How can you use scarcity to make your call to action more compelling?

I'm not enthusiastic about this technique, to be honest. However, its suitability depends on several factors, including the individual employing it, the nature of the audience, and the clientele being addressed. Offering a discount on one of your products to those who attended your keynote presentation is reasonable, but frequently presenting it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity strikes me as both offensive and overused in today's context. As a speaker, one also bears the responsibility of fostering a sense of sharing and caring among the audience. Pitching your book or online course on stage doesn't usually align with the expectations of the audience or what the organizers have compensated you for.

There is a time and place for everything. This technique is a classic example. When something is scarce, there could be many reasons - maybe the action is not worthwhile at all, maybe there is a reason why there is limited availability, or maybe it is truly precious. Tapping into primal instincts in the world of abundance can be a misstep. I recommend being extra cautious when applying this.

This reminds me of Sally Hogshead’s Alarm trigger (Fascinate) relative to urgency. It can be used effectively with the right audience, product, or service and messaging. (“If not now, this will happen.”) Specific to Scarcity, retailers showing that there is only 1 left of something may push someone over the edge.

Scarcity will always play some part in marketing. As a psychological principle it has a strong effect. However, I do not see it working as well with generation Z and younger. They have been hit with so many messages they have become so accustomed to seeing "fake scarcity" they barely notice it anymore. In some ways they look at it negatively and move on to shop elsewhere. From my viewpoint the days of "hurry up and act now" will dwindle to be replaced by my authentic messaging without the "car salesman" type of hype. Marketing is always evolving, if you don't ride the wave you will be left behind.

Maybe it works, I don't know, but I'll place my bet on the fact that people instinctively recognize BS. Any business that employs this technique has no respect for the customer.

It is highly important if you use scarcity in your call to action make it authentic. People can smell fake scarcity a mile away. Once it has been uncovered there is no turning back.

Actually a good way to A/B test with scarcity is through Google Ads. They have an ability to include a countdown timer in the headline of your ads dynamically so it adjusts to different time zones. Running two ads, one with a countdown timer and one without, will give you the proof of results for comparison right in the platform.

The idea of combining scarcity with other techniques creates a very new experience. I would even employ the idea of utilizing social proof with a scarcity (authentic) technique. This way it can soften the scarcity messaging while providing a positive indication from the social proof. Together these two will snap a viewer out of their "inundates by too much messaging" state and into a more focused state.