Creating FOMO for Events

10 Marketing Lessons from Planning the Biggest LinkedIn Local Event in Nigeria When we set out to plan LLN 2025, we had no idea what we were signing up for. It was exciting but honestly, humbling in the end. If you’re planning an event soon, these key lessons will save you months and mistakes. ⟶ 1. Clear value proposition sells. Our theme “Evolving Beyond the Narrative” wasn’t a slogan. LLN wasn’t positioned as “a LinkedIn networking event”, we clearly communicated that it was for people looking to break stereotypes, shatter limiting beliefs, and create new possibilities. ⟶ 2. Start early, sell steady. We started building awareness 10 months before the event and ticket sales started 5 months later. If you don’t give yourself time, you’ll end up begging for sales in the last two weeks and trust me, that waters down the impact of your event. ⟶ 3. Ticket phases help people decide. We created three phases: early bird (cheapest for the longest time), late bird (+20%), and last-minute (+10% and removal of cheapest tier). These tweaks created urgency at different stages, nudged people to stop delaying, and gave us momentum. ⟶ 4. Nigerians need FOMO. Nigerians will spend heavily on parties, clothes, or vibes… but try selling them a networking event, and you’ll sweat. We made enough noise, celebrated milestones publicly, and showed others buying tickets, the bandwagon effect kicked in. Nobody wants to be left behind. ⟶ 5. Communities beat emails. Our email campaigns hovered around 10–25% open rates. Meanwhile, our WhatsApp communities gave us 60–70% open rate (and we had a lot). Emails are good for structure and record, but if you’re selling in Nigeria, communities are your lifeblood. ⟶ 6. influential ambassadors = PR machine. Our LinkedIn ambassadors were gold. Every time they posted, it multiplied our reach. People trusted them and this helped put our event in the faces of everyone. ⟶ 7. Sponsorships go beyond money. Yes, sponsorships brought in cash, but more importantly, they gave inclusivity. Sponsors subsidized tickets for attendees, which allowed us to welcome people who might not have been able to afford it. ⟶ 8. Not every strategy will lead to sales. Some campaigns won’t bring in direct ticket sales, but they still build your brand in the long run. Awareness create visibility, even if you don’t see the ROI immediately. The trick is knowing which ones to double down on, and which ones to shelve next time. ⟶ 9. Always apply urgency and scarcity. Sales skyrocketed with urgency: “last 50 seats,” “ticket phase closing tonight,” “final chance.” Nigerians will postpone buying until tomorrow if they think tomorrow will still be available. Take away the option, and watch sales jump. ⟶ 10. Data is your compass. We tracked what worked and what didn’t. We also asked questions from our audiences. That data gave us clarity and now, we know exactly where to focus next time. I shared 10, If you had to add an 11th, what would it be?

Stop treating your event content like a schedule of sessions. Start treating it like the strategic backbone of your entire experience. I reviewed dozens of event strategies last year, and nearly 80% made the same critical mistake: they selected the venue, secured speakers, planned the logistics... and then thought about the content narrative. This approach is why so many events struggle with lacklustre registration and zero FOMO. One client's flagship conference saw attendance drop 22% in three years despite increasing their speaker budget each time. Your content strategy isn't just what happens during your event. It's what drives people to register in the first place. It's what creates anticipation. It's what transforms "maybe I'll go" into "I can't afford to miss this." Here's how to build an event narrative that creates genuine FOMO: 1. Start with the gap. What's the gap between where your participants are today and where they want to be? The most compelling event narratives address a knowledge gap, a connection gap, or a transformation gap that your audience actively feels. Take your participants on a journey. 2. Create content tension. Don't just promote speakers. Promote the tensions, conflicts, and unresolved questions your event will address. People are drawn to intellectual tension. "How do we balance X and Y?" creates more intrigue than "Learn about X and Y." And of course the conversation carries on outside of the conference room. 3. Design a narrative arc, not a schedule. Your event should feel like a story unfolding, not a series of unrelated sessions. Each component should build on what came before and set up what comes next. This narrative coherence is what makes events memorable. 4. Selectively reveal your strongest content assets. Strategic reveals of keynote topics, exclusive research, or unexpected formats create anticipation. A tech association client doubled early registrations by releasing their content in three strategic waves rather than all at once. The most successful events aren't just well-executed. They're well-narrated. What's one content approach that has meaningfully increased registration or excitement for your events? (Image courtesy of ODI) 💡 Sign up for regular insights on event strategy and leadership https://lnkd.in/gdqN9UUi

