Apple used this marketing tactic to sell 13 million iPhones in a year:

Scarcity.

Here's the science behind it and how you can use it:

The perception of scarcity has powerful influence over decision making.

It stems from the heuristic or mental shortcut that causes the brain to assign value based on availability, not utility.

When an item is thought to be rare, the perceived value skyrockets.

This causes consumers to act irrationally and buy on impulse instead of logic.

Why is this important?

Because world-class marketers can get customers to pay more AND pay now!

Its power is derived from our natural desire to control more resources than others.

Some items, like Da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi" painting are truly scarce.

The original painting sold for $450M in 2017 to Saudi investors who clearly wanted it badly.

But usually scarcity isn't real... it's manufactured for profit.

Here are the tools Apple used:

Social proof:

In 2007 the iPhone was a new concept, so creating social proof would be difficult.

But that didn't stop Steve Jobs.

He cleverly held secret events for media influencers during the 6-month hype period from Jan. to June to show off the new product.

It worked!

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