FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) describes the anxiety and restlessness felt by people upon being excluded from an event or experience. FOMO marketing incorporates three dominant psychological factors: Social Proof, Scarcity, and Urgency. Several studies have concluded that humans make decisions based on their company and environment.
If your target audience is millennials, you cannot go wrong with FOMO marketing. About 69% of millennials experience FOMO, and according to Strategy Online, 60% of them make reactive purchases because of this feeling. If you wish to expand the horizons of your business and drive conversion rates by leveraging FOMO, check out these eight practical tips:
1. Create Limited-Time Offers
Introducing limited-time sales or bundle offers has been a highly efficient marketing strategy for several years. Periodic sales can help dispose of excess stock, minimize storage expenses and generate revenue. However, buyers respond to such sales with high interest, which has led to almost every business launching seasonal sale marketing campaigns.
You can generate limited-time offers in several ways. For instance, you could create bundle offers or sell specific product lineups at discounted prices. You could also provide a bonus item to buyers who purchased during a limited sale period. If you run a retail store, you can advertise such sales to passersby using banners.
2. Highlight Limited Availability
Highlighting the limited supply of a particular product or offer often drives customers to purchase instantly if they’ve been eyeballing it for a while. Limited stock indicates a high demand for the commodity and makes it feel more valuable. Highlighting limited stock creates a feeling of urgency rather than using a deadline.
To further boost its effectiveness, you can be more precise about the number of items left before the product runs out. For instance, you could display “Only 1 item left” to heighten FOMO amongst customers and drive them towards completing the purchase.
3. Display Top Selling Products
E-commerce store visitors get a heavy dosage of FOMO upon seeing what your best selling or top-rated products are in the market. The badge of top-selling strengthens people’s liking of a product since more people will want it as well.
Besides instigating FOMO, top-selling tags also reassure people who might be skeptical of your website. It indicates that several others have successfully purchased from you and are happy with what they received.
4. Set up a “First X Buyers” Offer
Offer freebies and giveaways to a certain number of customers who purchase a particular product from you. This marketing strategy instigates FOMO amongst people and helps them make up their minds faster. Offer something valuable and attractive as a freebie with every product sold to the first X customers, as it boosts conversion rates.
The impact of these offers can be increased further by showing the total freebies given away and how many remain. Besides offering freebies, you can also organize giveaways for a few lucky customers who purchase from you. Such offers are highly enticing to interested buyers, and thus, must be advertised using appropriate marketing tools, such as frames, to attract onlookers into your retail store.
5. Offer Free Shipping for a Limited-Time
90% of buyers claim that free shipping is the most significant driving factor that has convinced them to shop online. This research has also revealed that average order values increase by 30% when brands offer free shipping. You can use this to your advantage by offering free shipping, but for a limited period to create FOMO.
Most buyers abandon their carts upon coming across high shipping charges. By offering limited-time free shipping, you ensure that customers are not swayed away from completing the purchase.
6. Provide Exclusive Content to Mail Sign-Ups
Email marketing delivers high returns and can keep buyers engaged with your business in the long run. A healthy mailing list lets you analyze and categorize your customers more effectively.
If you offer exclusive content to mail sign-ups, people might feel like they missed out on something valuable. Ensure that your emails contain worthy information, such as early access to deals, discount coupons, giveaway entries, etc.
7. Social Proof Notifications to Indicate Limited Availability
Social Proof notifications reveal the activities of other users on a website. They tell the number of visitors on a particular page, the total visitors received, and the number of people who purchased a product.
Providing such transparency provokes a sense of limited availability and competition, fueled by the information that the product will run out of stock soon. This approach is highly efficient compared to a time limit because visitors are unaware of how long the stock lasts.
8. Display Expired Discounts/Offers
Displaying expired offers and discounts has a significant effect on consumer behavior. It reinforces the legitimacy of your brand and the fact that stock is limited and getting sold out at a faster rate.
Offers and schemes that have run out trigger a sense of urgency amongst site visitors to complete the purchase with little reconsideration. It helps boost conversion rates and keeps interested buyers engaged every time you restock products.
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