Brent Hodgson, Copywriter

I was just reading a great post on Alister Cameron’s blog, exposing the use of Javascript generated datesstamps to say “This Offer Expires… … [whatever the date is, 7 days from today]“.

This trick works, and works well - just ask any Copywriter!

But as a Copywriter and Internet Marketing Consultant, this is a trick I will NEVER suggest my clients use.
Let me be clear about this (just incase you missed it)…

Never, ever, ever, ever.

The whole idea of having an offer which expires is to build scarcity into your offer - to make sure someone buys now instead of deciding to leave now and [maybe] come back later…

Because you know that if someone leaves your site, there’s a risk they’ll never come back.

But if you’re saying that an offer expires on the XXth of Month, 200X… and it doesn’t, that’s a lie, lie, lie.

The crux of the issue is summed up nicely in Alister’s post.

“If you’re trying to gain our RESPECT enough to purchase your products, why treat us like fools?!”

This is it.

Best practice - be honest. If the offer expires, use reason-why copy to tell the reader WHY it’s expiring, WHEN it’s expiring, (and perhaps WHAT the offer will be later).

As an Internet Marketer, this helps you to build credibility.

When someone comes back to your web-site after the offer has expired and sees the offer has infact changed, they’ll be more likely to take you for your word…

…So when you say an offer is expiring, they know you’re not just jerking them around with some hype-ridden sales pitch.

(Plus, marketers who sell using this tactic will never run the risk of finding themselves on Alister Cameron’s blog as a result. ;))

Grey-hat practice - at the very LEAST put a cookie on the potential customer’s machine which will mean the offer you’re making to them expires on a particular date. (And be clear about this in your copy - ie - say “This offer, which I’m making to you now, expires on…” rather than “This offer will expire on…”)

But don’t lie in your sales copy.

I mean, c’mon! Treat your customers with a little respect - after all, they’re worth it!

Brent

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