False Urgency is Dead. Here’s How to Create REAL Urgency That Results in Conversions

“ONLY 2 SPOTS LEFT!”

“LIMITED TIME ONLY!”

“CLOSING THE DOORS FRIDAY!”

“ONCE IT’S GONE, IT’S GONE!”

Which of these have you seen? Probably all of them, right? 

And how many of these do you think really mean that the offer is so special that you have to grab it right now?

Very few.

And even for the ones that ARE real, conversions are dwindling.

Why is that?

Because external urgency is false urgency. 

Today’s consumers have options. If they even THINK there’s a chance that your “limited time offer” is inauthentic, they’ll go elsewhere to get virtually exactly the same offer.

So, how do you create real urgency with your offers? The kind that makes your audience actually take action and not feel super slimy and sold to?

You do it by creating NATURAL URGENCY.

What is Natural Urgency?

Natural urgency is the idea that we all understand that our time is limited and that life’s clock is always ticking, and that if we don’t take action, we won’t achieve the results we want to achieve or live the life that we want to.

This type of urgency spurs very real emotions within your audience, which is far more powerful than the stress or rush of buying a limited time offer.

How to Create Natural Urgency in Copywriting

There are endless ways to create a real sense of urgency within copywriting, with both creative copywriting techniques and the use of future pacing, so let’s talk about both.

Using Creative Copywriting to Create Urgency

You can use creative copywriting techniques to master the art of creating real urgency.

Creative copywriting is writing copy that attaches a concept to a product or service in a meaningful, interesting way that really gets into your audience’s head.

Let’s say you’re a freelance copywriter working on a campaign for an addiction therapist. You want to write copy that creates a sense of urgency and compels someone to enroll in a new smoking cessation group therapy program.

Instead of using false urgency like “Only 20 Spots Available,” you want to stir a sense of urgency within your audience that they feel in their core.

So, you might create something like the ad below:

Creating Urgency Through Future Pacing

Future pacing paints a picture for your audience of what their life would be like if they purchased your offer. 

Or, what their life would be like if they chose NOT to purchase your offer. 

Future pacing can be positive or negative, and touches on the deeper emotions of your audience.

For example, these two sentences push exactly the same product, but use different forms of future pacing:

1. Imagine, 6 months from now, you could be sipping a Mai Tai, working from your laptop on a beach.  That’s what starting your own copywriting business can do for you.

2. Imagine, 6 months from now. You’re crying (again) on your way to work. You clock in at your thankless job, just to clock out and cry all the way home. You could have started your copywriting business 6 months ago.

Experiment with both positive and negative future pacing and see which one works best for your offer. 

And remember, future pacing is really, really powerful. Use it wisely. 

Natural Urgency Makes Your Copy More Compelling

Gone are the days when copywriters could simply sell out an offer by adding a countdown timer and writing “ALMOST GONE!!” in annoying capital letters across the top of a piece of copy.

Now, consumers respond to copy that makes them feel. And when people feel, they take action.

Ditch the false urgency tactics and dig deep into your customer’ psyche and write copy that makes them move because they’re compelled to instead of rushed to.