Your website is responsive for mobile devices.
It includes all the must-haves, like contact details and calls to action up front and centre.
It’s optimised for search to help get your products and services in front of your ideal customers…
But is it tapping into a shopper or potential client’s Fear of Missing Out to encourage them to convert?
While FOMO only became a hashtag a few years ago, the idea behind the angst is timeless, and has been used by our marketing brethren since agesago – because it WORKS.
What is FOMO?
Fear of Missing Out is a psychological trigger humans can’t help responding to. None of us wants to be left behind, or miss out on something we think everyone else is enjoying. In fact, research shows around 60% of Millennials make reactive purchases due to of FOMO.
So what does this mean for you?
As a website owner, you can take advantage of this human behaviour with your digital strategy and increase your conversions.
5 FOMO Web Tactics that WORK
Here are some of the tried and true examples of FOMO marketing we regularly implement on the websites of our clients to increase conversions.
1. Urgency
Embracing a sense of urgency can trigger your customers’ FOMO and encourage them to ACT. . From flash sales to limited stock items, urgency consistently entices customers to commit to the sale and even spend more money.
Consider adding visuals such as an interactive countdown clock or timer during sales and promotions, or set up your automated email marketing to send a series of reminders to customers as you reach the end of a sale or discount.
2. Exclusivity
Everyone loves being in with the IT crowd – and offering loyalty programmes and VIP clubs can encourage your customers and prospects take advantage of special offers. As human beings, we love the thought of getting our hands on an opportunity very few people have. Promoting your loyalty programmes and VIP clubs is a great way to trigger FOMO in new shoppers and prompt them to sign up.
3. Live Sales Notifications
One of the most popular and effective FOMO marketing tactics for online stores is showing that people are buying through live sales notifications. Apps and plugins that provide this functionality usually show the first name and location of a recent purchaser, so it’s clear they’re a real person. The idea being that, if shop browsers see other people are buying, they’ll want to buy too. Like social proof, these notifications can help to increase trust.
4. Scarcity
Showing the stock levels of your products when limited items remain is another great way to create a sense of urgency and encourage FOMO in shoppers. Depending on the platform your ecommerce store is built with, showing stock levels may be as simple as ticking a checkbox in the back end of your site, linked to your inventory system.
5. Limited Rewards
Did you know around 90% of online shoppers list free shipping as their prime incentive for buying online from a particular store? Many ecommerce sites leverage this by limiting free delivery to shoppers who reach a spend threshold – pretty smart, right? If people feel they’ll miss out on free shipping by not making an additional purchase, they’ll likely make it – especially if the additional expenditure is relatively small. Let your customers know how much more they’ll need to spend to qualify for free shipping, or simply remind them of the free shipping threshold at the top of each page.
Do it RIGHT for Best Results
FOMO marketing is a great technique to make your online store visitors and prospective clients eager to buy from you. However, if you’re not implementing FOMO tactics correctly, they can appear manipulative – and can alienate your savvier shoppers, and even put trust in your brand at risk.
FOMO is most effective when it appears honest and transparent, so take care with your strategy, and get help from the experts if you’re not sure which option is going to work best for YOUR brand.