The Power of Scarcity (Fear of Loss)

Fear is an incredibly powerful motivator. You’ll see everyone from marketers to politicians to bosses to parents using fear to get people to take some specific action. They do it because it works.

Now, I’m not saying you have to act like Freddy Krueger from the horror movies and scare the bejeebies out of your prospects. Not at all. Instead, all you have to do is lightly touch the fear trigger to make a big impact.

Here’s how to do it…

Create a Fear of Missing Out

This phrase (fear of missing out) has become so popular recently that it has its own acronym: FOMO. Typically this applies to people who can’t stop looking at their smartphones, because they have a fear of missing out on some Facebook post, pop culture trend, or even an invitation to go out.

You can take this natural fear and funnel it into your sales system by creating an offer that’s somehow limited. For example:

• Limit the offer to a set number of people. For example, perhaps you set up a PLR membership site with a strict membership limit of just 250 people. Or you can offer a bonus or discount to the next 100 people who order now.
• Offer a discount or bonus for a limited amount of time. For example, you can offer a 50% discount that ends in 72 hours.

As you can see, there are a lot of different ways to create scarcity, boost urgency and in general create a sense of fear.  These include:

• Discount sales.
• Flash sales.
• Dime sales (the price goes up every day or after each purchase).
• Early bird offers.
• Introductory special rates.
• Holiday sales.
• Grand opening sales.

I could go on with this list. In all cases, the offer is somehow limited. This creates a fear of missing out on a great deal, which in turn boosts your conversion rate.

Here’s the second way to create fear…

Remind People of Their Fears

One of the best examples of this comes from the marketing you see from insurance companies. Basically, they get prospects to imagine what it would be like if they lost everything in a fire… and they didn’t have insurance.

You don’t need to sell insurance to remind people of their fears. No matter what you’re selling, you can remind people of what might happen if they don’t order now.

Example 1: If you choose to do nothing and leave this sales page, you won’t lose the weight. The ridicule will continue. People will give you disapproving looks when you’re out on the street. You’ll hate what you see when you look in the mirror.

Example 2: This problem is not going to get better if you ignore it. Those few fleas you see on your dog now will multiply. Soon your entire house will be infested. Fleas will infiltrate the carpet, the furniture and even your bed.

You see how this works? Create a scarce offer or remind people of their fears, and you’ll see a boost to your conversion rate.

Next time we’ll look at the conversion-boosting power of consistency…