Back in the early 80's, one of the biggest toy sensations (and marketing grand slams) hit the market:

Cabbage Patch Kids... they were all the rage! 

A lot of people called them ugly.

But they were soft, sculptured dolls that were released during the Christmas shopping season. And through some very clever strategic moves, the Cabbage Patch Kids did something previously unheard of:

They Caused a Christmas Toy Season Frenzy!

If you have any recollection whatsoever of that time period, you remember the stories, news reports (even police reports) of parents trading blows at Toys R Us just to get their hands on the last doll on the shelf for Little Susie.

Do you remember that time?

But was there anything truly extraordinary about the dolls? No.

Could they fly? No.

Were they made out of lollipops? No.

Could they sing and dance then make a ham sandwich? No.

The concept was that they were born in a cabbage patch and that the little girl who'd own one would be able to know the doll's name and "birth" place.

But you know why the dolls really hit it big?

One word: SCARCITY.

The doll maker, Xavier Roberts, devised a scheme to build up the hype... get the kids super-excited about owning one... and then once the kids (and parents) were practically foaming at the mouth in anticipation, they pull back the shipments to a bare minimum to each toy store.

The result?

FRENZY!

People went nuts and the Cabbage Patch Kid legend was born.

Why do I tell you this? Because SCARCITY is one of the most important and effective ways of generating excitement and building up demand for your product or service.

Whenever possibly, inject some scarcity in your marketing and you'll find demand instantly spike. Amazing, yet true. (Note: Make sure it's genuine scarcity.)

Scarcity conveys to the consumer that this is a "hot" product -- everyone else wants it (or WILL want it) and so they need to act right away. It's also a kind of social proof that the product/service is in high demand.