| |
| |
|
Marketing Information |
|
|
|
Limited Time Only (Shh! Its A Secret)
Under normal circumstances, you'd shout it from the rooftops. After all, when you have something urgent to say, you want others to know about it, right? But when it comes to "limited time only" offers, lately I've noticed a disturbing trend. Copywriters seem to actually be hiding the phrase! Let me give you some examples. I received a fabulous email from a ladies clothing site at which I like to shop. It was for 50% off my entire purchase of anything on their site (clearance items or regular price). Wahoo! What woman wouldn't love that? Trouble is, I almost missed the deal due to procrastination. Like most busy women, I was going to go to the site and shop? later. However, I happened to notice, way down at the bottom of the email in tiny, little type, that the sale ended in two days. Why would they think the phrase "Limited time only - sale ends Friday, July 15, 2005 at midnight" was insignificant? When I saw that phrase, I immediately zipped over to the site and began bargain hunting. (Found some fantastic deals, too!) Here's another example. As I was sitting at a fast food restaurant eating lunch, I was fiddling with the paper "tent" ads on the table. One was for a new salad (nope, not in a healthy mood) and one was for strawberry cheesecake. That sounded good, but I was almost finished with my sandwich and fries so I really didn't have room. I wasn't going home so I couldn't take it to go. I thought I'd just pick up a slice the next time I ate at this place until I saw - at the very bottom of the ad in teeny, tiny type - the "limited time only" phrase. I know this restaurant. They bring new, test items in and out all the time. If they said, "Limited time only," I knew they meant it. Chances are (since I didn't get to eat at this restaurant often) I wouldn't get to try their cheesecake. If I had known it was a limited time offer, I would have ordered a slice before I got full. Don't Play Games With Limited Time Offers Make a point to let customers know they have to act fast, or they'll miss out. The fear of being left out or left behind is a basic human motivator that can be triggered pretty easily. The trick is to actually let your customers know an offer is limited in some way. Here's how to create a powerful limited time offer. Things go on sale all the time, so if you're selling clothing or food or office supplies, you might have limited time offers that end simply because the sale date has past. However, if there is a reason your offer is limited (limited supply of items, testing a new item, etc.), tell the customer. This can actually increase the sense of urgency. Make your offer credible. How do you do that? By sticking to your word. If you say an offer will end on a certain date, end it or give a darn good reason for extending the offer. If customers see that you continually tout "limited time offer," but keep the discount running past the deadline, you'll lose credibility and sales. Give a reasonable deadline. Customers need time to act. Car manufacturers run incentive offers for a month or longer in part because of the high cost of vehicles and the need for arranging financing. The online clothing site I mentioned earlier set its deadline at two days (customers could easily click over to their site and shop immediately). Depending on the item, the purchasing medium and whether there is a need for financing or such, you can adjust your deadline to whatever works best for you. When your customers understand you're making an offer that will expire shortly, they are motivated to act now, rather than later. If you give them a good enough reason not to procrastinate, you can see a major surge in sales. Urgency is never something you want to hide in your copy. © 2005 - http://www.copywritingcourse.com Copy not getting results? Learn to write SEO copy that impresses the engines and your visitors at http://www.copywritingcourse.com. Be sure to also check out Karon's latest e-report on search engine copywriting: "How To Increase Keyword Saturation (Without Destroying the Flow of Your Copy)" at http://www.copywritingcourse.com/keyword
MORE RESOURCES:
Marketing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Secret of Strategy - Part 1 A step-by-step guide to creating a growth strategy based on your current situation and future possibilities. I'll bet you think you already have a strategy. Be a Smarter Marketer - Learn the L-A-W for Trade Shows People attend trade shows because they are in a specific industry and want to learn more. They want to know what's new and how you will help them. Target Marketing: The Bell Curve Finally, Something You Learned In Math Class Makes Sense In Real Life.Okay, here's the day you've been waiting for since 9th grade: today's the day you're going to find out what some of that funky stuff you learned in math class has to do with anything. 