FOMO is the Key to Marketing Successes and Failures
We marketers are familiar with FOMO — the fear our customers have of missing out on a lucrative deal or the stress that urges them to order quickly because almost no items are left in stock. Many of us have used these manipulations more than once to achieve more sales or to encourage customers to act now. But we are barely scratching the surface of its potential.
FOMO is far more powerful than we think. It is the primary emotional guidance system of customer behavior today. Understanding its tremendous impact on our customers can be the difference between a marketing bonanza and a catastrophe.
Where Does FOMO Come From?
FOMO is an essential source of our customers’ needs and our own, to seize every opportunity to upgrade ourselves and our lives and to enjoy good experiences.
Contrary to what many think, FOMO did not start with the advent of smartphones or social media, and it is not related to envying the neighbor’s greener grass or being bummed that our friends are enjoying without us. The origin of FOMO is the ideological revolutions that shaped modern self-perception.
In recent centuries, ideologies such as individualism, liberalism, capitalism, feminism, and the personal growth and empowerment movement have sanctified the importance of every person and natural human rights. They encouraged the pursuit of personal realization and growth. This rich thought soil nurtured a perception we have as modern humanity of self-importance and entitlement and spawned a collective belief that we can be and achieve anything we want and deserve to receive all that the world can offer.
In this ideological landscape, we are the heroes of our drama and are meant for greatness. Narcissism? No. It’s a narrative that shapes our expectations from life and ourselves. Let me clarify: It’s not that everyone’s self-worth and confidence are overflowing, but the cultural message we absorb is that we are entitled and should be capable of maximizing our lives.
This mindset meets our world, which offers endless potential achievements, experiences, and adventures. Global markets, technological revolutions in transportation and communication, modern production technologies, information technologies, and the internet have all opened limitless possibilities for us, at least seemingly.
The Paradox of FOMO
This abundance creates a paradox. With every tempting possibility, the fear of missing out also grows. FOMO appears at the meeting point between our empowered and entitled selves and a world that offers endless opportunities we cannot exhaust. We are constantly exposed to achievements we haven’t reached and experiences we haven’t had, and we have “what if” thoughts about paths we haven’t explored and “if only” thoughts about impossibilities due to our various limitations.
FOMO is an existential crisis of a self that always feels that it could have been more, done more, and experienced more. We believe that our worth and happiness depend on our ability to seize every opportunity in the cornucopia of plenty. We are haunted by the fear that we are, somehow, missing out on life.
A Brief Guide to Types of FOMO
What we fear missing out on varies from person to person. Some might primarily fear missing out on career advancement, accumulating power and influence, or building wealth opportunities. For others, it might be academic achievements, leisure, enjoyable experiences, adventures, relationships, or sexual experiences. Our values and personalities affect what each of us fears missing out on and the intensity of the FOMO experience.
Our reactions to FOMO are of two kinds, two opposing poles. At the “Frenzy Pole,” we are pushed to feverish activity, trying to have it all, do it all, achieve everything, and not give up on anything. Conversely, at the “Paralysis Pole,” the vast number of alternatives freezes our ability to choose and commit because it is difficult to give up other options. Both reactions stem from the same basic fear of missing out.
There are three types of situations in which we experience FOMO:
- A passing opportunity: We are exposed to opportunities that seem appealing and have an expiration time, such as a concert, an item in a one-time Zara collection, an attraction at a once-in-a-lifetime travel destination, or a charming stranger we meet at a party.
- The dilemma of choice: We must choose one option and give up on other, no less tempting, alternatives. Think about a field of study, a job, or a committed relationship.
- The pain of the unachievable: We are exposed through various communication channels, social media, advertising, or what we see around us to lives we desire, don’t have, and feel we deserve.
FOMO: The Fuel for Marketing Success
In recent years, FOMO has become the internal compass that tells our customers what to buy, when, where, and why they need it without delay. Our customers at the frenzy pole develop passions for specific brands, rush to join trends relevant to them, and hurry to adopt innovations out of a sense of urgency when their specific FOMO is triggered. The business opportunity is clear. FOMO enables us to:
- Develop desirable brands
Desirable brands address the deep hunger for a better existence. Customers driven by FOMO don’t just buy products but primarily potential transformations. Desired wellness brands, for example, support our pursuit of healthier, more enjoyable, and longer lives. Certain technology brands promise to revolutionize how we work. Each of them precisely touches upon the needs of specific customers among all FOMO-driven customers.
