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12 FOMO Marketing Techniques to Boost Your Email Conversions

25 Oct
2019
12 FOMO Marketing Techniques to Boost Your Email Conversions

We’ve all heard of FOMO*, right?

(*Just in case, FOMO is the ‘fear of missing out’.)

It can range from checking your own social media pages every 10 minutes to chronic anxiety at the thought and fear of missing the hottest party in town, which is creating fomo.

Maybe you’re wondering right now if everyone else has discovered another post on FOMO marketing that you should be reading instead?

Chill out! You’ve come to the right place and you’re not going to miss a thing.

First up, we’re going to look at why FOMO and why a fomo marketing strategy and campaign strategy works. Then we’re going to give you 12 more top fomo tactics for impulsive purchases, fomo marketing strategies and, campaign strategy that you can implement today; plus a bonus tip you’re going to love.

Ready?

Is FOMO a Real Thing?

It’s hardly a technical term and it’s not a medical condition. But it’s certainly real.

At its core, FOMO is a fear of regret about making the wrong decision, which can make us quite compulsive.

Clever marketers take advantage of this same fear of missing out by persuading customers they need to act now before the opportunity disappears forever. Worst still, they might miss out on opportunities while everyone around them makes the right decision, which is a FOMO sufferer’s ultimate nightmare.

So, let’s take a look at some of the ways you can create a subtle fomo marketing strategy in your email marketing campaigns, and social media marketing campaigns now.

12 FOMO Marketing Techniques You Can Use Right Now

1. Build the Tension With a Countdown Timer

Nothing cranks up FOMO like a deadline. And nothing says deadline more than a countdown timer.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Countdown timers build the excitement towards the launch of a new product or encourage registrations for an event.

And they work equally well to build the tension as a sale draws to a close, like this one:

How to incorporate a countdown timer into your emails:

  • If you know how to code, you can build your own timer using HTML
  • Alternatively, you can use tools for email marketing such as Sendric to create your timer. With Sendtric, for instance, you simply choose your time zone, when you want your timer to end, your language and the colors you want to utilize on your timer. And it’s free.

2. Use the Fear of Limited or Diminishing Supplies

Scarcity works the same way as countdown timers because it prods customers into making a more urgent decision.

How many times have you seen the words ‘limited stock’ in a serious sales pitch or an email marketing call?

Bellroy uses this technique to great effect – without sounding ‘salesy’ - by tantalizing customers with the notion that their pieces are unique, limited and available only for a short time.

3. Make it Elite or Exclusive

Everyone loves to feel special. We all want to belong to an elite club, be the first to hear about new arrivals and member-only discounts. Enjoying access to opportunities that others don’t have is a FOMO characteristic.

Here’s a great example from PrettyLittleThing offering special perks, just for signing up to their email list.

Other ways to trigger FOMO by making people feel special:

  • Offer a coupon to use as a discount on their first purchase.
  • Offer exclusive perks only available to members/contacts, such as free shipping or sales previews.
  • Show two prices, one for ‘regular’ people and a discounted price for members only.
  • Don’t forget to heighten their sense of belonging to an exclusive club by using Sendlane’s dynamic behavior-based workflows that allow you to automate all your emails depending on the actions of each customer on your list.

So, when Jane from Wisconsin responds to your offer, you can make her feel personally welcomed within minutes.

//[inject:ad-personalized-email]

4. Make Your Offer Come and Go in a Flash

Don’t give them time to think!

Make your offer valid for a day, or just a few hours. This is a great FOMO technique because it instills a sense of panic. No-one wants to let a great deal slip through their fingers. What if it’s never offered again?

And if you add a countdown clock to your flash sale email, you’re really giving yourself an unfair FOMO advantage.

How to make your flash sale more effective:

  • Segment your list to your most loyal clients. It’s a great way of saying thank you and encouraging repeat purchases as you reduce unwanted stock.
  • Keep the offer simple and relevant to your audience.
  • Keep the offer as juicy as possible. You want to make the incentive appealing enough for them to jump before they miss out.
  • Make your flash sale email stand out by adding a gif. 

5. Be Mysterious or Secretive

Everyone loves a secret surprise. But what if you don’t click through and you miss out on something amazing? How silly would you feel then?

This FOMO marketing idea also works particularly well retail websites with loyalty programs. Members are more likely to join in the fun and click through because they know and trust the website visitors' brand recognition sender.

And they don’t want to miss out on their secret offer!

Other ways to tempt them with secret offers:

  • Travel and accommodation sites do this well by offering great deals on mystery destinations or hotels. • Until you make the booking, you don’t know where you’re going to end up. Do you have a product or service that might suit this technique?
  • Offer them an incentive for correctly solving a puzzle or riddle, the implication being that only the smartest will be rewarded.
  • Tease them with a mysterious ‘coming soon’ series of emails to whet their appetite for the main event. In each email, reveal one thing about the main event you know they’re going to lust after.
  • Make your email interactive so they have to ‘scratch’ or ‘unwrap’ an image to reveal the surprise.

6. Make it a Last Chance, Act-Now Offer

Nothing triggers FOMO as much as the pressure to make a decision. That’s why countdown timers and flash sales work so well.

Another similar technique is the ‘last chance’ email. Send this one out with hours to go....

Other ideas to utilize the ‘last chance’ technique in your emails:

  • If you’re running an event or competition, tell them it’s their last chance to book, attend or enter.
  • Send them a series of reminder emails: ‘expires next week’, ‘expires tomorrow’, ‘expires at midnight’.
  • If your message or sale is tied to an event or holiday like Christmas, let them know when it’s their last chance to use express shipping to receive their order in time.

