a single source, nothing corroborates it

Size the launch discount so it actually moves people

Five or ten percent reads as insulting and shifts nobody, while half off gives away revenue you would have collected from buyers already convinced. Twenty percent across the opening day is the repeatedly used middle, and it costs nothing to implement because no new material has to be built. Remember the cut also lands on everyone who would have paid full price, so reach for a bonus instead if that trade bothers you, and pick one urgency mechanism rather than stacking three.

The method

1. 01

   Run a 20% discount across a launch's opening 24 hours; it is the cheapest urgency to implement because nothing new has to be built.

2. 02

   Set the launch discount high enough to actually move people: a token cut is not motivating.

3. 03

   Keep the launch discount in the middle band: 5-10% reads as insulting and does not move anyone, while 50%+ gives away too much revenue.

4. 04

   Remember a discount also costs you margin on the people who would have paid full price, and can dent perceived value: reach for a bonus instead if that trade bothers you.

5. 05

   Pick at least one of three urgency mechanisms, a discount, an expiring bonus, or a cap on sales, and resist stacking all of them.

What it returned

• $10

  Used on every one of his book launches; the $10-50 saving drove a lot of sales

• 10%

  He offered 10% on launch day and concluded afterwards that 20% would have been the right number

• 5

  5-10% too small, 50%+ too large

Sources

• Three reasons product launches failNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · Urgency · 2014-03-18
• How Samuel Hulick made over $37,000 with his self-published bookNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · The $7,500 Day, the $20,000 Week: Launching The Elements of User Onboarding · 2014-06-09
• Using urgency to increase salesNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · Discount the price · 2014-03-13