- Create market hits for both the short and the long term
The motivations that FOMO arouses allow us to build brands that generate very profitable high waves of demand in the short term. We all know brands that launch limited editions, resulting in lines outside stores and online hysteria. FOMO is also the fuel in the engines of virality. A comprehensive marketing methodology I developed called “Think Short” enables the systematic development of marketing hits time after time. However, there are also long-term brands like Apple, which leverage a deep understanding of FOMO, feed the endless appetite for constant innovation, and fear of being left behind, doing so over decades.
- Stimulate impulse buying
FOMO turns opportunities for immediate satisfaction of a relevant need into irresistible ones and drives unplanned purchases. I’m not just talking about last-minute buying on the way to the checkout. Unplanned purchases driven by perceived urgency also occur in higher-value purchases, such as a new TV with a vast screen and fantastic features or booking a weekend at a luxurious spa hotel.
The Minefield of FOMO
Our customers’ FOMO can also lead to spectacular failures requiring caution and expertise. These can happen when we misidentify the exact need that FOMO awakens in our customers, but there are also other common challenges stemming from FOMO.
- Hesitation and regret
The paralysis pole of FOMO is a marketer’s nightmare. Customers get trapped in endless comparisons between competing brands and products because they dread choosing sub-optimally. They abandon online purchasing processes because there may be better options they have yet to discover. Worse, customers who have already bought return products or cancel the order. Even in B2B marketing, potential customers consider every alternative, get lost among the features and performances, and ultimately postpone the decision because something better might come.
- Brand loyalty fades
Brand loyalty has become fickle in the FOMO era. According to Nielsen data, an overwhelming 92% of global consumers state that they don’t consider themselves brand loyal. The constant attraction to the new and exciting turns customers into butterflies fluttering between brands. Switching to a competitor doesn’t even require dissatisfaction or disappointment. It’s enough that the competitor offers something that, momentarily, seems more appealing. We need to consider that our competitors also know about FOMO. This turns the market into a battlefield on unstable ground.
- We are constantly at risk of losing our identity and direction
We marketers are not immune to FOMO. It’s a topic for another article, but the constant frustration in current competition puts us at risk of distraction; trying to block competitors, we may lose focus on what makes our brand unique and gives us an advantage. Just like that, strong brands dilute themselves and lose their way.
Branding and Marketing to FOMO-driven Customers: Still a New Frontier
Effectively leveraging FOMO for business success requires acting in a FOMO-aware manner in all branding and marketing tasks, including formulating value propositions, designing messages, brand storytelling, creating marketing content and advertising campaigns, targeting, building funnels, developing a branded customer experience, and more.
If we want to win in this game over the long term, there are several issues we need to be mindful about. Two of them are particularly important:
A. We need to know our customers’ FOMO profiles
Today, we can and should segment our customers by their FOMO profiles and understand the persona of each segment and its specific customer journey. What are they afraid of missing out on in different life areas? At which pole of FOMO are they likely to react in our industry? The answers vary among customers. Segmenting and profiling customers based on FOMO triggers and response patterns dictate different branding and marketing strategies.
B. We must distinguish between FOMO inducers and FOMO enhancers
Marketers often confuse these two. A value proposition that meets an emotional need stemming from FOMO is a FOMO inducer that makes people want the brand. Using manipulation, such as creating a sense of scarcity and urgency, is a FOMO enhancer that only works if a FOMO inducer is already present. Marketers need to distinguish between them and use them strategically.
A Potential We Can’t Afford to Miss
Marketing was simpler when FOMO wasn’t as prevalent, but who remembers those days? Anyway, they’re far behind us. We’re not just competing for customers’ fleeting attention but also dealing with their existential restlessness, constant dissatisfaction, and the fear of failing to live life to the fullest and realize their potential.
FOMO is shaped by the ideologies at the foundation of our self-perception, challenged by the infinite possibilities and varieties available. Marketers need to think about their customers’ FOMO not with a manipulative intent but out of a commitment to meet the emotional needs that FOMO creates. Those who do will reap the rewards, while others will be left behind.