7. Tempt them with New or ‘Must-Have’ Items

Who says you must have a sale or even a special offer to stir up the FOMO in your contacts?

Commanding words like ‘must-have’ and ’new’ are sometimes all it takes. A ‘must-have’ conjures up something so desirable, it almost becomes an essential impulse purchase because it's the newest and greatest.

Additional words and phrases to stir up the ‘must-have’ FOMO in your email contacts:

  • Just released
  • Limited
  • In demand
  • Latest
  • All the rage
  • This season’s
  • Essential
  • Coming soon
  • Current
  • Hot off the press
  • State of the art
  • Winning
  • Red hot
  • Irresistible

8. Remind them of Their Abandoned Shopping Cart

We’ve all received emails about our abandoned shopping cart.

But not many social media influencer marketers use this opportunity as well as Society6 when it comes to employing FOMO techniques on social media platforms and content marketing on multiple other channels off of social media platforms to target audience.

This one starts with a limited, time limit, sale limited supply, limited time sale, time limit, and sensitive discount added to their cart which is hard to resist for a FOMO sufferer.

This one starts with a time sensitive discount added to their cart which is hard to resist for a FOMO sufferer.

Want some more hot tips and examples of great abandoned shopping cart emails?

This blog post has got it all. And if you sell on Shopify, you can connect your shop to Sendlane to design and automate abandoned shopping cart emails directly from your Sendlane account.

//[inject:ad-ebook-abandoned-cart]

9. Throw in a Tantalizing Free Gift

No-one wants to miss out on a a free shipping or gift, especially when you offer free shipping you can select your own color and get free shipping.

The sense of urgency and temptation in this email from Rifle Paper Co., with buttons that say ‘SHOP NOW’ and big, bold text, this email is designed to hit a FOMO sufferer right between the eyes.

More ways to ramp up the FOMO using free gifts:

  • Send them an email reminding them it’s their last chance to claim their free gift.
  • If you sell a product or service by subscription, offer new contacts a free month if they sign up by a certain date.
  • Turn your email into a coupon by offering a free gift or discount when they present the email on their phone or printed out in your shop.
  • Don’t forget to add a deadline and make sure your terms of reference are clear in all cases.

10. Show Them No mercy

Jon Morrow from Smart Blogger is the king of persuasive content, influencer marketing strategy, social proof tools, social proof notifications, media, strategy and copywriting, especially when it comes to FOMO.

Take a look at these emails he sent to promote a training program (they’re the last 2 in a sequence of 5).

We’ve highlighted the sections where he really ramps up the FOMO and, boy, is he merciless!

We can’t all write as persuasively as Jon Morrow (he’s been doing it for years.) But there are some tried and tested content marketing techniques you can start using today to make you a more compelling email writer. This post is a great starting point.

11. Don’t forget your subject line

So far, we’ve focused on FOMO techniques in the body of the email. But, did you know at least 35% of people open an email based on the subject line alone?

Take a look at these subject lines in emails that all came from the same online store in less than a month. Check out how they use FOMO marketing techniques such as exclusivity, new product lines, periodic sales, increased discounts, and ‘last-chance’ sales to get people to open their emails.

Here are a few more FOMO-driven subject line ideas to get your creative juices flowing:

  • Your $500 discount expires today
  • Should I give up your spot?
  • A sneak peek inside our new program
  • You’re going to kick yourself if you don’t jump now
  • The new designer trends you need in your wardrobe
  • Free download for the first 100 contacts
  • New stock just arrived
  • Further reductions

12. Give them a Subscribers’ Only Preview

When you reward your contacts for their loyalty with special offers and preview events, you’re giving them the opportunity to get the jump on everyone else, which is particularly important to FOMO sufferers.

Look at how well Saks Fifth Avenue does it in this email. They offer a 3 day, VIP email exclusive sale of $30 off.

Here are some additional words and phrases you can use to help induce FOMO:

  • Skip the queue
  • Early-bird access
  • Members only
  • Pre-release prices
  • Members’ exclusive prices
  • Here’s what we’ve got for you
  • Get in before the general public
  • 24 hour special preview

There You Have It!

12 FOMO marketing techniques, other marketing strategies, and tactics techniques used to generate interest and that you can start using right away, together with some hot tips on your marketing strategy and campaigns, additional words and phrases and other resources to help you become an instant FOMO and marketing strategy expert.

Remember, the key ingredients are deadlines and scarcity, exclusivity and an air of mystery, persuasive language and the temptation of getting something for free.

Remember, all of these techniques can be implemented at the click of a button with email automation platforms like Sendlane. Plus, you can make your email designs leap off the page with our easy-to-use drag and drop visual email builder.

So, what are you waiting for?

Give Sendlane a try, sign ups and next time you compose an email, aim for your contacts’ FOMO message to watch your conversion rate soar.

Want to learn more about email marketing? Check out our similar posts:

5 Ways Artificial Intelligence is Changing the Email Marketing Game

How to Maximize Email Marketing for Your Dropshipping Business

5 Examples of Simple & Effective Email Marketing Campaigns

10 Black Friday & Cyber Monday Email Marketing Examples

FOMO Marketing FAQs

What is the difference between FOMO marketing and scarcity marketing?
What are some of the risks of using FOMO marketing?

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