FOMO is a marketing tactic that compels shoppers to take a specific action. It influences their mind by making them think that inaction will result in missing out on something extraordinary. Usually, this strategy motivates the consumers by shortening the sales cycle. Nevertheless, marketers must know the fine line between being influential and pushy to get it right. You can see a boost in sales with a proper understanding of the types of FOMO marketing and various effective tricks.
What Is FOMO Marketing?
It is a type of marketing that leverages the buyer’s will to grab every opportunity. Through this tactic, companies present the product wrapped in urgency and the fear of regret. Hence, consumers end up making impulse purchases in most cases. As humans are weary of risks and want to avoid them at any cost, this marketing strategy is highly effective. Even if it means putting the money into a product you might not need immediately, or something you may not have bought is a normal situation, you often end up buying when the advertiser or marketer can install FOMO in you. FOMO also plays with the human fear of future regret. When products are available at a discount for a short time, buyers often purchase for fear of regretting them in the future. FOMO marketers try to create this panic among the buyers and utilize it to increase their sales.
The FOMO Marketing and Micro-Influencers
Companies that want to make the most of FOMO often take assistance from micro-influencers. These are the people with less than 50,000 followers. Despite having a smaller audience, they have a better engagement. Since they are affordable and available, using them in the FOMO strategy is highly effective. Also, you can simultaneously take help from multiple micro-influencers to promote your product. Brands these days work with hundreds of micro-influencers to push audiences to buy their products. The FOMO gets real when a customer sees that many influencers they follow are promoting a product. Add it with a promo code when someone routes from the influencers’ posts, and you can see a rise in sales and revenue.
The FOMO Marketing Is the New Normal for Marketing
The market has become more competitive than ever before. Therefore, companies often struggle to sell products and services due to the countless competitors. Thanks to the high success rate, FOMO has become part and parcel of any marketing strategy. Being a customer-centric marketing strategy, FOMO plays with the emotion of the customers and can end up pushing them to make an impulsive purchase. You can take the example of Facebook live sales. When an influencer displays a designer wedding gown with a few pieces left, all the viewers feel the urgency to act and purchase what only a few people can own. It is a perfect example of the FOMO strategy.
Types of FOMO Marketing
#1. FOMO Social Media Proof
Social media proof has become a popular type of FOMO marketing. Here, social media usage shows the users’ experience regarding a product or service. As people see others purchasing or subscribing to a product or service, they consider it validation and make purchase decisions based on those reviews. Therefore, people often purchase products with positive reviews and video testimonials. This FOMO strategy uses the general tendency of the consumers who do not want to miss out on trends. It has become a compelling method of influencing people to make purchase decisions for costly products.
#2. FOMO Urgency
With this FOMO marketing strategy, marketers try to create a sense of urgency among the buyers, so they immediately take action for a product or a deal. The aim is to structure the marketing messages that will make buyers think that immediate action is needed unless they want to miss a good deal. To create a feeling of urgency among the users, marketers use specific call-to-action phrases to push buyers towards a purchase, such as:
Buy Now!Limited stock is available.Only (x amount ) remaining.Hurry before it’s too late.
#3. FOMO Time Limit
Nothing works as a better FOMO technique than a time limit that is running out. It projects a scenario in front of the potential buyers that they have to take action within a specific time. In such cases, people are most likely to take action to opt for a specific deal or opportunity. This FOMO tactic is usually seen in online marketplaces where certain products come with a countdown watch. It shows that you are obliged to make a purchase, or the deal will expire. Needless to say that it is beneficial in selling digital products.
#4. FOMO Missed Opportunity
The missed opportunity is a common FOMO marketing tactic. It successfully plays with your emotion and makes you realize how you would feel in case of a missed deal or opportunity. Since nobody wants to feel like missing a great deal, people take action in these cases. This marketing strategy is usually placed during holidays when businesses promote their products with sales discounts. This FOMO marketing strategy includes phrases :
Ignore if you do not want traffic.Don’t miss this fantastic deal.Click now to lock this price.Stand out from the crowd.
FOMO Marketing Examples
Live visitor countCustomer reviews & testimonialsQuotations and live conversationsPeople also bought this itemRemaining item countSocial proofEarly-bird discountGated contentIn-demand productLimited-time free shippingOffer on bundle purchaseLow stockLast day for the special price
FOMO Marketing Strategies
To implement various types of FOMO strategies to increase sales, improve brand awareness, and company growth, one can take apply one or more of these techniques:
Celebrity or Influencer’s Quote
If you want to promote your brand or product, nothing can be better than onboarding influencers or celebrities for promotion. You can use their quotes that include praising your products on your website to give your ad campaign a boost. Using this clubbed with FOMO methods will work wonders for your sales and business growth. Besides increasing sales, influencers will get you more website traffic and lead while increasing brand trust. However, place the quote in the right section of the website so that the visitors can see them easily. Adding them to your landing page and product page will also help.
