How to offer Time Sensitive Deals
We are all aware of the offer of limited deals that can only last a few days
The idea is similar to furniture stores that seem to always have sales that end on the weekend… even though we all know they will almost have another sale in a week or so. However we are more likely to buy now if we think there is a sale on it now rather than later. After all we do not want to miss out on a bargain.
People like to procrastinate, so limited time deals can give them an insensitive to take action now rather than later.
For example, if you run a gym, you may run a sale on gym membership, where if they sign up over the next 3 days they receive a discount on the total price, or X amount of personal training sessions as a bonus. The time limit creates a sense of urgency; encouraging people to buy that may have sat on the fence or procrastinated otherwise.
One huge marketing tip is a limited time deal method that is called The 3 Day Money Maker or the 1, 2, 3 Limited Time Offer.
It can especially work well if you have an e-mail list and can e-mail them about the special offer.
Here’s how it works.
You set up a special offer (ideally either a big discount like 50% or a big bonus to include with it) that only lasts for three days.
Ideally start this on a Thursday or Friday and run it over the weekend on midnight of either Saturday or Sunday night. Do note that ideally not to do these on Bank Holiday weekend or any other special event. Unless you can specifically link it to that event or occasion
Link it to that event or occasion.
On the first day, you only e-mail your list once to announce the special deal, provide them with a link to the sales page to buy it, etc… You then tell them that the deal ends on midnight on X Day (three days from then). You typically will get some initial sales then, but not necessarily a ton.
Then on the second day, you send them one e-mail in the morning and one e-mail later in the afternoon or evening. You likely will get few if any sales then, but that is okay. The third day is where the real magic happens.
On the third day, which is the final day of the sale, you e-mail them once in the morning, once in the mid to late afternoon, and once in the late evening. Your subject lines should increase the sense of urgency with lines like “Final Chance – 50% Off Deal Ends Today” and “Only Hours Left to Save 50%” or “Final Warning – Deal Ends in a Couple Hours” (they do not have to be exactly that, but you get the general idea of making it seem urgent).
The final day, especially the final hour or two, will get A LOT of sales typically, especially in the final minutes of the special offer. In fact if you leave the offer up until the morning, you can get several sales in the wee hours of the morning that think they gamed you by getting the deal just after it technically was meant to close. Using this method properly exactly as described you can make some businesses more money over a few days than they might make in several weeks or more!
Takeaway: Create a time sensitive deal where people only have a limited time to take you up on it. The sense of urgency encourages people to buy.
If you have an email list, constantly remind people of the deadline, as often the most sales will happen in the last day near the end.