Marketing experts know that creating a sense of scarcity (even if there’s abundance) can create more value around a product, and thus, significantly help drive sales. Just think of how Apple ensures that its supply of new iPhones always trails demand (thus driving more demand).We’ve discussed before how online subscription marketers can create scarcity with a timed subscription offer. But scarcity was also long used by the editorial departments of print publications to convey the importance of a story. That is, the more important story got more space on the page and more prominent positioning (such as “above the fold”).Some online content publishers have assumed that “above the fold” can create importance online (and in some ways it can). However, Amanda Cox of The New York Times graphics desk recently commented on how audiences can gauge the importance of a story by how the perceived amount of tech development that went into it.Granted, Cox works the graphics desk and she’s particularly interested in graphic design, which is labor intensive even in the online space. But her point is still valid. Indefinite page space means there’s less need for the inverted pyramid of journalism (and more journalists who don’t know when to stop writing).However, when journalists work side-by-side with coders and Web designers to create interactive or engaging graphical stories — or even databases that allow readers to alter and examine complex data with ease — audiences have an innate understanding that this information/news is more important than the plethora of stories on a given site. And that was reflected in Cox’s own study, where she tagged her graphical creations according to a variety of factors and found that the most difficult to code were also the most popular.And when important information is popular, it’s easier for publishers to charge for it.Image: (c) David Paul Ohmer via flickr