Marketing an event with no past photos or videos? Tough. But not impossible... I’ll break it down. People don’t just buy tickets. They buy the experience. And if you’re asking them to: a) Book time off work b) Convince their friends or partner to go with them and c) Budget for tickets, travel, accommodation, food & drink Then you need to show them why your event is worth all that money and energy. So here’s how to do it without previous footage: 🎨 Get creative with graphics. Bold, bright, unmissable. 📍 Show venue walkthroughs. Tell them about the space so they can imagine being there. 🎥 Get in front of the camera. Show them what they’ll see, feel and experience. 🎤 Involve artists, hosts and performers. Let them build the hype for you (plus bonus points for adding social proof and credibility) 🎬 Behind-the-scenes and founder stories. People connect with people, not logos. 📱 Get influencers and UGC content. Real people bigging up your event = trust & FOMO. 🎟 “A day at the event” videos. Use (non-cheesy) stock footage if you have to, but paint the picture. 👋 Film a guerilla marketing stunt. Think flash mobs. Pop up DJ sets. Anything out of the box you can link back to your event. If you can get local PR coverage, even better. Go all-in with a high-production campaign if you have the budget. Or? All you need is a phone, a graphic designer, a video editor and a solid creative strategy. (We have all of these 👋) No previous footage? No problem. Most events start from scratch. The best ones turn that into an advantage. Because the events that feel creatively unmissable? They’re the ones people book.

Successfully raising capital for real estate requires more than just having best-in-class digital systems—educational websites, social media, funnels, landing pages, and more. While these tools are essential, they’re only the foundation. The true power of these systems is unleashed when paired with someone who knows exactly how to run them—crafting investor solicitation campaigns with precision, optimizing every element, and seamlessly attracting, nurturing, and converting investors. That’s how you ensure your investment not only performs but excels. Here’s how to optimize a capital raise and ensure your systems deliver as intended: 1. Nurture Between Deals Successful raises don’t start with your first solicitation email—they start months earlier with ongoing, consistent engagement. This means sharing economic updates, networking on LinkedIn, attending conferences, engaging in PR, and staying in touch with regular emails to stay top of mind. 2. Stick to Opt-In Email Lists Adding contacts who haven’t explicitly opted in might seem like a shortcut—but it’s a fast track to losing credibility. Investors who haven’t chosen to hear from you won’t be receptive to sudden pitches. Worse, it risks email deliverability issues. 3. Build FOMO with a Soft-Commit Waitlist When you have a deal in play, create FOMO. Provide teaser information and ask for soft commits from investors, offering priority notification when the deal goes live. 4. Plan Your Launch with Precision A haphazard approach won’t inspire confidence. Before going live, ensure every detail is ready: ↳ Fully functional landing pages and seamless investor journeys from the first email to signing offering documents and wiring funds. ↳ Teaser emails to build curiosity and create FOMO. ↳ A live webinar where the deal opens during the event. ↳ Build momentum with your launch webinar by allowing priority-notification, soft-commit investors early access to invest. ↳ After the official launch, send countdown emails with updates on subscription progress to build more FOMO and ensure the offering fully subscribes. 5. Align Your Team Collaboration drives success. Structuring incentives around individual contributions to capital raises risks creating competition, not cohesion—and can lead to compliance challenges. Your team should operate as a unit, not as rival drivers jockeying for position. When these fundamentals are neglected—no nurturing, non-opt-in lists, rushed emails, or uncoordinated launches—it’s like handing a Ferrari Daytona SP3 to a driver stuck in first gear who floors the gas anyway. The result? A cringe-worthy disaster that stalls your raise and wrecks your reputation. If you’re building—or already have—a digital marketing system to raise equity capital, remember: the machine is only as good as the professionals driving it.

The most exciting project I worked on in 2023 was boosting registrations for an event. Here is what we did: Context: 5 weeks before the event. Message We benchmarked the event against the competition. We diversified the message, in this case, to move from education to networking and entertainment. Early bird canning This event overdid early birds. Our recommendation was to start marketing price increases instead of price reductions. Inverse psychology that, while stimulating FOMO, contributes to the overall perception of the event. Destination Leverage The destination was under-leveraged. We crafted email and social messages to showcase what the destination offered to stimulate last-minute sign-ups. Reg Software In most cases, reg is not optimized. Making sure every single option to sell better is turned on is paramount. We set up remarketing pixels and group codes. Social We coordinated a campaign to get the whole team to share the event on LinkedIn to boost last-minute peer pressure. LinkedIn is often ignored and it has a major impact on last minute conversions. Ambassador tech We recommended using referral platforms such as InGo, Snoball, or GleanIn. These platforms can be very different in their impact, and some integrate better with specific software. We projected a 30% increase in reg based on a proper implementation. Cart abandonment We found hundreds of abandoned carts and created a sales and email strategy to reach this audience. Understanding why they are not committing or proposing a discount code does wonders. Sources We optimized higher sources of conversions. In this case, email. We devised an email campaign with different levers to pull (community, team discount opportunity, destination showcase). This was key to diversifying the message. We turned this around in two weeks. Objective: achieved. Steal these tactics for your event.

