7 FOMO Marketing Examples
FOMO marketing uses one of the strongest motivations to buy - the fear of lost benefits. According to an Eventbrite research report, its methods had positive effects on 56% of people in general and 69% of millennials, pushing them to make an immediate transaction.
However, it is important to understand that any tools associated with fear and other negative emotions bring hidden risks. Just one wrong step can push a potential customer away. To avoid this, it is worth examining the basic principles of FOMO marketing and examples of its successful application.
7 Examples of FOMO Marketing
Let’s see how big businesses adopt such a powerful sales driver as the fear of lost benefits.
1. Macy’s
It's hard to say which retailer was the first to launch large-scale Black Friday promotions. But today, one of the leaders is Macy's department store chain. It begins to advertise its offers several months in advance and creates intrigue by gradually revealing lists of discounted goods. Of course, the most favorable offers are published last, usually a week or a few days before the start of the promotion.
Macy's also manages to "keep the brand." Unlike its competitors, the chain does not extend its promotions for several weeks - they usually last from one to seven days. In addition, it offers big discounts - an average of 58.2%, second only to JCPenney. This creates a strong fear of losing potential benefits among its customers. As a result, sales during Black Friday literally skyrocket. In some years, the increase in revenue compared to ordinary days ranged from 5 to 25 times!
Macy's turned to the classics to conduct an effective marketing campaign. And Claspo will help you get 100% out of it. We offer exclusive Black Friday widgets, countdown timers, registration forms, and many other pop-up options.
2. Bulk
The good news is that you can use FOMO marketing without being tied to seasonal events. Bulk, a sports nutrition brand, proves it. With the help of a pop-up on the homepage, the company offers a significant discount on the first purchase, invites site visitors to share their email addresses in exchange for a promo code, and emphasizes that the offer is valid today only. This smart move will allow you to both increase your sales and grow your mailing list.
Implement a similar solution on your website with Claspo! We have many ready-made templates designed for collecting contact details. Just choose the one you like, customize it to your needs, and add the promo code directly to your pop-up if desired.
You can set the pop-up to appear only to first-time site visitors and stop it from showing to those who have already shared their contact details. If you want to follow Bulk's example of FOMO marketing and make your offer available "Today Only," limit the frequency of your pop-up display to once. As they say, you snooze, you lose.
3. Supreme
One of the company's specialties is collaborating with famous brands such as Louis Vuitton. Such products are manufactured in limited editions, which usually sell out within 30 minutes. This forces customers to follow the news closely, monitor the official Supreme website, and attend exclusive events to be the first to receive information about future collections.
This is a very successful example of FOMO marketing. It significantly increases engagement, drives sales of "regular" products from the catalog, and helps spread information via social media. And those who manage to buy an exclusive product get a sense of satisfaction, uniqueness and high social status, which further binds them to their favorite brand.
This idea suits both well-promoted brands and young startups that want to build a positive reputation from the very start. They can hold sales of products from exclusive series, limiting product quantities to dozens or even a few samples. Such a campaign should be supported by social proof, such as social media reviews or user-generated content.
4. Miss A
Miss A, an online cosmetics store, used one of the classic FOMO marketing strategies—the flash sale, a bargain that lasts for a minimal time. Tight deadlines push consumers to impulse purchases, which can increase the transaction rate by 35%.
In this example, buyers have only 24 hours to place orders and get them shipped for $1. To promote its limited-time offer, Miss A uses two banners—in the center and at the top of the screen. Meanwhile, the latter includes a countdown timer showing that every hour and even minute counts, increasing buyers' FOMO.
Claspo has everything you need to implement such an idea on your website. You can choose a floating bar as your widget layout, and it will not only attach to the top of the screen but also accompany visitors as they scroll, reminding them that the clock is ticking.
But the coolest thing is that you can set a regular countdown timer or a relative countdown timer with us. In the second option, the widget starts a countdown for each buyer individually as soon as it is displayed to them and disappears for each individual as soon as the timer reaches 00:00:00. This way, your flash sale can reach more visitors and bring you more profit.
5. Fidelity Investments
Fidelity Investments provides a great example of how one line of text can give a powerful impetus to business development. Fidelity published a very simple post on social media asking its customers if they were following key trading events. The post also added a link to a blog article about the most important market events of the week.
Why was this message so effective? First, it hints at the presence of important events that can bring considerable benefits to successful traders. Second, it mentions the possibility of getting rich quickly by trading on the stock exchange. Third, the post emphasizes the expertise of Fidelity Investments, motivating you to entrust your capital to the company.
The idea behind this campaign is to be concise and mysterious to grab and hold the attention of customers. Tease and tempt them with possible benefits, but don't talk about them directly. Remember that secrecy is a synonym for exclusivity.
6. Booking.com
At a time when all competitors shyly hid sold-out products, Booking.com displayed fully booked hotels and apartments on its home page. Why? They did so to create a sense of excitement and limited deadlines. Customers will not hesitate for long when several out-of-stock products appear alongside a lucrative offer. There is a high probability that a customer will make an instant purchase, even with credit money.
