Comments on: Is Using Scarcity In Marketing A Con Job

By: Greg Martin

Greg Martin — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 02:26:00 +0000

Hey Lynn, I read your post, thanks for referring me to it. I guess I can see what you mean by what you have written. For me it’s like owning a gun, it can serve you well or you can use it in a negative way.

Scarcity for me is a tool I can use in a positive way to induce sales (nothing wrong with that). As far as using scarcity in a negative way to induce negative reactions in people as you mentioned, I certainly don’t agree with it. So I guess it depends on how you use it, like everything else in our life.

I was just wondering though why you would write an article like that? I mean I have done plenty of it on multiple blogs, and it was all designed to induce people to like what I was writing about and hopefully optin to my list. Is that what you are doing?

That is the main reason I quit the content creation game and have headed into direct response marketing. To me it’s cut and dry just like Frank Kern discusses… this is who I am, this is what I got, do you want to buy it? To me it’s far more direct and to the point, if you know what I mean.

I currently use Twitter in a direct response way and I have no problem getting between 10 to 30 leads per day depending on the campaigns I am running. I am soon to get into PPC locally as well.

Just my thoughts there, and wondering what you think?

Greg

By: Greg Martin

Greg Martin — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 02:17:00 +0000

Hi Lynn, thanks for telling me about the links. I only have 2 social media buttons, Tweetmeme and Facebook Like. Is that what you mean?

The Facebook link isn’t working so I will suss that out. I used to have the social media bookmarking icons at the bottom but I took them out, I got sick of them slowing down the site.

I don’t really use the blog much anymore, I got totally fed up with content creation as a way of generating leads. Instead I have begun to go down a direct response path where if you have a well organised deep funnel you can leverage your marketing from profits made on the front end. This is much more scalable to me and a smarter approach.

It’s what most of the top marketers have done to build bigger businesses, like my 2 mentors Hoverson and Budd.

Cheers
Greg

By: Lynn Serafinn

Lynn Serafinn — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 10:48:00 +0000

BTW… your social media links above don’t seem to be working.

By: Lynn Serafinn

Lynn Serafinn — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 10:47:00 +0000

Hi there Greg.
Nice article and good explanation. I agree that many people don’t understand what scarcity means in marketing.

I’d love to have your comments on a post I wrote on the topic of scarcity marketing at http://the7gracesofmarketing.com/2011/06/scarcity-in-marketing-%E2%80%93-why-marketers-use-it-how-it-hurts-us/. I have a slightly different angle of the subject and welecome your feedback.

Catch you on Twitter!
Lynn Serafinn
@LynnSerafinn:disqus @7GracesMarketng:twitter

By: Shibawatches

Shibawatches — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 16:21:00 +0000

I’ve seen a “Scarcity” offer of one description or another and then returned to the same site some weeks later to find exactly the same offer on show. This is what causes people to get so mad I reckon.nI think scarcity is a great marketing technique if used with integrity and, funnily enough…..scarcity!

By: Seamus Shell

Seamus Shell — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 01:22:00 +0000

Good expanation Greg, thanks for that!nSeamus Shell

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 21:37:25 +0000

A very informative post Greg and well explained. I agree with what you are saying but I'm afraid that a high percentage of marketers out there obviously don't demonstrate the same degree of integrity as you do. I've lost count of the number of times I've seen a “Scarcity” offer of one description or another and then returned to the same site some weeks later to find exactly the same offer on show. This is what causes people to get so mad I reckon.
I think scarcity is a great marketing technique if used with integrity and, funnily enough…..scarcity!

By: Greg Martin

Greg Martin — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 15:14:24 +0000

In some ways it's not all that aggressive if you really do only want to work with a limited number of people. There are many times when it could just be a matter of practicality.

Either using Scarcity is a legitimate sales tool.

Thanks for the comment.

By: Adwello Sales

Adwello Sales — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 21:38:08 +0000

Yes I think there are 2 sides to the issue for me: first it seems a very aggressive approach but how else do you trigger the call to action? Second, if too many people bought and implemented any one program then it would dilute its effectiveness in many cases so the built in need for scarcity is there. Personally when I read a sales page for an offer that really excites me I know this one will work for me and I get a buzz feeling scared lest the offer closes down whilst I reach for my credit card – it probably won't but just imagine if it did! I'd feel green!

By: Greg Martin

Greg Martin — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 13:54:20 +0000

Lindy

I can't find that word in the post. Where did you get that from?