{"id":111828,"date":"2023-01-09T10:40:35","date_gmt":"2023-01-09T10:40:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.wingify.com\/blog\/scarcity-urgency-marketing\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T16:45:27","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T11:15:27","slug":"scarcity-urgency-marketing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wingify.com\/blog\/scarcity-urgency-marketing\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Clever Scarcity and Urgency Examples to Boost Your Conversions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We\u2019ve all been there: Mother\u2019s Day is in a few days and you need to buy the perfect gift before it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there\u2019s a major problem: you don\u2019t know when you should place an order and who you should order from. You\u2019re browsing a couple of websites and you see a gorgeous flower bouquet. You scroll down a bit and promptly read:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMother\u2019s Day: Order now for on-time delivery.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s it \u2013 you need to order now for the bouquet to be delivered before Mother\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That pressure you just felt? It\u2019s called urgency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Urgency and scarcity are widely used across marketing campaigns to increase engagement and boost conversions,<\/a> because it works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take Black Friday<\/a> for example: according to Adobe Digital Insights, that day alone racked up almost $9B dollars in sales in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basically, urgent situations push us to act fast and scarcity triggers purchase anxiety<\/a>, forcing us to act promptly. Put into the right hands, these tools can help e-commerce and online businesses boost their conversions and increase sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before we look into the best practices, let\u2019s take a quick look at the psychology behind scarcity and urgency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understand the psychology behind urgency<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Urgency is a psychological trigger<\/strong> that is deeply rooted inside our brain: it relates to the human loss aversion<\/a> or the so-called \u201cfear of missing out\u201d (FOMO).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientifically speaking, urgency is a time-based concept that prompts us to act quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similar to the scarcity principle, FOMO is a kind of social anxiety defined by wanting to stay connected with everyone around you and continually keep up with what they are doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When faced with a limited-time offer (e.g. a discount<\/em>), we automatically start to evaluate if we\u2019re comfortable letting this opportunity get away<\/strong>. In other words, the fear of missing out grows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understand the psychology behind scarcity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Similar to urgency, scarcity is a psychological trigger that uses quantity to compel us to act quickly<\/strong>. Scarcity triggers a thought that pushes us to place a higher value on objects that are scarce or rare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scarcity also triggers our FOMO instinct: if something was running out of stock, we\u2019d also consider the pros and cons of buying it before it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that we covered the psychological basis behind urgency and scarcity, here are the best practices to apply them in real-life marketing cases<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scarcity and urgency best practices for marketers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Scarcity and urgency are undoubtedly powerful techniques to increase conversions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, they should be used with caution because pushy methods can rapidly become risky for your brand loyalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Avoid fake urgency and scarcity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Creating urgency is good<\/strong>, but abusing it is bad<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some stores go all out and put everything on sale all year long, creating the feeling that everything is a bargain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the image below, you can see that the page gives the impression that every item is on sale. When everything is on sale, your customers realize that nothing really is and you\u2019ll lose credibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scarcity tactics don\u2019t perform well when perceived as manipulative.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Fake<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a rule of thumb, only display genuine offers<\/strong> and don\u2019t abuse them. Occasional sales are enough and generally more powerful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use the right vocabulary<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As we\u2019re exposed to sales and promotional offers all the time, sometimes it\u2019s hard to distinguish fake sales from real bargains<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To avoid sounding too pushy, try not to use too many flashing banners\u2014your visitors should be able to sense a real bargain at first glance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Create powerful CTAs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Similar to the carefully chosen vocabulary, your call-to-action<\/a> should state a real benefit and emphasize the urgency\/scarcity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, it\u2019s a common practice to indicate the remaining stock in order to trigger the scarcity instinct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can see in the image below that Walmart is using this tactic by displaying \u201conly 3 left!\u201d below the price.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Add<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personalize your messages<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Crafting personalized messages is a major trend we see in digital marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether in B2C or B2B, 1:1 personalization<\/a> yields major benefits and overall better conversions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because it\u2019s so efficient, adding hints of scarcity and urgency to your personalized messages could dramatically increase your sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are a few tips that you could use to implement scarcity-based personalized messages:<\/p>\n\n\n\n