How to Apply the Principle of Urgency to Sell More

Design a landing page, add a convincing medium text, and promote it.

This is usually the process we follow when we want to sell a product from our store, offer a service, or simply generate leads for a later launch.

The problem arises when you realize that your landing page is not converting as it should.

In fact, it is not converting at all.

It’s a complete disaster, really.

Well, not quite that bad. But almost.

In most cases that come to me with conversion issues, it is enough to apply copywriting correctly and transform that plain text without persuasive structure into text that truly has a goal: to sell.

One of the copywriting techniques that works best for me when it comes to achieving conversions with a landing page is the principle of urgency.

You can apply it in your landings, in your affiliate promotion texts, and even in a tweet.

Want to know how? Keep reading and I’ll tell you.

What is the Principle of Urgency?

Marketers know that users go through a series of phases or funnels when making a purchase. Although emotions play a fundamental role and reason has little to do with most purchases, the truth is that most of the time the user researches and does not buy so easily, but rather goes through what we know as conversion funnel:

The conversion rate of a landing page can increase without the need to change button sizes, colors, or calls to action. It is about applying consumer psychology and stopping to think about how to 'manipulate' their motivation to buy.

• Last units available.
• Discount on the first 50 units.
• Gift for the first 100 purchases.
• Promotion available only for 24 hours.

Do all these phrases sound familiar to you?

They directly attack consumer psychology, with the sense of urgency being one of the key characteristics of the brain that we conversion enthusiasts love to influence.

According to psychology experts, the principle of urgency directly influences the user, provoking a quick action. In this case, that action would be the purchase.

And when it comes to buying, the user thinks too much or simply does not respond to calls to action as they should. That’s why increasing that sense of urgency leads to improved conversions.

The principle of urgency serves to provoke in the potential buyer the feeling that something important is happening and a quick decision must be made about it.

To apply this sense of urgency, it is necessary to pay attention to several factors:

• Utility. It is necessary to know what the user is looking for and what benefits your product will bring to meet their needs or desires. In other words, your product must be useful and important at the time of promotion.
• Time. We seek instant conversions, so using copy that encourages acting at the moment and not letting it pass because time is running out will be essential.
• Feelings. All text must appeal to the user’s emotions to facilitate the desired conversion. And not just the text, but everything surrounding it as well.

How to Create Urgency in a Landing Page?

Now that we are clear on what the principle of urgency is and how it can improve our conversions, here are a series of tricks that you can apply to your landing page to improve your lead generation:

Product Scarcity

If you have ever searched for accommodation on Booking, you have probably fallen victim to this trick. Have you noticed the phrase they put on all accommodations, in red, warning you of the 'units' that are still available?

Obviously, those units are always very few: between 1 and 3 at most.

And yes, you feel the rush to book lest other users get ahead of you, right?

And Booking does it very well because they complement it by showing you the users who are currently viewing the same accommodation as you.

Who said pressure doesn't work for selling?

If you tell your potential buyers that you only have 'x' units of your product or combine it with a price discount, their interest in buying it now will likely increase.

Limited Time

This is a technique that is widely used in our sector and works wonders, which is why it is increasingly utilized.

Set a deadline for when a discount ends, or when the product price goes up, or when free shipping ends, or when a specific promotion ends.

Whatever you do with your landing page, think carefully about how you will manage the deadline because it is one of the best tricks to increase urgency or boost purchases.

Note: The countdown usually works very well, especially when it comes to discounts or gifts associated with the purchase of the product before a certain date.

Many Interested Parties

Remember that we are provoking urgency, and what better way to make the buyer nervous than by telling them that there are many users interested?

If you tie it to product scarcity and limited time, you have the perfect kit to unleash their interest.

Show that your product or service is very popular among users and that, if they don't make a decision now, they might lose it. The fear of missing out and the sense of urgency will do the rest.

Exclusivity

Here, what you need to do is offer discounts or give an extra to the first buyers, or to those who buy on a specific date.

You can offer a kit along with the product or something that encourages that user to buy to feel different from the rest. Gaining that exclusivity will enhance their sense of urgency and make conversion easier at that moment.

The combination of all these tricks is more powerful when used together, but you can also apply them individually and analyze how they change the leads on your landing page.

As a final trick, and since we are on the Unancor blog, I suggest you promote your landing in newspapers and thus create a visibility campaign that allows you to drive more traffic and movement to your landing page and your products or services. You just need to visit Unancor and choose the media where you want to link your landing or your promotional article.

What are you waiting for to use the principle of urgency and boost your conversions?