{"id":32072,"date":"2019-09-25T14:40:50","date_gmt":"2019-09-25T19:40:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/?p=32072"},"modified":"2025-05-07T13:19:43","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T18:19:43","slug":"scarcity-marketing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/scarcity-marketing\/","title":{"rendered":"How Your Business Can Use Scarcity Marketing To Increase Sales"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

We all want what we can’t have.<\/p>\n

And we flaunt when we have something others don’t.<\/p>\n

That’s why zealous Apple fans camp overnight at Apple stores around the world before major iPhone launches.<\/p>\n

It’s also why certain fashion brands charge tens of thousands of dollars for women’s purses that should cost significantly less.<\/p>\n

The “fear of missing out” (FOMO) causes consumers to behave in irrational, unpredictable ways.<\/p>\n

And it doesn’t hurt that scarcity typically creates lots of buzz around a product.<\/p>\n

In today’s media-intensive culture, buzz can create virality<\/a> and give your product or service a huge marketing boost.<\/p>\n

While economics may lay down the foundational laws of supply and demand, marketing can use scarcity to manipulate the variables and win big.<\/p>\n

Smart marketers and business owners control both variables. That gives them an unfair advantage of influence over pricing and profit margins.<\/p>\n

Here’s how you can level the playing field and get the same advantage for your business, using scarcity marketing techniques.<\/p>\n

What is scarcity marketing<\/a>?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Scarcity marketing is a marketing technique based on the principle that people want what is difficult to get.<\/p>\n

Scarcity is a core principle of marketing psychology<\/a> and one of Dr. Robert B. Cialdini’s “6 Principles of Influence”. Read about some of the other principles in our prior articles on why your business can die without social proof<\/a>\u00a0and how you can use commitment and consistency principles to increase sales<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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www.readinggraphics.com<\/p><\/div>\n

The psychology of scarcity<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The psychology of scarcity was famously tested in 1975. Researchers Worchel, Lee, and Adewole<\/a> wanted to determine desire based on scarcity.<\/p>\n

Their experiment was simple: They placed two replica cookie jars side by side. They filled one jar with many cookies and the other with only two.<\/p>\n

The question: Which cookie would people value more?<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the cookie jar with only two cookies was rated as more desirable simply due to their scarcity.<\/p>\n

Examples of businesses that excel with scarcity marketing<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Kylie Jenner is the queen of scarcity marketing with her business, Kylie Cosmetics<\/a> ($900 million).<\/p>\n

As we previously mentioned<\/a>,<\/p>\n

Consider Kylie Jenner, child celebrity turned billionaire.<\/p>\n

Kylie has a makeup line that promotes exclusivity. She manufactures a limited supply of her makeup collections \u2013 to her benefit. The concept of, \u201climited offers\u201d serves as an exclusive one time only feeling<\/a>\u00a0that fans use to think of \u201cnow or never\u201d.<\/p>\n

A simple eBay search on Kylie Jenner reveals products being sold for over roughly three times the original selling price.<\/p>\n

Exclusivity is working for Kylie.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Kylie fuels demand with exclusive Instagram promotions, limited and holiday edition products, and pop-up stores around the United States.<\/p>\n

It doesn’t take an individual influencer like Kylie Jenner to fuel demand. Even big brands can generate excitement around scarcity.<\/p>\n

Consider the popular coffee chain Starbucks.<\/a><\/p>\n

Starbucks<\/a> has positioned itself as the preferred coffee shop<\/a>. But it wasn’t the coffee that triggered<\/a>\u00a0serious FOMO (fear of missing out)<\/a> in 2017.<\/p>\n

Let’s get reacquainted with their mythical drink that caused the world to flock to every Starbucks in a 5-mile radius.<\/p>\n

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Introduced on Instagram, this colorful drink was only available for 7 days and quickly became viral.<\/p>\n

With over 150,000 user-generated shares on Instagram alone (ie. consumers photos of the product), the Unicorn Frappuccino was all the internet was talking about.<\/p>\n

In fact, there were more people talking about how much they didn’t<\/strong> like the taste of the product, than those who liked it.<\/p>\n

At the end of the day, it didn’t matter if the drink was loved or hated — it was being talked about<\/em>. And people wanted to taste it to see if they loved or hated it.<\/p>\n

So how did Starbucks generate so much noise?<\/p>\n

According to Marketing and Growth Hacking<\/a>, there were 4 simple steps.<\/p>\n

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    \n
  1. Flash Marketing: Limited Products Become More Valuable<\/li>\n
  2. FOMO: Everyone Wants A Frappuccino, But Not Everyone Gets A Frappuccino<\/li>\n
  3. The Psychology of Color: First It’s Purple, Then It’s Pink<\/li>\n
  4. Frequency Illusion: Unicorns Here, There, and Everywhere<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    How your business can leverage scarcity marketing to increase sales<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Here are 5 things you can do to leverage scarcity marketing:<\/p>\n

    1. Start by strengthening your brand identity
    \n<\/strong><\/h4>\n

    Before we jump into ways to incorporate scarcity tactics into your marketing, you first must make sure you have a strong brand identity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Your brand identity is everything visual about your brand and includes your company logo<\/a>, website design<\/a>, and the products your company sells.<\/p>\n

    Before you can create FOMO and buzz around your products, be sure the products are compelling.<\/p>\n

    Want a free brand review?<\/div>
    \"brand<\/div>
    Answer 5 short questions and we will send a custom report with actionable insights and specific actions you can take to build a stronger brand.<\/div>
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