You’re missing out if you’ve never heard of FOMO Marketing. Exactly as it sounds, this marketing technique uses customers’ FOMO — or fear of missing out — to drive website traffic and ultimately boost sales.
Who hasn’t felt FOMO before? It’s all around us, whether on social media or in real life, and it affects young people, especially strongly. The event management and ticketing website Eventbrite assesses that approximately 69% of millennials have experienced FOMO at some point, and an additional 33% have purposely tried to make others feel like they are missing out.
The psychological phenomenon of FOMO goes back to the time of our ancestors when early humans had to compete for scarce resources to survive. But, in today’s culture, businesses are increasingly hopping on the FOMO train as well.
For example, you can use FOMO Marketing — and the accompanying feelings of jealousy, envy, or sadness — when hosting events. You can limit the number of attendees and even live-stream gift giveaways or other significant events to show customers at home what they’re missing out on.
Additionally, you can use FOMO Marketing when you’re brainstorming social media posts or building your website. Try putting a countdown clock on your website to create a sense of urgency and, on social media, borrowing a page from the Snapchat playbook and letting your content expire.
Fundera created an interesting infographic that explains nine unique ways you can use FOMO Marketing in your business.