Do you remember when you were a kid, and for one reason or another, you weren’t able to go with your friends on the big camping trip? To the concert? To the baseball game?
That visceral sadness you’d inevitably feel was not a byproduct of the fact that you had a hankering for roasted weenies. In fact, it rarely had anything to do with a tangible person, place or object. This feeling derived from the fact that the opportunity to live that particular experience had vanished, and moreover, your friends would be having it while you were not.
In the old days, this feeling was referred to as jealousy. But, thanks to social media, and the people who consume its undying desire to feel vindicated in their petulant selfishness, this phenomenon is now known as FOMO, or Fear of Missing Out. FOMO can be described as the anxiety a person feels when s/he thinks someone might be experiencing something exciting, fun or beneficial without them.
FOMO can be a valuable tool for selling your products. Marketers can capitalize on FOMO and craft enticing Social Media campaigns that will make their customers feel like they are missing an opportunity by not taking action on a particular offer.
There are a few ways to appeal to your customers’ emotions using FOMO:
- Psst … here’s something that only a few select people can get.
It’s human nature to want something we think everyone can’t have. If you can make your customers think they have an opportunity to get their hands on something exclusive, you’re FOMOing correctly. Customers who act on these types of deals are also likely to show off their purchase since they believe they are one of a select few, which means free advertising for you. - Wanna be like Mike?
Nothing drives impulse purchases like an endorsement from a ‘somebody’. These days, a somebody can be anybody. A person with a large social media presence can make your product a must-have. Take notice of these people and reach out to them to see if you can’t get them to vouch for your product. - A friend of a friend of a friend told me that this stuff works.
Word of mouth is, and always has been a powerful purchasing catalyst in the marketing world. The only difference is that now, because we are constantly inundated with reviews and top 10 lists, people are more likely than ever to trust their friend’s personal appraisal of a particular product. Work towards establishing an impeccable reputation for good customer service, and people will feel compelled to take your product for a spin and foolish that they didn’t know about you sooner. - I don’t know … we only have a few left.
While creating the illusion that there is a scarcity of something isn’t a new idea, doing so tactfully can prove to be difficult but fruitful. To capitalize on the idea of FOMO, imply to your audience that a pre-sale is occurring. This logic suggests that the product is so hot that there will be a scarcity in the future. At the very least, it suggests that your product is valuable enough to constitute a pre-sale, which is a pretty ludicrous concept in its own right.
