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Creating Urgency and FOMO: Effective Techniques to Drive Ticket Purchases

September 27, 2023

FOMO is not just a trendy acronym; it’s a powerful psychological phenomenon. Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), is a universal sentiment that has carved a niche in the world of ecommerce marketing. 

Why do marketers love to use FOMO? The emotional impact of FOMO marketing is so compelling that 60% of millennials admit to making impulse purchases driven by their fear of missing out.

Another curious fact – half of millennials say the primary motivator behind their attendance at live events is to have something to share on social media. Not only do they desire to be included in the fun, but they want to be seen experiencing it.

Millennials are the largest consumer group, spending an average of $208 per day, with a combined spending power of 2.5 trillion. This consumer group is known to value experiences more than things, and are the most likely to purchase tickets to live events and attractions. 

It’s crucial for your marketing teams to understand the buying habits and motivations of this group. In many cases, instilling a sense of urgency and FOMO can serve as the final push needed to hit the “buy” button. When leveraged properly, these techniques can boost ticket purchases and drive revenue. 

By understanding how the best FOMO marketing techniques can be applied to ticket sales, you can achieve:

• A surge in demand for your attraction
• Enhanced ticket sales and revenue generation
• Effective utilization of perceived urgency

Understanding the Psychology of Urgency and FOMO

Our minds are a complex arena of battling emotions, thoughts and behaviors. Among these emotions, feelings of urgency and the fear of missing out (FOMO) are potent forces that marketers have tapped into to prompt action from their target audience.

Urgency Marketing 

Urgency triggers a sense of immediacy, creating a pressure to act swiftly. In marketing, it often leverages time-sensitive offers, limited availability, and exclusive deals to push the customer towards a quicker decision.

Urgency marketing plays a vital role in digital marketing, and is often directly linked to an increase in conversion rates. According to an Experian report, email marketing that conveys a strong sense of urgency exhibited a minimum of 14% higher click-to-open rates, 59% higher transaction-to-click rates, and double the transaction rates compared to typical marketing emails.
FOMO Marketing 

FOMO reflects the apprehension of missing out on something valuable or enjoyable. It’s a sentiment born from the hyper-connected world of social media. In fact, an Addictive Behaviors report found that fear of missing out was one most common reasons for increased social media use. 

FOMO marketing campaigns focus on portraying a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity. Highlighting the engagement of others and the exclusivity of the experience are effective FOMO marketing strategies. Exclusive access, VIP packages, limited editions and showcasing social proof are techniques that enhance this sense of desirability and exclusivity.

Effective Ways to Create Urgency and FOMO

1. Countdown Timers and Limited-Time Offers

You can incorporate countdown timers on your ticketing website to instill a strong sense of urgency among potential buyers. Utilize limited-time offers and flash sales to motivate immediate ticket purchases. Consider this: if you offer a 30% discount, you could sway 66% of millennials to switch brands, according to Forbes. 

Countdown timers and limited-time offers can be strategically incorporated into exit-intent popups to re-engage potential customers who are on the verge of abandoning their purchase. This approach combines the principles of FOMO marketing and cart abandonment strategies, resulting in a powerful technique to sway purchase decisions, convert more website visitors, and boost sales.

2. Highlight Limited Stock or Availability 

Fun fact: promotional emails that apply a sense of urgency result in 14% higher click-to-open rates than average. We can relate this effect to the scarcity principle, which states that when items are scarce, they appear more valuable to consumers.

For ticketed attractions, perceived scarcity translates into a persuasive marketing tactic. By emphasizing the scarcity of tickets and limited availability for specific events, you create a compelling reason for customers to act quickly. Show them that tickets are running out, and watch as they make swift decisions to avoid a missed opportunity.

3. Early Bird and Last-Minute Deals

To make the most of your event’s ticket sales, it’s important to understand how people approach buying tickets. By using smart strategies, you can attract both those who like to plan ahead and those who decide at the last minute, reaching a large audience. 

Early-bird tickets and last minute deals are FOMO marketing examples that harness this mindset. Ticket tiers and limited giveaways add extra value to the tickets and creates a sense of urgency. 

For instance, you could reward early buyers with special perks, highlighting the benefits they’ll get. Similarly, for those who wait, offering last-minute deals might encourage them to make a move. Using FOMO marketing tactics, you can connect your sales strategy with how people experience buying tickets. 

4. Social-Proof Nudges & Visitor Reviews 

When you display social proof like customer reviews and testimonials, you not only foster trust and credibility but also motivate action.

Did you know that 84% of people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations? By including a reviews widget on your site, you can display visitor reviews of your attraction or event right where potential attendees are browsing, making them readily available for everyone to see.

