If you’re not part of the generation that knows what it means to embrace the ‘YOLO’ philosophy, then you probably aren’t familiar with the popular acronym ‘FOMO’, or with the scientifically proven FOMO syndrome that afflicts virtually every social media user at a given point in time.

What is FOMO?
FOMO (fear of missing out) is defined by The New York Times as “the blend of anxiety, inadequacy and irritation that can flare up while skimming social media”. Sound familiar? FOMO is that feeling you get when you’re trying to enjoy a quiet night in while your friends keep Instagramming photos of their wild night on the town.

University of Essex confirmed the tangible effects of FOMO – in a study which proved that seeing decadent pictures of food (also known as gastroporn) on Pinterest and Instagram actually made people enjoy their food less.

How FOMO can benefit your business
So how can marketing-savvy business owners use the FOMO phenomenon to their advantage?
Simply put, you want potential customers or clients to feel as if they are missing out if they aren’t engaging with your brand – either by attending your corporate events, visiting your shop or following you on social media. At Point and Stare, we’ve come up with innovative ways of using social media platforms Twitter and Instagram to do just that.

Through the use of customised hashtags and URLs, we help you build hype around any corporate event you may be planning. Then, we create fully branded and moderated live Twitter and Instagram feeds that you can display on screens throughout your event, showcasing all of the tweets featuring your customised hashtag or URL. This encourages attendees to tweet or upload Instagram photos throughout your event, and in so doing—you get their followers wanting to know more about your event and your business.

In other words, Point and Stare’s creative use of social media dashboards allows you to generate targeted FOMO that will encourage Twitter or Instagram users to attend your next event and engage with your business.

Avoid your own FOMO
Applying psychology to marketing is nothing new, and has been proven effective over the last few decades – tapping into the FOMO effect is no different. If you’d like to find out more on how Point and Stare can help you promote your business or corporate events, contact us today. If not, you may be left wondering who else is out there using Point and Stare feeds to effectively market their business while you’re sitting in your office brainstorming your own ideas … see what we did there?
#FOMO

 
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