What is urgency (and its best bud, scarcity)?
Urgency and scarcity are psychological triggers that help to prompt immediate decisions. The idea is that when something is time-limited (urgency) or quantity-limited (scarcity), it becomes more valuable in our minds.
To make that feel a little less “marketing textbook”:
- "Offer closes Friday after I finish my coffee" (urgency)
- "Only 5 spots left" (scarcity)
- "Early bird pricing ends tonight" (both)
These tactics work because they tap into our fear of missing out. The problem? When overused or, even worse, fabricated, they trigger something else: the "ick."
And at this point, we’ve all seen the email or LinkedIn post that includes a trigger like this…and we can all kind of tell when it is BS.
Why "ick" is more dangerous for creators than brands
As a creator, your connection with your audience is your most valuable asset. Unlike faceless brands, your business is based on an audience’s trust in you.
When major brands use artificial urgency, consumers might roll their eyes but still purchase (or just wait to get the eventual discount email). When creators do it:
- Your audience feels manipulated by someone they trust
- The tactic contradicts the authentic relationship you've built
- Each "fake" deadline chips away at your credibility
And while that sucks generally, it is dangerous because most creators’ primary revenue stream is advertising. You are selling access to your trusted audience to brands - if you lose that, it impacts the rest of your business in a way that, say, Saratoga Spring Water doesn’t have to worry about (sorry, had to do it). 🧊 🍌
Simply put, the stakes are higher for you.
What you can do to avoid it
Instead of manufacturing urgency, you could try, you know, being genuine. Here’s how 👇️
1. Leverage natural time constraints
For launches with genuine deadlines (like an 8-week challenge with a specific start date), simply highlight the real timeline. No fabrication needed, but ideally you are doing this repeatedly so that your potential customers don’t miss the deadline.
2. Show real-time social proof
On a recent sales page we designed, we created a component showing how many people had already joined the creator's challenge. This creates authentic FOMO without feeling like manipulation.
This works especially well in this context, as the product is relatively low-cost. When the price point is lower, it can often end up as an impulse purchase: “oh, other people are doing this” can be a powerful motivator.
3. Be transparent about your limitations
If you genuinely can only handle 20 clients, or if your course/membership genuinely works better with a smaller cohort, explain why. Your audience appreciates honesty, and it positions scarcity alongside a genuine explanation of value.
“I want to do bi-weekly 1on1s with each member of the community for the first 90 days, which means I can’t take on more than 20 people. 15 slots are already gone, so if you want to meet with me every 2 weeks for the next 3 months, make sure you get in fast.” You get the idea.
4. Create value-based urgency
Instead of "buy now or miss out," try "start now and achieve results sooner." Shift from fear of loss to excitement about gains. Fear is a strong motivator, and I can’t argue that - but is that really the emotion you want to generate with your audience?
The bottom line? Your authentic connection with your audience is (for most creators) the true economic engine of your business. Be extremely judicious about when and how you leverage urgency tactics, because once you turn the corner from Prince Charming to Quasimodo, it is reaaaal hard to go back.
