that they have a limited amount of time that they need to act, it can short-circuit their overthinking and prevent them from getting into analysis paralysis. It also stops them from bookmarking the page and then simply forgetting about it over the coming hours and days.
It creates the perception of scarcity
Another factor is that urgency creates a perception of scarcity. People think that they need to buy something right now. It usually implies that they won’t be able to do so in the future. A product that’s only available today or that only has 5 items left in stock is much more likely to sell quickly as people rush to avoid missing out completely.
It accelerates purchase decisions
There is also the fact that creating urgency accelerates purchase decisions. When urgency isn’t present, the buying cycle drags on. People continue to look for better deals elsewhere, often spending weeks if not months procrastinating on whether they want to spend any money. But when you create a sense of urgency, you can reduce the buying cycle to a matter of minutes. There’s a strong incentive to buy from you that they can’t help themselves. Flash sales prove that your brand is really serious about winning their business.
It increases average order value
Finally, you can use urgency to increase average order value. People are much more likely to spend more money today on bulk discounts and bundles if they know that they will need to pay higher prices tomorrow.