You know what I'm talking about. How many million times have you seen an Internet marketer use the "impending deadline scare" as a reason to hurry and purchase a product or sign up for this or that before the deadline.
Of course they're trying to incorporate the sense of urgency into their marketing. Many smart advertisers know that one of the greatest fears most people have is the fear of losing out or of being left behind.
So the ads of these smart people nearly always include some kind of deadline coming up in the near future designed to make the reader take some immediate action.
The urgency element, however, is often a bold face lie! (Are those words too strong for what this is?)
There are free scripts floating around all over the Internet that will help you to add the urgency factor to any web page. You've seen them in action everywhere. Some scripts update the current time or day of the page making it seem like the deadline is coming at midnight tonight!
The marketer then says in his copy, "You must respond by (insert today's date) in order to claim this low introductory price!" The trouble is, you can go back to this same page tomorrow, and the "respond by" date has changed to tomorrow's date.
Here's another way the urgency factor is displayed. Some marketers will say, "There are only 15 copies of this product still available for purchase!" Then the 15 will be crossed out and an "11" will appear. The truth is, there are an unlimited number of copies to sell. The marketing whiz is just trying to get you to buy because he wants you to believe that scarcity is a real issue.
Here's another untruthful ploy: the owner tells you that such and such bonus or add-on product will only be sent to the first 25 purchasers of the product. Yet most of the time, you could come back and find the same add-on available next year as well.
Here's one I love (because I see it so often): the marketing genius wants us to believe that something went wrong with his email sending software. Supposedly he got a lot of phone calls and angry emails from customers because they didn't receive his fantastic offer and missed out on the deadline to make their purchase.
Blame it on the email gremlins! What is the poor marketer to do? Let's see . . . why not send out another email exactly the same as the first one, extend the buying deadline, and make everyone on your list happy as clams! And you haven't spammed anyone even though you've just sent the same offer out to the same people twice in the past 48 hours!
The reason I hate fake deadlines is that they're insulting to the intelligence of the prospect, they're damaging to the credibility of the marketer, and they are designed for the purpose of being deceptive.
True and real deadlines are quite something else. They are the most powerful urgency factors around. But in order for a deadline to have real meaning, it must be kept, adhered to, and when the end comes, it's over. Period. No extensions, no second thoughts, no bait and switch.
Why do so many folks use fake deadlines? Simply put, "they work!" at least to some degree. They may add a few sales here or there.
The problem with this strategy, though, is that so many people can see right through it. If you use it repeatedly, soon you will lose credibility and people will view you as someone that will say anything to make a sale. They will label you for your deceptive advertising and in the long run, your sales will suffer greatly.
Wouldn't it be better to be labeled as someone that sticks to his deadlines? Wouldn't that label truly create a sense of urgency in every one of your offers? When you honor your deadlines and say "NO" to the late-comers, you will soon understand the real and honest use of the urgency factor!
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