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[easyrider]

I can't believe it but one of the most respected self-help gurus in history has just stooped to a very low level in his marketing. Check out this offer of his: http://www.briantracy.com/files/pages/blackfriday/

Notice how the copies remaining count down gradually. Then reload the page again and see how the numbers instantly change! It seems that each time you load the page the numbers start at some randomly level and then count down. Does Brian Tracy and his marketing team think we're stupid or something? Or am I the only smart one around? Honestly, it is hard to trust anyone these days ...

 

[jcdean]

What a dummy.

I read all of Dan Kennedy's books, Dan would never pull anything like that.

 

[esolutions]

This type of scarcity tactic is used by virtually every store and business in existence. The way I see it is that it's more about triggering your subconscious to sense urgency.

I think the ethical ramifications of this type of tactic is questionable, but would also like to hear what Mark Ling and anyone else thinks.

 

[promocode]

Thanks for sharing that link easyrider, that was a fun salespage to learn from. Scarcity is indeed a great tool for getting a customer to make a purchase sooner rather than later but that page is downright humorous, watching the number of copies numbers change is like watching the stock market tumble. If they made the numbers change maybe once which a customer was on the page it would be more believable... AND when you click through to the order page it says nothing about the Black Friday Deal. Promotion Fail IMO... it would be interesting to see how many sales that page made.

Still love me some Brian Tracy tho, great motivator

 

[paulie69]

Sure I know what you mean about prompting people to buy. But this kind of thing cannot be regarded as ethical. It happens all the time. And it's one reason why this industry is undergoing the kind of regulation we now see.

 

[paulie69]

{Sorry double post; mod's please delete... thanks}

 

[easyrider]

Whenever I see any intent to deceive, that is usually the end of my consideration for buying the product or service in question. These marketers may think they're smart, but at the end of the day these tactics make people very wary about parting with their money. Pretty soon Internet Marketers will be trusted less than both politicians and used car salesmen.

 

[Cecille L]

This type of scarcity tactic is used by virtually every store and business in existence. The way I see it is that it's more about triggering your subconscious to sense urgency.

I think the ethical ramifications of this type of tactic is questionable, but would also like to hear what Mark Ling and anyone else thinks.

Thanks for sharing this Greg. I have forwarded this to senior Affilorama staff and will update the thread as soon as I have feedback.

 

[jmpruitt]

I know Mark uses scarcity in a lot of his marketing tactics as well. You also need to realize, as marketers, we understand these tactics and it does more to annoy us than to motivate us to action. However, the average user doesn't really know about these tactics, unless you are in a business related niche.

I agree that using false scarcity is morally wrong, but using some form of scarcity works. I have made a lot of sales using it myself.

The key is to always stick true to it, rather than using it in a false way like the example you shared was doing. When I limit a bonus or special offer, I always stick to what I said. If I say it is only available for 24 or 48 hours, I always stick with it. If I limit how many people get the bonus, then when I hit that target, I either change the bonus offer or drop it completely.

However, some people just say they will limit the offer and never actually do. If they are on ClickBank, part of the new Guidelines don't allow fake scarcity tactics anymore. its against the new vendor guidelines that they just put out.

 

[cterao]

The thing about scarcity is that there are really two kinds:

Internal scarcity - When you mentally feel like you need to act out of the urgency of your situation. Like if you're trying to get your ex back or buy a house before before someone else scoops it up, you know that time is of the essence and if you don't act fast, then your window of opportunity is going to close.

External scarcity - This is where the fake countdown things come in that so many people use on their sales pages.

The thing is though that external scarcity really doesn't work that well unless someone already has internal scarcity (that is to say, there's already some form of urgency in their situation to begin with).

Just my thoughts :)

 

[easyrider]

I was aware of these tactics long before I got into marketing. The thing is that if someone is going to lie to you about something like this, it is very likely that they are going to lie to you about the features and benefits of their product, and then they might not honour their money-back guarantee.

Most of the "guru" marketers are really smart in that they create a plausible reason for their scarcity/urgency. For example, when Eben Pagan does a product launch it is only open for about a week because he is doing a teleclass that starts only a few days later and he doesn't want anyone to miss out. Also, some of his bonuses usually involve one-on-one coaching with one of his business consultants and therefore he has to limit numbers so that the team can fulfil all these obligations.

One of the things that annoys me though about some of the gurus is that they sometimes reopen their launch for a few days after it closes on the grounds that they have had some cancellations etc - yeah right!

 

[michellerana]

We checked http://www.briantracy.com/files/pages/blackfriday and it says the "Sorry, this holiday offer has now ended."

Our technical staff said this is most likely just an issue with the script he used and probably was not intended to mislead the buying public. The offer has now ended which only proves that the offer is indeed limited.

 

[esolutions]

Hi Greg,

As far as cancellations go, it really can happen. We will just never know the truth about everything, although I do agree that weak reasons to limit or close or reopen should be thought out and improved. The whole point of marketing is presenting the truth and facts in the best way possible, not lying.