The Act of Urgency: Leveraging FOMO in Your Direct Mail

The “fear of missing out,” colloquially known as FOMO, is something that marketers across all industries generally try to take advantage of. After all, few things spur your customers to take immediate action quite like the feeling that they’re going to lose out on something good!

How can your business leverage this psychological phenomenon to drive stronger sales? There are a few ways you can adjust your direct mail offers to take advantage.

What is FOMO marketing?

Businesses leverage this psychological phenomenon to focus on tactics that drive stronger engagement and action. These tactics will often include the kind of messaging that will trigger that FOMO response in a quick moment and cause your audience to convert on the action you’re looking for, whether that be a sale or something else.

What these tactics aim to do is create a sense of scarcity, limited amounts of time, or exclusivity to tap into that FOMO-based emotional response that arises at the potential of missing out on a valuable or worthwhile experience that your business offers. This style of marketing tends to be successful because of how well it captures attention and compels a customer base to take quick action.

What kind of FOMO marketing strategies are there?

There are a few different ways you can generate FOMO within these direct mail design best practices.

1. Limited-time deals: Nothing creates a sense of urgency like a ticking clock. Direct mail offers with time-focused language that stresses quick action can achieve the FOMO effect. Using time-focused imagery (such as a countdown timer) can also help create that pressure, encouraging more immediate purchase decisions. Having online “lightning deals” or “flash sales” has become popular as well, with sales only lasting a day – or in some cases a mere hour or less! 
2. Exclusive access: Providing limited, exclusive access to a line of products or services that your company provides, or to special events that your audience may want to attend, can be an easy way to generate FOMO. Some ways companies choose to do this is through loyalty programs that reward repeat customers with exclusive perks, or even by going with a tiered membership program that offers different levels of exclusivity based on which tier is subscribed to. 
3. Social proof: Take advantage of the natural human desire to do what others have already done and create social proof by showcasing real customer experiences with your business. Collaborating with influencers in your industry can showcase how best to use your products in a real-world setting, and customer testimonials help build credibility for your brand. With how 87 percent of buying decisions begin with research (1), go ahead and do the work for your audience by giving them the resources they’re looking for!

When it comes to your audience, while data suggests that FOMO is likely most prevalent among Millennials, with 69 percent reporting they experience it regularly, more than half of other age groups experience the phenomenon (2). 

Don’t miss out on stronger sales at your business – work with RSVP! We know how to craft a direct mail strategy that leverages FOMO in a way that can benefit your bottom line and spur your audience to action. Contact us to discuss your goals today! 

1.    https://cxl.com/blog/9-things-to-know-about-influencing-purchasing-decisions/ 
2.    https://eventbrite-s3.s3.amazonaws.com/marketing/Millennials_Research/Gen_PR_Final.pdf 
 

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