Set Time Limits
If you are implementing FOMO marketing, setting up a deadline is mandatory. Any deadline, even on an eCommerce website, puts users under pressure to act immediately. While making purchase decisions, people often make impulsive purchases as the time is running out. You can use it too to make some quick sales. But, you have to make sure the deadline is absolute. If the customers notice that you keep extending it, they will get used to it, and the method will not work.
Clever Messaging
In FOMO marketing, presenting your message to the customers is highly important. You must craft your message tactfully to induce a sense of urgency in your target audience. While the message should push them toward the purchase, it must not feel unpleasant. Using assertive language and strong verbs are often the best way of FOMO marketing. The following phrases are great examples of how you can make the users take instant action.
Don’t miss this offer.Only X spots are left.The last chance to buy.Time’s running out!
Multiple Channels
As a brand, you must take an omnichannel approach to reach all your target audience through marketing. Nowadays, people use different social platforms to interact with brands, and not taking this to your advantage would be a great mistake. At times, creating FOMO among your users on one channel is useful by informing them that certain content or offer will be available on other channels only. This will influence them to subscribe to other channels as well. Thus, one can increase their follower base on different social media.
Social Proof or Testimonials
Social proof is another way of successfully triggering FOMO among the users. To get the best results, you need to know how and when to use it. In most cases, the best place to use it is at the end of the purchase funnel or right before the decision-making stage. Posting positive reviews from your existing customers on your social posts highly influences the audience. Social proof tools to show pop-up notifications on your website about recent actions also create FOMO.
Product Bundles
Several industries use product bundles for upselling. It means that when someone buys multiple products or services instead of one, they get a discount on the bundle. These bundles work as rewards to the customers who purchase multiple products simultaneously. Moreover, you can add a countdown clock on top of the product bundle to increase the urgency. Besides holidays and festivals, companies often use this FOMO marketing technique to clear products with low shelf-life.
Special Offer for Limited Time
The limited-time sale also uses the theme of scarcity to induce FOMO. Many industries take refuge in periodic sales to reduce storage costs, clear excess stock, and earn quick revenue. Though you can use seasonal sales at any time of the year, you need to be intelligent to engineer such offers properly. For instance, companies may offer a discounted price or create a unique bundle. Even offering them a product for free is a good idea. No matter what you do, try to present them with something they won’t want to miss for the world.
Exit-Intent Pop-up
eCommerce and retail websites these days suffer due to user procrastination and limited attention time. Sometimes, people close a window without making a purchase or stay on it without taking action. You can resolve the issue in both cases by showing an exit-intent pop-up. The best place to display this pop-up is the pricing page or checkout. Make sure the pop-up contains a deal available only for that time. Combining it with a countdown timer will work as an added advantage. Since it presents the audience with something unexpected, they often purchase the product on impulse.
Show Scarcity
FOMO marketing often takes advantage by highlighting limited supply. Even if it is not essential, consumers often act out of impulse when they see that only a few people can own a product. By showing the popularity and preciousness of a product, the scarcity work in both way to make customers buy it. Do not be surprised if we tell you that this approach alone works even without setting a countdown clock. Tourism and booking companies use it to create a fear of missing out among travelers and tourists. However, you can also use this low stock notification on your eCommerce website.
Exclusivity
Offering exclusivity is one way of inducing FOMO among the users. Companies can use it to force people to share their email addresses indirectly. Regardless of the marketing strategy, having an email address database of highly engaged subscribers is necessary. High return through email marketing is not the only benefit of an email list. It also allows you to categorize the customers and analyze them properly. As strict regulation against spam has made it more challenging to get sign-ups, you can build your email list by providing genuine offers and unique content to the subscribers. By offering them news on your best deals, you can get more people to sign up with their email addresses.
Concluding Words
The essence of FOMO is to generate a sense of urgency in the buyer’s mind. Hence, it is more potent than any other marketing approach. However, overusing FOMO will make it lose its strength. This post lets you master all the excellent FOMO marketing strategies and basics and drive more customers to buy your products. Besides, you may want to focus on video marketing as a marketing strategy.
