When done right, scarcity can be wholly positive, creating build-up, excitement and desire in increasing waves.

‍Where can you experiment with limited editions or durations in creative ways that leave people wanting more, not less.

Challenges, achievements and success in the eyes of others will always excite and inspire action.

‍How can you create a means to elevate and celebrate those who align with or mutually support your own strategic aims?

Giving people some say in the outcome of an event or process, even small or highly pre-defined, will create excitement as to what happens next.

‍How might you open up your creation to others at key points to offer some clearly defined routes forward?

Beyond merely being persuasive, the buzz of the crowd creates an energy that’s hard to ignore.

‍Which hidden behavioural norms can you find in your customers that, when communicated, create new permissions to explore? “Everyone else is doing it, so I’ll give it a go!”

Self-identity, mastery and the thrill of the hunt are all at play with collections, especially when combined with Scarcity, Status and Curiosity.

‍How can you encourage exploration with your products / features by framing them as some form of collection to be amassed? Take people on a journey through what you offer.

Compelling narratives, cliffhangers, plot twists and a connection to those in the story all create excitement as to what happens next.

‍Where can you weave in some subtle journey into your experiences or marketing that others can connect to and follow over time?

Seeing the impact of our actions is not only highly motivating, it’s also exciting when framed correctly.

‍Where can you tie peoples’ actions to a higher level goal that reminds, inspires and excites in equal measure?

Being part of an inside group with special benefits like access to things deemed rare or otherwise hidden, early / priority access or meaningful creative influence can create deep collective excitement.

‍What high value assets can you restrict? For whom? How do they enter the secret club?

We’re predisposed to want to complete any unfinished tasks. But not all tasks are created equally. Not enough effort is given to make the steps along the way exciting enough.

‍When getting people effortlessly started on a task, how can you create a continued sense of excitement that they are now on their way to completion? Remember to also highlight what completing the task will then unlock.

Morioka Shoten, a small book shop in Ginza, Tokyo, only sells one book at a time. The entire shop is reimagined around the book, creating strong, unique sense of excitement.

‍If you are to sensibly reduce choice, how can you do so in a way that compels people to return regularly with excited anticipation?

Opportunities to express ourselves in new and context-relevant ways will always be welcomed and can even be very entertaining.

‍Where can you take what is currently a de-personalised experience and bring it to life with a meaningful opportunity to add ones' own personal touch?

We are a deeply social animal, so always respond well to positive reciprocal acts.

‍How can you embed a give-and-take mechanic that connects people around a collective sense of belonging and an exciting shared vision?

Even though the term ‘reward’ is overbaked and often the reward itself is meaningless, done well, scarce, personalised rewards feel amazing.

‍Going further, how can you instil a growing sense of excitement in such a reward, prior to its arrival or consumption?

What we help create becomes an extension of who we are. However, too much customisation can turn excitement into exhaustion.

‍At what point on your customer’s journey  can you offer a few key opportunities to make what could otherwise be generic feel unique and full of anticipation?

Completing a task can feel immensely satisfying.

‍How can you go on the journey with the task-completer, increasing the excitement in your messaging as they get closer to the finish? How can you also combine with a Peak-End for added task completion bang!

Used sparingly, surprises leave a very powerful, positive mark on people.

‍Where can you create unexpected joy in those you touch? Try combining with a sense of status and curiosity.

A foot in the door is a perfect antidote to overcoming risk, giving us a safe space to try something exciting and new in a small dose.

‍What unfamiliar feature or product do you have that would be well-served by a small enabling taster, either in terms of zero cost, a bundle or for a set period of time?

As we remember an experience by its peaks or how it ended, it’s important that  you finish on a high.

‍How do you want people to leave your experience feeling?

Where can you intentionally design this in to leave people buzzing and excited to share the story with others?

Even though curiosity is low-level anxiety about what we don’t yet know, it’s a perfect bedfellow to excitement.

‍Where can you tease with imperfect information and create excitement about positive, new and mysterious products or features.

Anticipation builds excitement. If all Lord of the Rings films were released at once, research shows that we’d enjoy them less overall.

‍Where in your experiences can you spread out the good stuff, creating an exciting build-up that creates its own anticipatory conversation in between your releases?