Your 'Limited-Time Offer' Isn't Fooling Anyone

Summary

Brain Driven Brands: Episode Summary

Title: Your 'Limited-Time Offer' Isn't Fooling Anyone
Host: Sarah Levinger
Guests: Nate
Release Date: December 24, 2024

In this compelling episode of Brain Driven Brands, host Sarah Levinger and her guest Nate delve deep into the effectiveness of limited-time offers in modern marketing. Drawing from real-world experiences and advanced neuromarketing principles, they challenge conventional wisdom and offer actionable insights for e-commerce brands aiming to enhance trust, reduce costs, and boost sales without resorting to overused tactics.

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1. Setting the Stage: The Overuse of Limited-Time Offers

The conversation shifts focus to the prevalent use of limited-time offers (LTOs) in marketing strategies, especially during high-traffic periods like Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM). Sarah introduces the topic by referencing her popular tweet that garnered over 25,000 views, questioning the efficacy of LTOs in driving consumer behavior.

Sarah (03:13): "This is another one of those tweets where I was like, I have nothing to post today... I want to propose the idea that none of these limited-time offers actually worked."

2. The Waning Trust in Limited-Time Offers

Nate concurs with Sarah's skepticism, asserting that consumers have become increasingly savvy and skeptical of artificial scarcity and urgency tactics. He points out that while Black Friday remains a revenue-generating powerhouse, the traditional LTO strategies no longer hold the sway they once did.

Nate (04:01): "I think, like, Black Friday is officially dead. We still did more revenue on that day than any day this year, but it's not what it was 10 years ago."

3. Real-World Implications: Authentic Scarcity Over Artificial Urgency

Both Sarah and Nate emphasize the importance of authenticity in marketing. Nate shares his own success story, where instead of relying solely on LTOs, his brand implemented a strategy that offered a $100 gift card with purchases from November 1st until Thanksgiving. This approach not only built trust but also successfully pulled revenue forward, surpassing expectations.

Nate (06:00): "We gave you a hundred dollar gift card with your order to come back and shop with us. That's huge."

Sarah echoes this sentiment, highlighting that brands often misuse LTOs by making arbitrary time-bound claims that consumers can easily see through, thereby diminishing trust.

Sarah (07:20): "Don't follow the hacks. Go after something that's actually going to be valuable to them."

4. The Downside of Overusing Marketing Hacks

The duo discusses the broader implications of overusing mental shortcuts like urgency and scarcity in marketing. Sarah explains that while these heuristics are powerful, their rampant use has led to consumer desensitization, making them less effective over time.

Sarah (08:08): "We've rampantly used urgency and scarcity... people know it's not real."

Nate adds that many brands have damaged their credibility by frequently extending sales or falsely claiming scarcity, which ultimately harms long-term customer relationships.

Nate (10:07): "We have sold out of our top 10 watches multiple times this year. When I tell people there's only 100 left, I want them to believe me."

5. Strategic Recommendations for Marketers

Sarah and Nate provide actionable strategies for marketers to move beyond hacky tactics and build genuine trust with their audience:

• Align Sales with Relevant Events: Instead of arbitrary time limits, tie sales to significant events that resonate with consumers, such as Independence Day or Mother's Day.

  Nate (12:33): "Call it the Labor Day sale for four days."

• Emphasize Real Scarcity: If a product is genuinely limited, highlight the actual scarcity rather than imposing artificial constraints.

  Sarah (09:40): "Limit the amount of products people can get. Go after authentic scarcity."

• Build Long-Term Trust: Focus on authentic engagement and provide real value to customers instead of relying on short-term urgency.

  Sarah (15:16): "Acquire customers on something other than hacky marketing tactics."

6. Success Stories and Case Studies

Nate shares his brand's approach to managing sales messaging, limiting promotions to key events like Valentine's Day, Father's Day, and Christmas. This selective strategy ensures that when LTOs are used, they are credible and aligned with consumer expectations.

