Why Time Limited Offers Work So Well

June 5^th 2014 Sally Ormond increase conversions, marketing tips, time limited offers

time

You see them everywhere.

“Offer ends Tuesday.”

“Hurry, this offer is only available for 24 hours.”

Why is the time limited offer so effective?

In general your customers (and people in general) are procrastinators. If they can put off making a decision – especially one that involves spending money – they will.

That’s why time limited offers are so great.

Your customers are faced with countless decisions every day. They are stressed and tired, so if making a decision is going to take effort they won’t bother.

But, if you ask them to make a ‘yes/no’ decision and make them do it quickly (i.e. because the offer is only available for a finite amount of time), the decision they make is more likely to be in your favour because they won’t want to miss out.

How to make your time limited offer irresistible

It takes more that just slapping “ends on Tuesday” on your offer to make your customers buy.

Here are 3 tips on making your offer irresistible.

1. Highlight

If you’re going to place a limit on your offer make sure your customers know.

Highlight the date your offer ends by either using bold text, a larger font or by placing it in a bright graphic – anything that makes it stand out.

If it’s eye-catching enough it will have the desired effect.

2. Be commanding

As with all forms of marketing, you must tell your customer what to do.

It’s not enough just to outline the offer and show the end date. Tell them to “call today”, “buy now” or “order immediately” to reinforce the sense of urgency because you don’t want them to miss out on this amazing offer.

3. Stick to your guns

How many times have you seen those major furniture retailers tout their time limited offer only to then turn round and say “we’ve extended it…” What’s the point in that?

If you claim an offer is going to end on a specific date, but then extend it your customers won’t bother buying because they know you don’t mean what you say.

If you’re going to fix the period of your offer make sure you stick to it.

If you find your offers are not being taken up, try time limiting them to give your customers the kick they need to make the buying decision.

Let me know how you get on.

Author – Sally Ormond, Briar Copywriting Ltd