Time sensitive offers that actually tell the truth?

[Felix Leech]

Hi all,

You see a lot of marketers using a countdown clock on the main sales page that says "Offer ends in 9 hours 23 minutes 38 seconds" etc. then restarts at the end of each day.*

Has anyone experimented with having these claims and STICKING to it - ie pulling the offer when the time ends? What's your experience with this?


Cheers for the feedback,

Felix

[Cheryl Johnson]

*laughs* I've actually found sites where the timer resets every time you go to the site!

Honestly, I tend to find that, as a consumer, once I find out that a timer resets, I assume that I have all of the time in the world and set the page aside, and then forget that it's there.

If the timer doesn't actually reset, it does its job well, so stick to your timer. You can always relaunch later (in the same place or a new place), so there's no harm in doing what you say you will. It should only bring you good things. ^_^

[Jeremy Lacer]

I personally hate those kind of sales pages because a timer like that is just a cheap marketing trick to get people to buy the product. What I would rather do is launch a product and award people who buy the product within a day or 7. I would put a timer on the sales page with a text like this:

"This product has been launched at [date] and to award people who decide to buy fast, I give you 10% discount if you buy this product before [date]. Note: This isn't a cheap marketing trick, this special offer really ends at [date]."

Good luck!

-Jeremy.

[Steve Yakim]

A timer is not always a marketing trick. If I do a dimesale, my software allows me to add a timer to the page. The timer indicates when the price will automatically increase.

The timer is connected to the server clock and when the timer reaches zero, the page refreshes and the price is automatically increased. It does not matter if the visitor is already on the sales letter or not. If they have not clicked the order button by the time the clock reaches zero, the price increases on them right before their eyes.

For extra security so no one can ever monkey with the price some how, the price is also tied to the server clock and when the order link is click they pay the new price at PayPal.

I think that if a price actually changes while the visitor is on the sales letter, they will immediately start paying attention to the timer.

So beware, not all timers are fake.

Best regards,
Steve Yakim