Social media has changed the way people communicate, consume content, and interact with each other. In turn, businesses have to quickly react to changes in social dynamics, adopting new technology and adjusting their content marketing strategies.
Marketing is crucial for any business, in fact, a bad marketing strategy can easily ruin your business. When it comes to content marketing, your success depends on the understanding of your audience and its reactions to different types of content.
Some psychological features of our brain give marketers an opportunity to deliver certain messages and to benefit from their consumers’ reactions and emotions. A good example of such psychological mechanisms is FOMO — “the Fear Of Missing Out.”
What Is FOMO and Why Is It Useful for Marketers?
FOMO is fear of missing out on an opportunity. For example, people experience FOMO if they cannot attend some exciting event and see posts about this event on social media. They feel anxious because they’re losing the opportunity. Why is it important for retailers? Because most people would choose to impulsively purchase something rather than to regret their inaction in the future.
Let’s say you want to buy a car, and you know exactly what car you like most. When scrolling your Facebook feed, you suddenly see an ad about a huge sale at a local car dealership, with a photo of the car you want. Even if you don’t have enough money yet, your FOMO is triggered, and you’ll likely find a way to buy your car in this dealership in order not to miss out a good price. That’s how FOMO marketing works.
According to statistics, 70% of millennials experience FOMO every time they’re missing out something their friends have, and 60% of
How to Use FOMO for a Content Marketing Strategy
1. Set a time limit
A time limit always works: p
2. Use user-generated content
Encourage your users to engage with your brand on various social media platforms, and you will create social proof, which can help you trigger FOMO from more users. Content marketers at College-Writers recommend that you put more effort into your loyalty program and focus on shareable content. Your content should motivate the audience to interact with your brand so that they will want to share their experiences with friends.
3. Offer a bundle of products or services
Bundles are very popular, in fact, insurance and cable television are two great examples of business models that rely on bundles. Buy phone service, internet service, and cable from one company, and get a nice discount. This simple approach brings good results by itself, however, if you add a ticking clock, the effectiveness of such an offer will be even higher.
4. Emphasize exclusivity
One of the main features of FOMO is that the more exclusive your product or brand is, the more people want to purchase. No matter what you offer, tell your audience how exclusive your offer is. For example, your offer may be available only for a particular segment of the audience (e.g. loyal customers, email subscribers, or Twitter followers).
5. Use different channels
Not only does FOMO help boost sales, but it also helps you build your brand. If you want to promote an offer and your brand at the same time, we suggest that you use multiple channels. For example, make a social media post about special offers for your email subscribers. Your audience will know that you offer something special in emails, and more people will subscribe, increasing brand loyalty and brand recognition.
Conclusion
Although the fear of missing out has always existed as a feature of human psychology, the digital age allows marketers to discover the full potential of this fear. People don’t want to miss out something fun and exclusive. Retailers can cultivate FOMO and use it to their advantage by creating a sense of urgency, offering bundles of products, and embracing user-generated content. FOMO can also help you increase brand awareness and make more people engage with your brand, waiting for new announcements and trying to catch their luck.