Nate (14:09): "We acquire customers through Evergreen offers that we know work... They have no reason not to believe us."

7. The Long Game: Building Sustainable Growth

Both speakers advocate for a long-term approach to marketing, where honesty and reliability take precedence over quick sales hacks. They stress that sustainable growth stems from building a brand that consumers trust and relate to on a deeper level.

Sarah (16:14): "Be good humans, everybody."

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Key Takeaways:

1. Limited-Time Offers Lose Effectiveness: Overuse and artificial implementation of LTOs have made consumers skeptical, reducing their impact on purchase decisions.

2. Authenticity is Crucial: Authentic scarcity and relevant event-based sales build genuine trust and drive sustainable sales growth.

3. Strategic Use of Scarcity and Urgency: When used sparingly and genuinely, these tactics can still be effective without eroding trust.

4. Long-Term Trust Over Short-Term Gains: Building a reliable and authentic brand relationship with customers is more beneficial than quick sales boosts through manipulative tactics.

5. Align Marketing with Consumer Behavior: Sales and promotions should resonate with consumers' existing behaviors and expectations to remain credible and effective.

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Notable Quotes:

• Sarah (07:45): "Don't follow the hacks. Go after something that's actually going to be valuable to them."

• Nate (16:11): "Don't lie in marketing. I don't know. Weird spicy take, I guess."

• Sarah (09:40): "Instead of limiting the time, limit the amount of products people can get."

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Conclusion:

In "Your 'Limited-Time Offer' Isn't Fooling Anyone," Sarah Levinger and Nate shed light on the diminishing returns of traditional LTO strategies in today's saturated market. By advocating for authentic scarcity, event-aligned sales, and building long-term trust, they provide a roadmap for e-commerce brands to thrive without relying on overused marketing hacks. This episode is a must-listen for marketers seeking sustainable and ethical strategies to connect with their audience and drive meaningful growth.

Transcript

[Sarah]

I should get water for these shows. I get thirsty because I talk too much is my problem. Welcome to the show.

[Nate]

Waters. Water's okay. I think Red Bull.

[Sarah]

Okay. I don't know how you drink as many as you do. That. Cannot.

[Nate]

Hold on. First of all, it's two a day. They're 80 milligrams of caffeine each. How much is in your coffee in the morning?

[Sarah]

I don't know. CCAF.

[Nate]

You're no 50 milligram.

[Sarah]

I try really hard not to do caffeine because I get jittery. And I don't know if you noticed. Sarah's hyped as it is.

[Nate]

I was gonna say this is natural.

[Sarah]

This is all natural.

[Nate]

All right.

[Sarah]

This energy level comes from the fact that I'm sleep deprived constantly. And so I just. I get up in the morning, I'm like, hype it up, hype it up.

[Nate]

I'm a big substance guy, you know, Just need stimulants in the morning, depressants.

[Sarah]

At night, you know, just to take the edge off a little bit.

[Nate]

Yeah, just a little bit of sunlight and fresh air and steak and I'm good.

[Sarah]

Sarah's been kind, straight in there for a long time. Like, I don't drink a lot. I'll have, like, one glass of wine a week. Go crazy. My vices is sugar. I'm like, you don't put me in a room with brownies. All that whole pan gone. Yeah, in a minute. Just.

[Nate]

Did I tell you I just finished my 60 days without booze?

[Sarah]

That's right. I was gonna ask you how it went. Did you feel better, different or.

[Nate]

No?

[Sarah]

Oh, yeah.

[Nate]

What a way, right?

[Sarah]

Like, what a waste. This was not even worth it. That's hilarious. Most people say that they feel different, but I think it takes everybod a different amount of time.

[Nate]

And I will say I don't drink as much as my personal brand would lead people to believe. Like, just for the record, I tweet every drink I have.

[Sarah]

We do it for the Instagrams, people.