Social proof nudges can also instill a sense of urgency and FOMO by creating a bandwagon effect. If others are jumping on board, your customers will want to as well. Including a social proof nudge on the ticket purchase screen with copy like “Going fast! 15 others have purchased tickets today” combines both urgency and FOMO. 

5. Share User-Generated Content

A vast majority of consumers (92%) turn to people they know for referrals above any other source. For this reason, user-generated content (UGC) has become a popular content marketing strategy in recent years.

Consumers are 2.4x more likely to trust content created by their peers than brand-created content, as it is seen as more authentic.

So, how do you identify and utilize UGC? UGC includes anything from social media posts, photos, and videos to reviews and testimonials created by your event attendees or visitors.

To track down user-generated content, use a social media management tool to monitor your social channels. In particular, you’re looking for mentions, reviews, hashtags and more to locate brand-related content that can be reshared. 

6. Collaborating with Influencers and Partners

Consider partnering with influencers and industry experts to broaden your reach. Leverage influencer marketing to tap into a wider audience and generate buzz around your event. 

Co-host or cross-promote with partners to amplify visibility and credibility. Note that travel (59%), parties and events (56%), and food (29%) create FOMO among millennials, according to a report by Citizen Relations. These are experiences often shared by influencers, making this strategy particularly effective.

Source: Banknotes by #paid

7. Sending Targeted Email Campaigns

The Average Order Value (AOV) of purchases from cart abandonment emails is 14.2% higher than typical purchases. And what’s one of the best ways to bring visitors back to their purchase? You guessed it: creating a sense of urgency and FOMO.

First, set up a cart recovery campaign to trigger a targeted email each time a potential visitor exits out of the ticketing window. Then, leverage the strategies listed above, such as flash sales, limited availability and social proof, to create an email reminder that is sure to entice any potential visitors that are on the fence. 

Be sure to segment your email lists to deliver personalized and relevant offers to different customer groups, and craft compelling email subject lines to increase open-rates and click-throughs. 

It is also recommended to invest in a cart abandonment tool to increase your likelihood of recovering lost sales. Cart abandonment tools streamline the creation, implementation and optimization of abandoned purchase recovery campaigns, improving the efficiency and efficacy of every email you send.

8. Monitoring and Analyzing Results

Creating a sense of urgency and FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is essential to driving ticket sales. But how do you know which strategies are truly effective? Monitoring and analyzing results provides you with the insights to refine and focus your efforts.

• Track FOMO-Conversions: Identify which FOMO-driven strategies are leading to the most ticket purchases. Are scarcity messages like “Only 10 tickets left!” more effective than time-based urgency such as “Sale ends in 2 hours!”? Analysis will reveal what’s working best.
  
• Analyze Customer Behavior on Urgency Elements: Use tools to observe how visitors are reacting to urgency messages and countdown timers on your site. Understanding these interactions will guide you in optimizing these elements.
  
• Evaluate Email Campaigns with FOMO Messages: Assess the success of email campaigns that include FOMO-inducing language or offers. Are recipients more likely to click-through and purchase when faced with a limited-time discount or exclusive presale offer?
  
• A/B Testing for Cart Abandonment Campaigns: Implement A/B testing to determine which FOMO strategy drives the best results in your abandoned cart recovery efforts. For instance, test different messages like “Hurry, your selected tickets are almost gone!” against “Complete your purchase now and join 500 others attending!”
  
• Monitor Influencer Partnerships: If you are collaborating with influencers to create FOMO, track their impact on ticket sales. What kind of content and messaging resonates most with their followers?
  
• Regular Reporting and Targeted Adjustments: Create focused reports on the performance of your FOMO and urgency strategies, allowing for targeted adjustments. Continuous refinement ensures that you’re leveraging the most compelling tactics to drive ticket sales.

Conclusion

In the bustling marketplace of events and attractions, understanding the powerful psychological drivers of the millennial consumer group is essential. 

As a demographic known to value experiences, millennials present a significant opportunity for ticketed events and attractions. The Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) is a force to be reckoned with for this group, and when leveraged properly, it provides a competitive advantage for your business.

Through innovative techniques such as countdown timers, limited-stock alerts, early bird and last-minute deals, you can instill a compelling need to act quickly and align with the FOMO-driven buying habits of millennials.

But don’t stop there. Implementing cart abandonment campaigns to recover lost ticket sales is another crucial strategy, targeting those who are on the fence and nudging them towards completing their purchase. 
Curious to see how cart recovery tools can impact your ticket sales? Sign-up for our free trial today to explore our complete arsenal of cart abandonment features.