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3 retail brands using urgency tactics

Lindsay Keener · January 6, 2022

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Oftentimes, making strides in the field of marketing means implementing proven practices to positively influence the way you interact with your target market. Urgency marketing offers one option. The tactic is based on psychological principles that work to drive significant consumer response over a short period of time. And it comes with serious benefits

Here are three brands who have seamlessly integrated urgency into their marketing tactics to help better serve their customers, drive revenue and meet brand goals. 

4 brands leveraging urgency tactics in their marketing 

1. ASOS 

Uh-oh! Your favorite product is almost gone! Sound familiar? If so, you’ve probably experienced urgency marketing before. This form utilizes scarcity, the limited amount of a product or service to encourage forward movement. 

ASOS

Online fashion retailer ASOS is a prime example of a brand that does a great job at including scarcity in their marketing efforts. ASOS includes information regarding the current status of its products, allowing customers to know when an item is selling fast so they have the opportunity to snag it before it’s gone. 

Promoting scarcity doesn’t mean you have to be dishonest with your customers, if anything it gives you an opportunity to flex your ethics. Being transparent about how many items you have left of a product or the amount of interest other customers have in a certain item means you’re giving your customers crucial information that will help them make a decision for themselves. It can also influence consumers to quickly make purchases, knowing that they may not get the chance to do so again.

2. Amazon

A powerhouse in its own right, Amazon is everywhere and so are its marketing practices. 

Every year, Amazon releases the dates of Amazon Prime Day, a two-day event featuring exclusive deals from top brands all over the world. Urgency marketing is fueled by anticipation and scarcity, two psychology principles that Amazon Prime Day leverages well. By limiting the event to two days once a year, Prime members are left to anticipate the one chance during the year they’ll get an opportunity to cash in on the best deals Amazon has to offer.

As expected, Amazon Prime Day does quite well, generating more revenue than similar events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Their modern take on urgency marketing coupled with their dominance in the marketplace has proven to work wonders for Amazon. 

3. Nike

Flash sales are nothing new. Most sneaker brands have used them in the past as a form of urgency, but Nike has been known to take advantage of psychological principles and drive even more traffic to their brand during these events. Scarcity and limited-time events are attractive tools for most marketers; they can increase the amount of value a consumer attaches to a product or service, leading them to be more interested in engaging with the brand further. 

ASOS, Amazon and Nike aren’t the only brands making a name for themselves in the world of urgency marketing, but they do provide three solid examples. These same tactics and strategies can be implemented anywhere consumer motivation is needed.

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