[Nate]

Yes.

[Sarah]

Don't believe everything you see online.

[Nate]

Don't think like, the one I tweeted. I had seven after that thing. I had that one. So I, like, I don't actually drink a ton, so I think the break was just kind of like, it's fine.

[Sarah]

Yeah.

[Nate]

Well.

[Sarah]

And eventually, I think your body's just kind of like, whether we have it or we don't, we're still sleep deprived and working too much because it's.

[Nate]

I was gonna say. Yeah. Like, I was expecting, like, sleep Better and lower stress. But I'm like, well, it was Q4.

[Sarah]

It's Q4. There's no way you're gonna be less. Also, Merry Christmas, Happy holidays to everybody wearing our Christmas Christmas sweaters. Mine is, like, absolutely hideous. I bought it on purpose because it was hideous.

[Nate]

Mine's sick. Mine actually has a polar bear on it, and the polar bear is wearing a sweater.

[Sarah]

Oh, my God, you got dual sweat out. Let's do sweaters. Duality to your sweaters. Ah, cheesy crazy.

[Nate]

All right, what do you want to.

[Sarah]

Talk about today topics today? The last episode we did was fant. If you guys haven't listened to it, please go listen to the LEGO podcast.

[Nate]

Yeah, the LEGO podcast. And it's not about me. It's about the Brick company.

[Sarah]

It's about the brick company. Not. Not Nate Legos.

[Nate]

The actual Legos pod is tactical and practical. You should check that one out too. But the Brain Driven brands episode about LEGO was great.

[Sarah]

Shameless plug always. The LEGO one is interesting mostly because I sometimes I just, like, vet my content out on Twitter just to see what hits so that I know what people want to listen to and talk about. That one in particular. How many views did they. That get? I need to pop that up. That one was a good tweet, right? That one got like 5000ish views. This next one that we're going to talk about got 25,000 views.

[Nate]

Oh, shit. Okay.

[Sarah]

Yeah, so this one was, like, hit home. And it was. This is another one of those tweets where I was like, I have nothing to post today. Here you go. Those are the best. I don't know if this is going to work or not. So this was tweet where I was talking about limited time offers because we just got out of Black Friday bfcm. Everybody ran a limited time something. Everybody. Even Walmart ran a limited time offer. Right. I want to propose the idea that, like, none of these limited time offers actually worked.

[Nate]

Okay.

[Sarah]

What do you mean, mostly okay? So I don't think limited time offers actually work that well. I don't think that they're as much of a driver as we think they are for consumer behavior. And it's mostly because customers don't believe us anymore.

[Nate]

I think it's the latest thing that marketers have ruined.

[Sarah]

Oh, thank you. That's what I meant to say.

[Nate]

Yeah. And I. I think, like, Black Friday.

[Sarah]

Yes.

[Nate]

Is officially dead. And. And let me clarify. We still did more revenue on that day than any day this year. Like, it's real. It's just not what it was 10 years ago.

[Sarah]

Yeah. I don't think the limited time makes a difference.

[Nate]

Yeah. Well, one, no one's actually doing limited time offers anymore. We all say we are and we're kind of not.

[Sarah]

They're not limited and consumers know that. People, they know it.

[Nate]

And even if the deal is limited time, it's probably not drastically different than what your offer's been all year.

[Sarah]

Yeah.

[Nate]

So, yeah, I think marketers have used and abused it to where now, like when this happens all the time, when my wife shows me a deal for something, they're like, oh, it's their Labor Day deal. Like, we should buy this thing. I'm like, it'll be that price in a month, I guarantee it.

[Sarah]

Oh my gosh. There was so many brands that my husband wanted to buy on their sales in the summer. Just random things that he had wanted for a long time. And his always, when he showed me, his response was always, they're doing a sale right now, but I'm going to wait till Black Friday because I know it'll come up again now. Again. I always try. There's lots of like little nuances to this one nuance is for Black Friday in particular. People's behavior is different. They wait for Black Friday mostly because they know the sale is going to be big then. And usually a steeper discount. Right?

