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Cosmetic Surgery Marketing | How To Manufacture FOMO

FOMO Genius

Picture this, you’re about to book a hotel on booking.com to attend the Aesthetics Conference in New York. You find the exact hotel you want, but the price is a bit steep. Since there is plenty of time, you play your odds on a reduction in price. You return to the website later in the week to find the price of your hotel has remained constant, but the hotel listing is now screaming at you: “In high demand!”,  “22 people are looking right now”,  and “5 rooms left at this price”. This very influential sales and marketing tactic takes advantage of the principles of scarcity and limited numbers, forming the backbone of the fear of missing out (FOMO). In this article, we are going to discuss ways to apply FOMO, where many practices fall short, and how to create FOMO with the Lemod Loyalty Platform.

Is Your RealSelf RealBoring?

This morning I perused some RealSelf profiles as part of my research on special offers for this article. Overwhelmingly, “Free Consultation for RealSelf members” appears in one shape or form on the majority of profiles. Additionally, 10-20% off fillers, 10-30% off Sculpsure, and the list continues. The offers don’t change and they aren’t attached to any particular deadline or limited quantity. Therefore, a consumer could reasonably conclude that these offers have an unlimited supply. Thus, giving the consumer no sense of urgency or “Advantage” discussed in Starting A Successful Loyalty Program. Instead, to the consumer, these offers become your base price. Here’s the good news, with just slight changes in wording, you can easily test out FOMO strategies to make your profile more exciting and unique.

When Supply Goes Up, Down Goes Demand

The famous Effects of supply and demand on ratings of object value experiment studied how 200 females rated cookies based on their scarcity. Spoiler alert, the highest rated cookies were those that started off abundant and became scarce. The booking.com example demonstrates how to masterfully apply FOMO. There could be 100 rooms left at that hotel, but scarcity is represented by listing the 5 deals left at that price. Furthermore, there are 22 people looking at that deal, which demonstrates high demand. Now understand, this is not an empty sales tactic. This model works for booking.com because eventually those rooms will go up in price. In fact, if consumers perceive your attempt at FOMO as trickery, it can do more harm than good. One study found, “when consumers interpreted scarcity claims as a sales tactic, the positive effect of scarcity claims on product evaluation would be diluted.” Once the sale is over, it needs to be over. 

Manufacturing FOMO – Lemod

          

Lemod’s ‘Add Promotion’ feature was designed specifically to generate FOMO. With every promotion you create, you have the option to set a limited quantity and expiration. Let’s say you have a SculpSure opening in your schedule for Thursday. You could throw a flash sale on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook and link it to the mobile app, see above. For instance, “1 SculpSure appointment available to any established patient on Thursday at 2:30 for 50% off!” Also, like in this example, it is highly advisable to give segments of your patient population a perceived “Advantage” to increase loyalty. It also helps keep promotions creative and unpredictable: “for 3 patients born in January”, “for 4 patients who donates $500 to St. Jude”, etc. 

Recap FOMO

Scarcity and limited numbers are powerful marketing strategies to generate FOMO. Booking.com does a masterful job at this. They show the number of rooms remaining as well as the people viewing the room at that time. Next, demand for a product has an inverse relationship with its supply. Therefore, if you advertise that your price is 30% off without attaching it to a deadline or quantity, consumers are safe to assume supply is unlimited. Finally, the Lemod Loyalty Platform was designed to interact with established patients. By introducing FOMO into your marketing, you not only improve financial performance, you make your practice more exciting and engaging.