Booking.com creates a sense of excitement in other ways as well. Among them is a counter showing the number of people currently viewing the offer. You have to admit, if there are more of them than the number of available hotel rooms, you will immediately reach for the booking button. Stickers that indicate time limits for discounts are also successful elements of FOMO marketing - only today, only for holidays, only until the end of the week, etc.
To sell out quickly, you first need to create the impression that you are running out of stock, even if you are not. Next, you should combine social proof elements with a counter showing the number of products in stock and set a short time frame for the promotion (you can restart it if necessary). Popular, High-Demand and other similar marketing tools will also help.
7. Medium
This online publication uses a proven tactic of restricting access to its content. Top publications like the New York Times, The Economist, and others do the same. They provide access to a trial version and free email newsletters but hide the bulk of the articles. In the case of Medium, it's very easy to access them - just pay $1 for a week of a subscription.
The site conducts quite aggressive marketing campaigns, focusing on its authors' expertise and the content's usefulness. It also marks closed articles as Member-only, hinting at a closed club for intellectuals. And look at its pricing policy - would you ever lose the opportunity to become a member of such a community for just one dollar per week? That's cheaper than a cup of coffee!
You can also create your own "not for everyone" community that will give its members certain privileges, such as access to closed sales, extended technical support, exclusive newsletters, etc. This will increase engagement and reduce customer churn in the long run.
Why Should You Use FOMO Marketing
The feeling of lost benefit is a powerful emotion that becomes a powerful psychological driver of sales. According to Hubspot, it increases email click-through rates by 22% and contextual advertising by 14%. Using FOMO marketing strategies can also provide a number of other benefits.
1. Increase customer engagement
If a product becomes trendy, people buy it to enhance or maintain their social status. They become addicted to the brand and closely follow the release of new products. In this case, functionality fades into the background. A great example is Apple, which introduced the iPhone fashion. Some people admit that an Android smartphone is a sign of a person's low social status. The NYTimes even published an article stating that owners of Android gadgets in the United States have a much harder time finding a romantic partner. This social factor is a potent driver of iPhone sales.
2. Increase your reputation and level of trust
FOMO marketing is based on a fairly simple principle. If a product sells out quickly, it is in high demand. This means that consumers highly appreciate the quality and functionality of the product. It creates a positive attitude towards the brand that runs such an advertising campaign.
This tactic was one of the reasons for the success of the American company Nisolo. It combined the fear of lost benefits with the active publication of reviews from ordinary customers and influencers. It resulted in the active dissemination of information through word of mouth. The brand's popularity increased significantly after the campaign was launched.
3. Improved financial results
Statistics on FOMO marketing can be striking. According to a publication by Holistic SEO Digital, 60% of adults made an impulsive purchase at least once out of fear of lost benefits. At the same time, almost 30% of people are ready to spend borrowed money to avoid this negative emotion. 53% of respondents also admit that they spent too much to maintain their social status and not fall in the eyes of their friends.
Thus, FOMO breaks down even such a strong barrier as the lack of one’s own money. MasterCard successfully used this knowledge to advertise an exclusive snack at the New York Yankees stadium. After seeing the ad, people were ready to buy tickets on credit to access the exclusive offer.
Using FOMO Marketing: How Claspo Can Help
It's very simple - Claspo widgets can show the audience a potential benefit and remind them that they can easily miss it. Our widgets help implement any FOMO marketing strategy:
- Promoting a limited-time offer? Not a problem!
- Invite to share contact details for access to exclusive content? Easy!
- Steering up interest in seasonal sales? Yes, please!
The success of FOMO marketing depends mainly on your message to your audience, and Claspo can deliver any message. Equally important is that widgets can appear at the right moment, unlike built-in banners. It increases the effectiveness and impact of your message on potential customers.
For example, a website visitor may view a product page for a long time but not proceed to purchase. Then, a widget with a countdown timer may appear, informing the visitor that this product is available only today with a 30% discount. This may be the incentive the indecisive shopper needs.
Another example is a visitor who has read (or scrolled through) an article on your blog to the very end. It means that the content really interests them. Therefore, a widget offering to join a closed community and receive exclusive materials regularly can be very handy.
It will take only a few minutes to implement whatever idea you choose, even if you've never created a widget before.
FAQ
What is FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)?
According to the classical definition, FOMO marketing demonstrates to customers that they may lose benefits that other consumers will receive. It might seem as if this technique is based on the natural pursuit of comfort and pleasure. But in fact, it uses deeper and, let's be honest, darker mechanisms of the human psyche - the fear of being rejected by society and losing social status.
What is FOMO's foundation?
To understand what FOMO marketing is, we need to consider its basic principles. It lies in the sense of product exclusivity by limiting the number of samples or setting time limits for sales. This approach effectively attracts the attention of consumers and drives immediate engagement. The longer they delay, the more often they mentally return to FOMO advertising.
How can I measure the impact of FOMO in the marketing campaign?
You can track metrics such as conversion rates, click-through rates, and engagement levels to gauge the effectiveness of FOMO-driven campaigns. Additionally, analyzing customer feedback, social media mentions, and post-campaign surveys can provide insights into how FOMO influenced consumer behavior and purchasing decisions
