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F.O.M.O.  The ‘fear of missing out.’  Although it wasn’t officially a term until 2013, the concept of the idea has existed for decades.  Even before the days of social media, the idea of missing out on the fun is relatable to everyone.  FOMO marketing involves creating a sense of urgency in the minds of your members and guests to market your club.  Whether promoting an upcoming event, selling memberships or increasing attendance at dinner – instilling the sense of missing out will change the way your members react to your messaging.

Here are a few techniques to generate FOMO within your club:

Create Urgency.

Highlighting a limited supply or capacity of a product encourages customers to act immediately.  Not only does it imply that the product is popular, but the scarcity itself makes the offer more valuable.  For example, we have offered Tuesday night dining at our club for years.  We have limited outdoor dining space on our terrace and with the increase of our membership preferring to sit outside over the past year, we noticed that this particular space was selling out.  Our club started to send out communications to the membership that stated 6:00pm and 6:30pm reservations were sold out.  Every time an email like this was sent, the remainder of the reservations would start to fill up.  Our members were seeing that other members were attending the dinner on Tuesday night and they didn’t want to miss out on the fun.

Use Social Proof.

Social proof is the concept that people will follow the action of the masses and it can be used to trigger FOMO.  A great way to do this is by posting and sharing testimonials on your social media pages, website and within your membership collateral.  When people read positive experiences that other members have had with your club, they are more likely to join. For example, I ran a campaign where we featured our members on social media during #MemberMonday.  We used headshots of the members that we already had for their accounts and emailed them a series of questions including asking about their favorite part about the club, why they joined our club, and what their favorite memory has been.  We shared these testimonials and members loved to see themselves in the spotlight and their friends and family did, too.   It made it tangible for our prospective members and guests as they could actually picture themselves using and enjoying the club in the same ways.

Improve Your Messaging.

The way you convey your message to members makes a lot of difference when it comes to creating FOMO at your club.  Your words need to push your audience to take action immediately and create a sense of urgency.  When marketing to our membership, I love to use phrases such as “only a few spots remain,” or “don’t miss out!”  Enticing customers to take action now is key.

Awards and Recognition. 

Awards validate your club’s brand because they come from a third party that has given you a stamp of approval. The more prestigious and recognizable the source of your award is, the more valuable it will be to your members.  “Named Best for Club Life by Links Magazine,” or “Ranked among the Top 100 of Best Courses by Golf Digest,” affords your members a sense of pride and provides prospective members with the confidence that they are making the right decision in joining.

FOMO marketing is real and so is FOMO itself and no matter how you choose to use it, incorporating it into your next campaign will encourage sales as well as prime  your members to react to whatever you are offering.

Melissa Hansen is a private club membership + marketing educator that provides resources to industry professionals who are striving to get creative and think outside the box. Through her education, training and online masterclasses, Melissa has worked with over 200 clubs worldwide providing membership professionals with tools to take their game to the next level. Melissa has spoken with several CMAA and PCMA Chapters and has presented at conferences throughout the country. Her passion is delivering actionable strategies to improve member engagement, sales, and retention.