[Nate]

Yep.

[Sarah]

Usually. The interesting part is though, somebody posted on, on or commented on this particular tweet and said, I saw like four or five brands where people were calling them out and show them screenshots. Your Black Friday discount higher. Like it's less of a discount than your like other sales that we've been tracking throughout the year. Like this should be the biggest sale of the year because you're saying it's the biggest sale of the year, but it's not.

[Nate]

Not so.

[Sarah]

And we could prove it. Yeah.

[Nate]

You know what we did and I think what we did is the only limited time offer that has any merit left.

[Sarah]

Okay.

[Nate]

And it worked well and it's mine obviously. So I'm gonna.

[Sarah]

That's why I.

[Nate]

This is the best thing ever. That's why I did it now. But we from November 1st until Thanksgiving ran a better than Black Friday.

[Sarah]

That's right. I remember you talking about this on one episode because we went deep dive into your Black Friday like strategy.

[Nate]

Yeah.

[Sarah]

I remember talking about the deal.

[Nate]

The price of everything was the same, but we gave you a hundred dollar gift card with your order to come back and shop with us.

[Sarah]

That's huge. Did that still do. Well, crushed. Okay.

[Nate]

That is the first time I think we've ever successfully pulled revenue forward.

[Sarah]

Yeah.

[Nate]

And like November 1st through Thanksgiving, we absolutely crushed last year and we were crushing our forecast for this year. And then the four year days of BFCM were like right on forecast.

[Sarah]

Yeah.

[Nate]

But the whole month we were 30% ahead of it. So I think we did pull some forward and I think the only reason it worked is because it was such a counter, kind of like counter messaging to what everyone else is doing.

[Sarah]

Did you guys do a big, like this is a limited thing or did you just say from now until now.

[Nate]

There'S a timer on site that said ends on Thanksgiving?

[Sarah]

Okay, so you guys still had like a limited thing on it. Interesting. I. Okay.

[Nate]

I should probably, I think every other limited time doesn't work.

[Sarah]

I should asterisk this that like somebody's going to come after me and be like, Sarah, limited time offers do work because I run them and they work every time. I'm not saying sales don't work. I'm saying this like idea of limiting the amount of time that somebody has to purchase something. Consumers are freaking savvy. They know this isn't a real thing. The limited time offer is gonna come up again. So I wish we wouldn't say it because it like diminishes the value of the limited timeness.

[Nate]

I think I can prove that they don't work at all. If you have a limited time offer that you think works, run it on July 12th next year.

[Sarah]

Oh, it won't work. Yeah.

[Nate]

It only works because we align it with natural consumer behavior. And like you'd say the same thing about my sale. It's like a lot of people knew they were going to buy on Black Friday anyway. Maybe I convinced someone, some of them to buy early, but I can't do that in January or April or August.

[Sarah]

It's not going to work all the time. Yeah, yeah, well, yeah, I have an issue with discounts. I have an issue with limited time offer with urgency and scarcity. Because they're the only two mental heuristics like mental shortcuts that we've overused as marketers. So humans have all these different mental shortcuts. Right. That we use to try and make decisions very quickly. The brain does this automatically and from what they've seen, study wise, it's global. Every human on the planet uses these teeny tiny little mental heuristic shortcuts. The only tool that we use rampantly in this industry is urgency and scarcity. You better get it now because it's not going to be here. Those are lies, people. Those are lies. Like that's not true. That it's. And I would so much rather you go after an urgency or a scarcity that is real meaning if you only have a hundred products, say that, say we only have a hundred. It's not going to be here after the hundreds are gone. So I would. And this is something I've told a lot of different brands. Instead of limiting the time, limit the amount of products people can get. You and I have talked about this a couple different times. Say that you can only get like two if that's the case. Right. Limited to two products per customer or whatever it is. Limit the amount of entity that's actually scarce. Not just putting an arbitrary time limit just so that you can push people into buying. I would so much rather you go after subtle sell and create a little authenticity and trust. Don't follow the hacks. Go after something that's actually going to be valuable to them.

