Create Some FOMO for Your Event!
One of the most powerful tools in the fundraiser toolbox is hype. How do you build up the excitement around your next event to such a fever pitch that missing it seems crazy?
Here are some great tips and tricks to help you instill some serious Fear of Missing Out—or FOMO—in your event attendees.
How do I generate FOMO?
FOMO comes from the notion that if this experience is missed, it will never appear again. Everyone else is going—and look at how much fun they’re having!
Social media is key to generating FOMO. When you see all of your friends doing something cool on Instagram or Facebook, that’s when the FOMO strikes.
So here’s the magic equation:
A once-in-a-lifetime experience + lots of people posting on social media about it = FOMO
How do I make my event “once-in-a-lifetime”?
We’ve pulled together some of our best ideas to make give your auction—and your event—that feeling that it absolutely can’t be missed.
- Are you offering any unique or once-in-a-lifetime items in your auction? Here are some things we’ve seen at other events that work great.
- An unattainable item outside your auction, such as a signed piece of sports memorabilia; art made by children attending your school; or tickets to a sold-out show.
- An exclusive experience, such as dinner made by a famous, overbooked chef; or a meal out with a celebrity or celebrity athlete.
- Make your event itself the destination. We came up with some great ideas for in-event experiences to instill some FOMO into your event.
- A kitten/puppy cuddle booth at an animal shelter event. I saw this once at an event and it performed incredibly well—it sold gangbusters and people loved it. Anyone in attendance could pay to snuggle with cute animals and have their photos taken. How often are you going to come across a pile of kittens or puppies in your life?
- A famous performer, artist, or comedian who will be the entertainment or star performance at your event. This is especially powerful if you were able to secure a performer who doesn’t appear much otherwise, or where guests would have to buy an expensive ticket to see it.
- Do you have a star/key speaker for your event? Could you recruit someone popular within your community to appear?
Everyone else is going!
Next, we want to instill some FOMO in your event via promotion and ticket sales.
Start by selling early registrations for your event. Give a discount or a bonus on “early bird” sales to encourage as many people to buy early as possible, so you have some great attendance numbers to advertise later. And if tickets become scarce, you can start promoting “last chances” to pick one up.
TIP: When someone purchases a ticket, make it easy to share their excitement. Include sharable content in your confirmation email so it’s easy for guests to immediately post to their social media and generate the buzz on your behalf.
Here are some tips for good, shareable media:
- Visual, easily digestible content is key. Focus on a few powerful images you can give attendees to share.
- Distill your organization’s story down to bite-sized pieces. Do you have a small story you can tell about one of your many successes? Humble brag a little about all the good you’re doing! How will attendance at this event make more of that good possible?
- Overlay your text on a photograph, so it can’t be separated from the image. This is great for platforms where they often get separated.
- Create an event hashtag, so both you and your attendees can share in the hype and connect with one another.
Show off your progress
As you get closer to your event, start building up some anticipation! Unveil more things to be excited about, such as:
– More of your exclusive auction items
– Images of what the event space will look like, your excellent decorating, etc.
– Secrets about the event, such as who will be playing, speaking, etc.
Send out email updates about your auction to your mailing list, with a link to your online catalog to help show off some of the great items you plan to have on sale.
That should strike some FOMO in the hearts of your event attendees.
