If not, you’re definitely missing out! Exactly as it sounds, FOMO Marketing uses customers’ FOMO, or fear of missing out, to drive customers to your website and ultimately boost sales.

FOMO marketing has been around since pretty much the beginning of time when the first humans had to be aware of their surroundings and look out for what they were missing out on in order to make the most out of scarce resources and survive. 

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The psychological phenomenon is still alive and well today. If you’ve ever looked at Instagram or Facebook, seen your friends having fun, and wished you were there, you’ve experienced FOMO. Everyone experiences FOMO to varying degrees, though millennials and younger people seem to experience it more strongly.

According to a survey by the event management and ticketing website Eventbrite, 69% of millennials have reported experiencing FOMO. (That number will probably continue to rise as young people gain more access to information online.) Additionally, 33% of millennials say they have purposely tried to make their peers feel FOMO.

So why not use your customers’ FOMO in your business’s marketing plan? You can use customers’ jealousy and envy to drive website traffic, social media interactions, and ultimately sales. Businesses typically use FOMO marketing at events, on social media, and on their websites.

Events

A great way to use customers’ FOMO is to promote events on social media and limit the number of people who can attend the event. This will create a heightened sense of demand for the event. Make sure that you provide plenty of social-worthy moments at your event to encourage people to post about how much fun they’re having.

At the end of your event, you should consider giving away prizes and live-streaming the prize ceremony on Facebook. People at home who could not attend the event will want to get in on the fun.

Social Media

There are countless ways you can use feelings of FOMO on social media. Try to create a catchy hashtag to accompany your online promotions. Customers will want to use the hashtags to talk about the products.

Also, consider creating content that expires (to create a sense of urgency among your customers) or experiment with influencers. Studies show that young people often relate more to brand influencers than traditional celebrities.

On Your Website

When you build your website, make sure to do so strategically and in a way that incorporates the principles of FOMO Marketing.

Showing stock levels on your website is one of the best ways to do this. If you show the exact number of products that are left and incorporate phrases like “while supplies last,” customers will be much more likely to act sooner rather than later.

Or let’s say a customer missed a deal on a product. Let them know that they missed out on the deal, but be sure to offer a second opportunity to buy the product. Also, display similar items to the one that the customer missed out on.

Finally, any time you can add countdown clocks or timers to your website to signal when deals will end, you can build up feelings of FOMO.

Check out this infographic created by Fundera that explains the best ways your business can use FOMO Marketing.