[Nate]

This is something that I've been really big on this year because like I, I am getting frustrated with ecom brands lying to their customers because it hurts all of us and it's a quick shot of heroin and it feels great, but it's not good long term.

[Sarah]

It really isn't.

[Nate]

And like it's something that we've. And like it pisses me off because we do have a scarcity issue. Like we have sold out of our top 10 watches.

[Sarah]

Yeah.

[Nate]

Multiple times this year.

[Sarah]

Yep. Yep.

[Nate]

Is that you?

[Sarah]

Yeah.

[Nate]

Okay.

[Sarah]

All right. You're gonna hear that on the podcast. My kids are jumping on the trampoline, like right outside the window.

[Nate]

You're good. But like we have a real scarcity issue where we can't keep up with how many watches people are trying to buy right now. Subtle flex from the marketer.

[Sarah]

But you know, but like so well. Oh my God.

[Nate]

What I think is so important, like our best selling watch sold out a week ago and it sold out too early. And that's my fault. But we made sure to tell people, yes, we have a real scarcity problem where we can't keep up with how many watches you want to buy from us. And it's a good problem to have, but it is a problem. And when I tell people that there's only 100 of this watch left to go, I want them to believe me. And that trust and that reliability gets diminished every time your hacky brand tells someone that it's gonna run out and then it never does or that the sale's gonna end and then you tell them the sales extended.

[Sarah]

Even worse is those brands who come up with these ads that are like, we're closing. We're so sad about it. Like, just trying to get rid of inventory that run all year long. Like, please don't do that. That's fucked up, guys. Like, it's just mean to do to. And it's also again, mean to do to us as marketers. Because if, if we could all align on better practices, then when we do use these tactics, they'll work a lot better. Yeah, they'll go harder for us if we stop using them all the time. And so I again, tactically on this, like, how then are we supposed to use limited time? The only time I'd use it if is if it makes sense in the consumer base. If it's already happening Black Friday, that actually is a limited time because after like the first week of December, it's kind of faux pas to be running Black Friday ads. And the consumers will call you out for it. They'll be like, why are you.

[Nate]

Mine are still up. Don't worry about it.

[Sarah]

You need to turn those off. Oh my God. That drives me crazy. Drives me crazy. Okay, after the beginning of January, if you have Black Friday ads running, it's weird. That's just strange, right? If you're going to run sales, that's fine. But there's. We've. I think I did an episode on this and if I haven't, I need to do one. I'll write this down, but lots of studies that have been done specifically on attaching a reason to your sales will increase, like purchase intent and increase clicks. It'll increase engagement. People need a reason. You can't just be like, we're running a sale because I needed to have a reason.

[Nate]

And again, like, that's why I think they work when we align ourselves with normal consumer behavior. Anyway. So like, don't run a fall sale. Call it the Labor Day sale for four days.

[Sarah]

Give me a specific reason.

[Nate]

Yeah, and like, don't run a spring sale. Call it whatever. The Mother's Day sale or Valentine's Day sale might be too early, but like tie it to something real in consumers heads that is connected to a time frame. Because just calling it the summer sale is like, all right. That is in no one's head. But if it's the Independence Day sale, then it's like, all right, this is at least irrelevant to something your customer's aware.

[Sarah]

Yeah. Yep. Make it relevant too, if you can, to something they actually give about. Yeah, right. Like I, I don't know anything about like bunny racing but there's like a whole industry that I just found out last week. People sell like harnesses for bunny racing. Like you know, I put one clubs towards there and dominate like get ready, here comes Harry just plotting along. Yeah, there's like a whole industry of bunny racing and somebody consulted with me.

