How to Make the Most of FOMO to Increase Sales

Though our need to “stay current” has always been a big force, the rise of instant information and social media has magnified it times ten. We have the world’s latest at our fingertips and we’ve become information insatious. The faster information moves, the more we want to make sure we don’t miss it. 30% of time we spend online is now dedicated to checking constant updates on social media. Why? Because god forbid we miss out!Now, we have a word for this effect in marketing: FOMO (fear of missing out) and it’s power is real. Over half of Facebook and Instagram users says that they check back several times a day for updates. It doesn’t stop at social media either: we check our email on average for 2.5 hours a day looking for updates and making sure we don’t miss out.

As a marketer, it’s important to leverage our love of constant information to keep up and increase sales. In fact, many consumers expect it of you. 28% of people would like to receive promotional updates from you a week!

Here’s how you can be making the most out of FOMO to increase sales:

Create a time sensitive offers.

The thing that makes FOMO is that there is a time limit before you’ve officially “missed out”. You can take this factor and apply it elsewhere to increase sales. A few classic examples that are effective is time-limited promotions sent via email. Adding a time sensitive offer to an email subject line can lead to a 22% higher open rate. You can do this by announcing a flash sale or a temporary offer for specifically segmented customers. Other ways you can do this is by offering limited products for a limited amount of time. Fast fashion e-Commerce giants like Zara and Revolve do this by offering a limited number of a product. Their clientele know if they don’t buy on site or keep updated with new arrivals they will, that’s right, miss out.

Use social proof, reviews, and user-generated content to show people are buying.

Social media has had such a significant impact on e-Commerce, there’s now “social commerce” as a whole industry in itself. As people get really, really good at subconsciously ignoring ads (banner click through rates have fallen to less than 0.1%) and have little trust in traditional advertising, who they choose to listen to has shifted. Now the most powerful form of marketing is word of mouth marketing or peer influence. The terms “word of mouth” and “peers” can be used fairly loosely as well: 84% of people trust reviews they read online as much as personal recommendations. Really, any genuine information from other users is highly relevant for customers and a big part of their decision making process when on the fence about a purchase. Over 70% of customers won’t take action without hearing from other customers first. Taking it a step further, Amazon and e-Commerce brands on social media set the preference for user generated content in the form of photos, normally. User generated photos are 5 times more likely to convert a customer than something your company puts up itself. Customers take action when they see real people happy with a product. Learn more about how to use customer feedback to increase sales for E-commerce here.

Capitalize on the leverage of micro-influencers.

A big part of the FOMO epidemic is knowing what’s cool and what’s better first. People look towards influencers, particularly micro-influencers, for the first look. Putting your products in the hands, blog and social media posts, of the right people can skyrocket sales. What’s fantastic about micro-influencers is that they normally have a highly engaged audience that is a very targeted, niche group. Oftentimes, they are working to be influencers and are more open to collaboration. If you can find a few micro influencers who are highly engaged with your target audience, you find a highly trusted advocate who can present your product more effectively than your marketing team ever could. Some common collaborations are guest posting, giveaways, discount codes, and even referral programs.

Make updates frequent and their reach effective.

The biggest draw of social media apps and sites is that there is constant updates you might miss. We are programmed to check back constantly thanks to, yes, the fear of missing out. If your company doesn’t create the same effect with interested customers, they won’t be checking for any updates from you. By making frequent, valuable, and engaging updates a part of your posting strategy, customers will continue to check back expecting. Interacting with customers on a regular basis in general keeps your brand at top of mind. Customers who engage with brands on social media report spending 20-40% more on products. Ways you can continually update users on exciting and engaging news are through social media, regular (but not too regular) promotional emails, and on-site notifications. The best tool for creating enticing updates both on and off your site is Beamer. Beamer is a news feed that integrates into your site or app interface. When a user comes to your site and clicks “What’s New” in your navigation or an icon, the Beamer feed opens in a discreet, native-looking sidebar. You can share updates here for anything: new products, new features, discounts, special deals, etc. You can also use update segmentation to target specific customer groups with more relevant updates. You can have users who come to your site opt in to desktop push notifications so you can update and bring back customers. Integrations for Beamer like Zapier allow you to share your updates automatically in one step across other platforms as well like your social pages and via email to streamline your process for updating customers.

Limit perks to certain qualifications that boost sales:

Shopping cart abandonment rate for products both digital and physical are fairly high at around 75%. That’s 75% of customers that you’ve put a lot of marketing effort and dollars into getting to this point of purchase who will bounce and never come back. Luckily, there’s a FOMO tactic for this as well. Incentivize checking out right away by leaving special perks for quick buyers only and for big buyers only. For instance, make it so free shipping is only above a certain amount. Create an offer for free shipping if your customer clicks “checkout” within the hour and add a timer. Create an offer specifically for new releases: a discount for the first 100 buyers. You can also show customers how many units are left of a product they like. This idea of scarcity and constraint on benefits helps push customers to the point of purchase.

The more time we spend on social platforms and other sources of information, the stronger FOMO will likely become. Inspiring immediate action and a sense of urgency is an important part of not only reaching customers but also closing sales online. The more you can utilize FOMO in your marketing and online sales automation process, the more you will increase sales; it’s in our nature! For the easiest way to update users with enticing new products and offers both on and off your site, try Beamer today.