How to Use FOMO to Encourage Comments and Shares

In our world of digital busy-bodies, it is not enough to capture the attention of your audience, but to make them want to participate. FOMO, also known as the Fear of Missing Out, is one of the potent psychological triggers that marketers and content creators are capitalizing on like never before. FOMO can be leveraged to get more comments, more shares, and best of all, hours, not weeks.

It’s here that you can make use of FOMO in your content to create real-time interaction and ensure a flourishing online community.

What is FOMO and Why Does it Work?

FOMO is the fear that individuals have when they think that other people are living a better life than they are. It is a kind of voice that tells you in your head, saying I wouldn’t want to miss this. A hashtag, a time-limited promotion, an exclusive item, or an event triggers FOMO, causing people to feel urgent and act favorably in a few seconds.

FOMO on social media may mean the difference between a passive-scroll and an engaged click, comment, or share. And the best part? It can create outcomes in hours, not weeks, since it addresses the urge of people to belong to something at the current moment.

Create Time-Sensitive Content

Countdown causes FOMO like no other thing. Time-sensitive posts inherently tend to foster instant activity whether you are promoting a product, webinar or a giveaway.

• Include countdown times in your graphics or captions.
• Polls runs after limited time and requests followers to vote before this time.
• Announce such things as there are just a few hours left, or Comments close tonight!

This perception of urgency makes it interact faster, and you will be able to produce results within hours, not weeks as you wait to have people engage.

Share Social Proof (Fast)

Human beings tend to contribute to the discussion when they observe other people doing the same. The expression of live interaction is an unobtrusive means of increasing FOMO.

• Popular comments should be highlighted in your stories.
• Copy-pasting and re-sharing the best of your mentions.
• Respond to commenters in front of others to keep the conversation going.

This gives your post the appearance of a happening place and it makes other people want to jump in before it calms down.

Use Emotional and Exclusive Language

Speak with expressions that bring out exclusivity and urgency. Words like:

• Don’t miss this
• Be the first to comment
• Happening now
• Only for our community

It is more persuasive to place your content in a unique or temporal position. They want to feel that they are part of the group, and as soon as you make it clear that this will not last long, you will see outcomes in several hours, not in several weeks.

Ask for Quick Input

Rather than engaging with your audience in an open-ended manner, direct them to easy, quick things:

• Comment if you agree.
• Tag someone before midnight.
• Vote now, poll closes in 2 hours.

This renders the interaction low effort and time sensitive, both essential components of FOMO-driven reactions.

Reward Early Engagement

Reward your early commentators or sharers with shouts out or little gifts. The reward does not only motivate one to move fast, but also to be attentive the next time.

Try:

• The first 5 commenters are featured.
• Winning most of the creative comments within 3 hours.
• Top shares by night get pinned.

Not only does this jump-start the level of engagement, but demonstrates to your community that acting fast can reward them with something valuable, not just delivering those results in hours, but in minutes.

Final Thoughts

FOMO is not a buzzword, but an empirically tested psychological weapon that exploits our instincts. By establishing urgency, exclusivity, and quick action in your content strategy, you establish the feedback loop of engagement. And in contrast to other, more traditional marketing campaigns that can require weeks to pick up, this method can have you seeing results in hours, not weeks.

Learning how to use FOMO tactics will help you convert your audience of passive fans into an engaged one and your casual posts into viral discussions.