[Nate]

Last week about so they can bunny race. But I host one dog fight at my farm and I'.

[Sarah]

Please tell me that's a joke.

[Nate]

Oh my God, I love dogs. I love my dogs so much.

[Sarah]

I'm saying. So again, take away from this please guys in 2025 make your sales relevant. Just don't, don't be pulling weird shit just because it's, it works right well.

[Nate]

And like you, you need to find a way to convert customers without a massive discount. Like I think that's super important because for 10 months a year that's what you're going to have to do.

[Sarah]

Yeah.

[Nate]

And for us like we have found it's so powerful to be able to not advertise any sale messaging outside of Valentine's Day, Father's Day and Christmas. Those are the only times any of our ads will feature a sale on it.

[Sarah]

Yeah, yeah.

[Nate]

Everything else, we are acquiring customers through Evergreen offers that we know work so that when we tell our prospects and consumer base like hey look, the Christmas sale or the Black Friday sale is starting now and it ends soon, they have no reason not to believe us because we haven't been lying to them.

[Sarah]

About yes, well, and in general, we all have to remember nobody's out here marketing in a vacuum. There's thousands of brands just like yours that are all selling the same thing, that are all sell like saying the same like limited time verbiage. And we have to remember consumers are just inundated with information psychologically that's incredibly difficult to process. So most of the time they're just making in the moment emotional decisions based upon the identity that exists within them. So it really is like the brand who can get to the heart fastest wins, not the brand who could just hack their way into your psyche.

[Nate]

Acquire customers on something other than hacky marketing tactics. That shouldn't be a controversial statement. 2024, but here we are.

[Sarah]

That was it. That's all I had today.

[Nate]

I just wanted a great end to.

[Sarah]

The episode, get on my soapbox a little bit and be like, don't do this in 20.

[Nate]

No, it's important. And again, like I'm not just sitting here like with the moral high, like, high ground tactically, this will pay off.

[Sarah]

Yes.

[Nate]

Like, we see it all the time. When I tell our customers that, hey, marketing guy Nate is here letting you know the sale ends today or that the product will sell out in 24 hours. I'm not lying because never once have I ever sent an email that said, oh, by the way, the sales extended because you asked for it. Oh, oh, we made another batch and they're available now. No, like, those emails hit so much harder.

[Sarah]

Yeah.

[Nate]

Because I don't lie to these people.

[Sarah]

Yeah, well, this is the long game, everybody. This is the long game. One sale this year is not going to make or break unless you're really to the point where the business is going to shut down with this sale. And then again, tell the truth. Like, you can be honest and be like, we need to make money from this or we're going out of business. But don't fabricate stuff just to try and make sales. Be. Be good humans, everybody.

[Nate]

Yeah. Don't lie in marketing. I don't know. Weird spicy take, I guess.

[Sarah]

Spicy. No one's gonna have this tape. Where can people find you? They want to hang out with you online.

[Nate]

Can't hang out with me. Yeah, there's like four of you that are invited to my form.

[Sarah]

Wait, am I one of them?

[Nate]

Do I want to know if Casey comes?

[Sarah]

Where could people find you?

[Nate]

Did you Legos on Twitter?

[Sarah]

Okay.

[Nate]

The tactical and practical podcast is pretty good.

[Sarah]

Okay, you follow me everywhere. You consume content at Sarah Levenger. Go check out what we're doing at Tether Insights. We're pulling out lots and lots of really interesting, in depth insight into the emotional world of your customers, including the hacks that they're using internally in their brain to make purchasing decisions. So that's something you're interested in. Go to tetherinsights IO, check out what we're doing over there. Thanks for coming on the show. Subscribe Scotty. I'm doing an outro. Merry Christmas.

[Nate]

The Brain Driven Brands podcast is part of the Learn and Laugh series on the Quickfire Podcast network.