Fear marketing isn’t anything new (we all know FOMO), but it has been trending on social media lately, especially TikTok. I was recently suckered into watching a fear marketing ad because it was for a product that was similar to something I had purchased off amazon. What made me watch? The hook, he started out by stating why he’s knowledgeable in the product’s field and that anyone who purchased it is wasting their money.
If you watched the video you’ll quickly see some tactics he used to make a successful fear marketing ad. We’ll cover those in a moment, but first, what is fear marketing? This type of marketing plays on a strong emotion. “When people feel fear, they are more likely to pay attention to and remember the message for longer.” (Markitome on linkedin.com) As I’ve discussed in other blogs, incorporating emotion into your marketing is a way to connect with your customers and potential new customers. Let’s take a deeper look at fear marketing.
TYPES:
As mentioned above, FOMO (fear of missing out) is the most well known type of fear marketing. By using this tactic you are creating a sense of urgency to drive immediate action or else the viewer will miss out on your offering. The most common example of this are limited time offers. In the example below the sense of urgency is the limited number of days the sale is running.
Next is social rejection. This plays on an individual’s need to belong. We tend to see this in the health & wellness, beauty, and fashion industries. This example is alluding to the thought that people are only seeing your acne and not you.
Lastly is the focus on personal safety and security. This is often used in home and cyber security advertisements. These two examples lean into the fear of safety.
HOW-TO:
Like with any type of marketing, fear marketing relies on knowing your audience. As I discussed in my previous article, Unlock Customers with the Power of a Strong Brand!, learn about your target customers and their needs so you can resonate with them.
Once you understand their needs, try incorporating loss aversion. Based on psychological studies this shows that people are more motivated by the fear of losing something than gaining something. “They’d choose not to lose five bucks than to gain five bucks. Why? Because they didn’t have the five dollars in the first place. Simply failing to gain it doesn’t hurt that badly.” (neilpatel.com) This can be done via FOMO by suggesting there is only a limited amount of product,
Only 3 Left In Stock!. By showing the extremely low number of stock left you are alluding to the popularity of the product and pressuring the customer to buy now.
When creating your ad, don’t just induce fear, make sure your solution (and CTA) are obvious. How is your product or service going to alleviate the fear you just presented? Provide resolution.
Lastly, utilize another emotion to balance the fear and create a well-rounded message. When providing your resolution, offer hope or inspiration. Make sure you’re “softening the blow”. If we look back at the video from the beginning of this article, it starts out with fear and then incorporates positivity and praise for the product.
CAUTION:
Fear marketing can be a fine line to walk. If you decide to try out this form of marketing, don’t take it too far. You never want to make the viewer feel bad about themselves. This not only puts your business in a negative light, it’s just wrong.
Avoid being manipulative and exploitive for your own gain. Instead of definitive statements try hypothetical ones.
Both statements are fear marketing, however the first one is providing a false truth to intimidate you whereas the second evokes fear through caution.
You’ll also want to keep the amount of fear in the ad to a minimum, a little goes a long way. Afterall, it’s a marketing ad not a horror story. And like the boy who cried wolf, you want to limit the use of fear marketing to avoid your audience becoming desensitized to your ads. Try sprinkling in an ad once a quarter to see how it performs.
Would you try fear marketing?