The Urgent Copy Strategy Your Wine Promos Are Missing

Recently a client mentioned they get their best sales when promoting wines that are almost gone. As a winery, this may seem confusing. To me as a marketer, this makes total sense. And I urged them to lean into it more because it’s tapping into the tried-and-true strategy of URGENCY. 

Using the concept of urgency isn’t new at all. It’s time-tested and salesman-approved. But if used wrong, it definitely sounds like something a car salesman would say. 

If used right, it’s natural, engaging, and gets your customers to lean in and care more than ever. 

Here’s why urgency works: 

  1. Exclusivity: People LOVE a special find. Especially when it comes to wine. When a customer gets their hands on a bottle that only a few others have access to, it makes the perceived value of the wine even higher. It’s more unique and rare and makes that one individual bottle seem like a prize. 

  2. FOMO: No one wants to miss out on a great thing. Whether it’s a night out you see the next day on Instagram or an amazing bottle that slipped through your fingers. If there’s a chance your customers are going to miss out on something really valuable that you’re running out of, it heightens the perceived value even more. 

  3. Proof that it’s good: This is like when Amazon tells you there’s only 2 items left so you have to order it now. Everyone else already knows it’s a great thing and you’re crazy to ignore it. That built-in social proof demonstrating the wine’s popularity shows it has a track record of delivering on what it claims, otherwise all those other people wouldn’t have gotten it. 

But here’s the thing about urgency. If it’s not real, your customers can smell it a mile away. That’s why promotions on wines that are actually running out really do work.

So here are a few tips to use this strategy the right way: 

  1. Don’t force it. If you try to make up a huge story about why there’s only one case left because it’s sooo rare blah blah blah, and then one week later you suddenly have more of it, your customers will see right through you. And they’ll call BS on your next sale. So don’t fabricate a reason to make something limited, urgent, or exclusive. Not only does it not work, but that’s where the slimy salesmanship stink comes from.  

  2. Find authentic urgency. Instead, find the natural reason why a wine or promotion needs to be limited, and craft the urgency messaging around that. If there’s truly only a case of a special wine left, there’s your authentic urgency (and it’s a good one). If you really only have five more bookings available, then there’s your true exclusivity. If the wine is limited production because it’s from a tiny vineyard, highlight what customers will miss out on.

  3. Urgency isn’t your whole message. While this tactic is wildly useful, it’s important to remember this can’t be the entire story all the time. When all you talk about is how exclusive and rare a wine is, that’s when things start to feel salesy and pushy. And, you’re missing out on featuring a great product by forcing your customers to look at it as another shopping item to get a deal on. Instead, I like to look at urgency like a sandwich. Use it at the beginning as a base to hook them, load it up with the meat and cheese, and then top it off with one final reminder about the urgency. 

When used well, urgency can be a powerful tool in crafting copywriting that engages your customers and shows them why your wine is the best option to buy right now. 

Of course, this is just one of many other tools in the copywriter’s toolkit! Let me know if you’re interested in crafting some compelling messaging to convert your audience into paying customers. Or, if you have some local sandwich recommendations, because now I’m hungry. chloe@chloecreativeagency.com

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