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Does the midnight, tonight deadline still work?

by gnotte
9 replies
Dear Forumers,

Concepts come and go in copywriting.

Few years ago you could send an e-mail with "[Firstname], your only chance..." and get away with it. Now half of the marketers are using the [Firstname] call-out, and it has become ineffective in e-mail copy.

My question is, do you guys think the same stands for Deadline javascripts?

Like "If you order before midnight tonight 5 December 2009, you'll also get these indispensable bonuses"...

Do you guys still use this? Do you find that people fall for it?

I mean it's almost an assumption that your readers are stupid and will fall for this...

Have you guys tested whether this affects your conversions negatively or positively?

Thanks for the info!
#deadline #midnight #tonight #work
  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    When I first saw this back in the 90s I was suspicious of it. I read an offer that expired on midnight. It was only mildly appealing and I had no interest in buying but I checked it out a couple days later and saw the exact same thing... act now because this offer expires at midnight.

    I wondered how many people who had bought felt foolish to learn that they'd been lied to. These days people are very quick to request refunds for almost any reason and I'd guess that if some find out the 'act now' part of the offer was BS, they'd be asking for (and rightfully so IMO) a refund.

    Maybe this has had an influence with marketers who once felt it was a good way to build urgency into their pitch...
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  • Profile picture of the author gnotte
    Guys,

    I have a product with a sales page that has a fake call to action (only 30 copies are left etc.) and sold it well - with a very low refund rate. I've also sold related products to my customers so I don't think this is such a big issue.

    I believe that if you have a great product that gives value to the customer, then your customers won't care even if you're using some dirty tricks like this.

    But now I'm building a new copy for a new product and what I'm interested in is how would this fake deadline affect the actual sales?

    I know some killer copies that use this fake constraint - but I have no idea if it adds up or takes from their success...
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    • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
      Originally Posted by gnotte View Post

      Guys,

      I have a product with a sales page that has a fake call to action (only 30 copies are left etc.) and sold it well - with a very low refund rate. I've also sold related products to my customers so I don't think this is such a big issue.
      I find it interesting that you would come in here and brag that you lie to make sales... Geeeeeez
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  • Profile picture of the author Jag82
    If you are making a deadline that is so specific (by midnight), then it better be real.

    Because your credibility is at stake here.
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  • Profile picture of the author Scott Murdaugh
    In my opinion, fake scarcity is bull****.

    It kills trust and credibility. Here's a great example of REAL scarcity in action. From RapidActionProfits.com...

    This is price is guaranteed for today only. We've increased the price before and will probably do so again. I'll keep it here at least until midnight tonight (EST), but make no promise about what it will cost you tomorrow. If you pass on this now - you may not be able to buy Rapid Action Profits at this price when you come back to this site tomorrow.
    He's not saying the price WILL go up after midnight, just that it HAS happened before and WILL happen again, so for right now, he can't promise if you come back tomorrow that the price will still be the same.

    He's being 100% truthful, it's not fake scarcity, he's raised the price before, and he probably will in the future.

    Nice idea to "borrow" if you can't come up with legitimate scarcity.

    -Scott
    Signature

    Over $30 Million In Marketing Data And A Decade Of Consistently Generating Breakthrough Results - Ask How My Unique Approach To Copy Typically Outsells Traditional Ads By Up To 29x Or More...

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    • Profile picture of the author Sid Hale
      Thanks Scott.
      Originally Posted by Scott Murdaugh View Post

      In my opinion, fake scarcity is bull****.

      It kills trust and credibility.
      Obviously, I agree.

      He's not saying the price WILL go up after midnight, just that it HAS happened before and WILL happen again, so for right now, he can't promise if you come back tomorrow that the price will still be the same.

      He's being 100% truthful, it's not fake scarcity, he's raised the price before, and he probably will in the future.
      The price has, indeed, increased - 5 times since I first put that into the sales letter. I dare say that the people who purchased at $47 are very happy they did, as they have also gotten free upgrades. They are running the same system that is sold today - but paid about 25% of the current price.

      Real scarcity can be created by:
      1. using introductory prices, when you first launch a new product
      2. offering time-limited discounts during special promotions
      3. pre-announcing a price increase (giving buyers a "last chance at the old price"),
      4. doing the price increase for the general public, but providing a limited time discount coupon to allow people on your list (or your affiliates lists) to purchase at yesterday's price,
      5. offering a limited number of copies to be sold at the current price, an
      6. offering a limited number of copies to be sold at ANY price
      I've used all of the above methods, and - of course - all of the them are available (and easy to implement) options with Rapid Action Profits.

      Once you have developed a reputation for telling the truth in your scarcity messages, your believability goes up on all fronts.

      Yes - it takes a little while to develop the credibility, but we are all in this for the long haul, aren't we? Don't we all plan to be successful - and to be able to benefit tomorrow from the things we do today?

      Scarcity does work - but for it to work well (i.e in the long haul), it must be real.
      Signature

      Sid Hale
      Coming Soon... Rapid Action Profits (Pro)

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