If you’re not quite familiar with a trendy new lingo, FOMO stands for the fear of missing out – a kind of social anxiety induced by the possibility of not being included in something interesting, exciting or exclusive.

The fact that our customers don’t like to be excluded or left behind makes them more receptive to incentives that are pushing them in the desired direction – towards a subscription, or a purchase.

If you still haven’t been using FOMO in your marketing campaigns, here are the seven great tactics you can try out to bring your business more conversions.

1. Time-limited offers

One of the most commonly used FOMO techniques that can be highly effective is the sense of urgency you can create with time-limited offers.

You can do this by setting a deadline until the offer is valid, or by creating a countdown timer where your users can see exactly how long before the deal expires.

Visual symbols are processed 60,000 faster than text, so the presence of countdown timer alone can lead to an 8.6% lift in conversions.

2. Show that others are buying

You can also increase your conversions by simply showing your site visitors that other people are interested in your offer, or that they are even making a purchase while you’re browsing.

If your potential customer is checking out your offer, and the first names and the locations of persons who’ve just bought your product keeps appearing on the screen, it will be just a social proof they need to close the deal. 

You can also use this technique to show your website visitors how many people have taken some other desired action (started a free trial, for example) and boost their motivation to do the same.

If you want to try to increase your trials, sales and leads using the power of social proof, set up your free Cue account, and see the benefits firsthand. 

3. Play on scarcity card

Another way of building FOMO in your customer base is by highlighting scarcity. Your customers are more likely to make a purchase if they know that the product they are interested in is going to run out.

This is widely used in the e-commerce businesses, by showing the number of items left in stock, or with discounts with “while stocks last” advertisements.

 The travel industry is leveraging this technique too, by showing the number of spaces left in the accommodation you’re interested in. 

Booking.com goes the extra mile by showing you when the property you’re interested in is sold out, making your FOMO even stronger because of the opportunity you’ve missed.

4. Use exclusivity

Exclusivity makes a great part of FOMO marketing. We all love having access to special offers or discounts that are limited only to a certain group of people.

 Heinz is, for example, famous for launching their limited edition of tomato ketchup and making the first 3000 bottles available only to their Facebook followers, before rolling it out in the stores.

We can see this in offline marketing too. Food brands are known for launching limited editions of their best-selling products, either by releasing a limited amount of the new product or by selling a product for a limited amount of time. They thrive on the fear of consumers that if they don’t try the product out now, they’re going to miss out on something luxurious or something new. 

5. Limit your free shipping

9 out of 10 customers claim their biggest incentive for the online purchase is free shipping, and if that option is available their purchase is most likely to be 30% higher in value.

Customers are ready to spend more so that they don’t miss out on the free shipping, especially when the additional cost is relatively small.

Incentivize your customers by letting them know how much they need to spend to get the free shipping of their products.  

You can also make a limited free-shipping offer to your customers by setting a specific deadline to finish their purchase.

6. Use an exit-intent campaign

Another efficient technique based on FOMO is a so-called exit-intent campaign. The campaign is triggered when your website or ecommerce visitors are about to leave your site, by placing a one-time offer they wouldn’t like to miss out on – either a discount they can use immediately, or a voucher they can use when they make their purchasing decisions. 

In both of the cases, your conversions will increase, either in the form of sales, or the leads you’ve generated.

7. Boost FOMO with email marketing

Email marketing is a great way to boost your conversions using FOMO. Especially with the powerful automation tools that are now available, you can target any segment of your audience, and place them a well-tailored and personalized offer.

You can let your loyal customers and subscribers know about any exclusive deals, remind them of the items in their abandoned cart, or tell them when the items they are interested in are about to run out.

Make sure the language you use in your email campaigns highlights the FOMO moment, and that your CTA is clear and simple to understand.

By using the FOMO tactics above, you will boost your conversions and significantly improve your bottom line.