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be anything from missing an activity to spending money on an unplanned purchase. We have to make sure we take advantage of that special offer! Social media has taken FOMO to a whole new level. So many studies show that people are experiencing increasing levels of anxiety and depression because they are constantly being served photos and videos of people leading seemingly perfect lives, going on dream vacations, and making hefty purchases for their dream homes. FOMO-focused marketing is essentially stealthy fear- based marketing. The approach is very similar. You need to buy a certain product right away because you’ll be so much happier, safer, more popular, thinner, etc. If you don’t buy this product right now, you’ll never find happiness, look younger, etc. Sometimes, FOMO is effective, but again, only for the short term. I want to be clear regarding instilling a sense of urgency versus scaring people into purchasing. It’s normal for a “limited-time offer” to have an expiration date. At Newsletter Pro, our Best Offer Ever promotion expired at the end of August. During July and August, many of our marketing messages encouraged prospects to take advantage of this amazing deal before it ended because it was, in fact, a fantastic amount of savings. Our goal, however, was to instill a sense of urgency, not to foster feelings of fear. Some marketers may argue that people are more likely to remember and recall ads that portray scary scenarios than inspirational or upbeat ads. I agree. I’ve seen some studies that have proven that. But I don’t think that makes it right if that’s the only tactic used, and it’s not great at inspiring a long-term customer base. Let’s lessen the probability of customers ghosting us and instead retain them with positive, consistent communication. We know that the more we engage our audience with compelling content on a consistent basis, the more likely they are to spend more and refer more.
You can scare someone into buying, but you can’t scare them into staying.
Don’t get me wrong, marketing messages should address specific pain points for which our audience needs (or will eventually need) a solution. From this perspective, it’s okay to sound an alarm and instill a sense of urgency. For example, I often say that if we’re not consistently communicating with our prospects and customers, the probability is high that our competitors are. That statement definitely speaks to a fear of potentially losing customers. The difference is that this message is part of a larger marketing communications strategy aimed at helping you learn how to get to negative-neutral churn. Many of our customers develop marketing campaigns with similar messaging. It’s only natural for dentists to educate their audiences about the importance of regular dental care, which includes some of the “scary” stuff that could happen if folks skip appointments. It makes perfect sense for an estate planning law firm to share the potential fallout for surviving family members should a person pass away without having their critical documents in order. These messages address pain points and instill a bit of fear, but it’s for the purpose of educating and entertaining the audience — not to freak them out and basically coerce them into buying now. Instead of a mashup of scary messages, we should be building relationships based on trust and evidence. Avoid sounding the alarm too often. Instead, focus on the facts, which can speak for themselves as long as they’re relevant and compelling to your audience. Showcase what your product or service can do. Present it in the best possible light. Focus on the value and benefit provided to the customer. The goal is to give potential customers enough information to feel empowered to make a decision with confidence. Communicating this way will earn their trust over time. Once they buy, it’s your job to deliver on that promise. Another point along the fear-based marketing spectrum is a relatively recent term that has actually been used in marketing for much longer. FOMO (fear of missing out) is the fear of not being included in something, which could
We can increase our yield per crop not just for one season but year after year — throughout our entire relationship with our customers. Sounds a lot more viable than scaring people for a short-term sales spike, only for them to wind up running in the opposite direction.
–Shaun
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