8 Ways to Fill a Workshop in a Bum Economy Yes, you can fill a workshop when spending is down and buyers are wary. If your topic is clear, your marketing materials well-done, your product solid and your title catchy, success shouldn't be tough. Network Marketing Is Definitely A Relationship Business Heavily branded websites like amazon.com are household names and carry an implied trust with visitors. Identify The Ideal Target Audience With These 5 Tips Narrowing your focus to one primary group of people is often difficult for small business owners. They want to help everyone - and very often their product or service CAN help a variety of people. Give me a Referral any Day - the Power of Networking I nearly panicked recently! Well, maybe a slight exaggeration but here was a situation I had not been in for some time. The freezer had broken down and the dilemma I faced was - a speedy solution was necessary BUT I did not know anybody who repairs freezers. Mortgage Marketing - What Your Client Wants Your business depends on the success of your marketing efforts. If your marketing works, you'll get rich. Why You Buy, Part Two More of the findings of the recent studies in behavioral economics:Webers LawA change of stimulus is more emotional and motivational, according to the base: Most subjects tested would drive across town to save $10 on a $20 item, for example, but not to save $10 on a $500 item. The lesson for sales people? If you won't lose a sale on a thousand-dollar couch over $10, sell the other benefits of the couch in your sales pitch. How to Save Time and Achieve More by Creating High-Leverage Marketing Assets The single biggest, non-renewable asset you have is your time. There are only three things you can do with it: waste it, sell it, or invest it. Making More With Existing Clients Have you ever put on a jacket you haven't worn in a while and found a twenty-dollar bill in one of the pockets? You'd forgotten all about it, so discovering it is like getting a gift. If you've been in business for a year or longer, you may have gifts in forgotten pockets - sources of additional revenue waiting to be discovered and tapped. Advertising Your Private Practice: 6 Tips for Maximizing Your Results-Part 2 As discussed in part 1 of this article, "Your Private Practice: Beware of the Problems," I usually don't recommend advertising as a main method of marketing a practice for new coaches, counselors and healing professionals. There are often more cost-effective ways to get the word out and attract clients. Resume Writing Service Marketing Marketing A Resume BusinessWhen starting a resume business, your marketing campaign is the most important aspect of your business plan. Without clients being able to find your services, you will not have orders! We suggest starting out with local advertising. Why Your Business Need a Website Web Presence gives your business a distince edge over your competitors, especially when you want to expand your current customer base. For exmaple, if Jane wants to find a real estate agent but she does not know who is the best in her area. What Is Multi-Level And How Should It Be Worked Multi-level marketing is really a partnership. You go into business with someone that has the same interests and goals you have. Successful Surveys: 10 Tips for Better Results Why would you use an email or online survey when you could simply call your clients and customers and ask for their input?Lots of reasons.- standardization - easy to get large numbers of responses - easy to tabulate, analyze - easy (and often fun) for your clients and customers - inexpensive - non-intrusive - time-efficient (for you, and for your clients and customers) - protect your customers' anonymity (if important) - professional - no "cold calls" - no answering machines!And have you figured out how long it would take to have 100 fifteen-minute conversations instead? (I don't have to do the math to know that it's WAY too long!)So in this article, I'm going to talk surveys. Promotional Marketing Products - Selecting the Perfect Item People are known to shop on impulse- buying an item just because it is on sale, or purchasing something because it looks great in the store. When shopping for promotional items, you really can't succumb to impulses. Sell Your Name, Not Your Product Do you know what the majority of people sell? I could not tell you what Michael Green sells, but if he does sell something, then I would probably buy it. His name is popular among the "Marketers". Do You Make These 5 Common Marketing Mistakes? The famous P.T Barnum once said, "Without promotion, something terrible happens, NOTHING!" And marketing (or promotion) is all about combating that dreaded 'nothingness'. Direct Mail Still Works! Direct Mail CampaignsDespite the proliferation of communication facilitators--mobile phones, faxes, emails, PDAs--the mail still plays a vital role in successful marketing. Direct mail marketing continues to be one of the leading methods for effectively reaching prospective customers because it can be focused, predictable and economical.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