At HockeyStack, we generated 35% of our pipeline with in-person events last quarter. We do it by FOMO stacking for executives and turning each event into an ongoing flywheel. Here’s the playbook: 1. Design events CXOs will actually attend Come up with an idea (better if you can turn it into a series) that people would actually pay to go to. Sounds simple. It's not. We're doing a series of Golden Goose events at their showroom in NYC. If you're unfamiliar with the brand, it's a designer sneaker brand that sneaker-heads like me are addicted to. Once you pick your event, carefully curate who you want to have there. That matters almost as much as the actual event. You can't create a great experience without the right chemistry of guests. 2. Make sure people show up Pick 1-3 people from reputable companies or with big personal brands to commit first. Once you land them, use their names and companies (with permission) in your outreach for the next 20 people. Response rates 10x when the guest list already has weight to it. 3. Make sure people remember Always make sure people leave the event with something physical they will truly love. No horribly designed or branded t-shirt. For us, you leave with a custom pair of Golden Goose sneakers. How could you pass that up? 4. Turn the event into content Create high quality content at the event. Turn it into pre-written social posts for attendees and your whole team. Then review who's engaging with those posts and keep a running list to invite to the next event. One event should feed the next one. That's how it becomes a flywheel instead of a one-off. 5. Convert it into pipeline Rule number one: avoid dinners at all costs. If people get stuck next to someone they don't click with, they remember that. That negative experience sticks to your brand. You want a format where your team can float and talk to everybody at different points throughout the night. If you executed steps 1-4, people will naturally ask what you do without you ever pitching it. The sales cycle starts itself. — Want to see the playbook in action? We're doing exactly this on April 16. We're taking over one of San Francisco's hottest new restaurants in North Beach, recently featured by Eater SF and The Infatuation. The guest list includes Bobby Morrison (former CRO at Shopify, Microsoft, and Intuit) and revenue leaders from WRITER, SentinelOne, Navan, and Retool. We have 3 spots left. If you’d like to nominate or apply, register here: https://lnkd.in/grfYzZeE

After working with 200+ brands, one thing is clear: ads that create FOMO outperform those that simply list benefits. Why? Because human psychology is wired to avoid loss more than to seek gain. Let’s take an example. Say you’re running an ad for a skincare brand. Most marketers would write something like: "Our serum deeply hydrates, nourishes your skin, and gives you a radiant glow." Sounds good, right? But here’s the problem—it doesn’t create urgency. It gives the audience the option to think, compare, and postpone their purchase. Now, let’s add FOMO to the mix: "Only 50 bottles left! This viral serum is selling out fast. Don’t be the one missing out on flawless skin." See the shift? Suddenly, it's not just about what the product does—it’s about what the customer might LOSE if they don’t act now. Now, think of the same strategy for a webinar campaign. Instead of: "Join our free session on scaling Meta Ads." Change it to: "Last chance! 1,500+ marketers have already secured their spots. Only 50 seats left. register before it's too late." The result? 2x higher registrations, just by triggering urgency and social proof. Scarcity, urgency, and exclusivity are not just marketing tricks, they’re how decisions are made. When people believe they might miss out, they stop overthinking and start taking action. If your ads aren’t driving the results you want, it’s time to stop telling people why your product is great and start showing them why they can’t afford to wait. Because in marketing, the fear of missing out is stronger than the promise of benefits. #PerformanceMarketing #D2C #KreativeDigitals #Agency

The Hidden Trigger That Makes People Buy Now: Understanding FOMO in Marketing If you’ve ever rushed to book a ticket because it said “only 2 seats left” or clicked on a sale because it was ending in 3 hours, congratulations — you’ve just been marketed to using one of the most powerful psychological triggers in the book: FOMO — Fear of Missing Out. Let’s break it down like a marketer. What is FOMO? FOMO is not just a trendy internet word. It’s a primal psychological response. At its core, it’s our fear of being left behind — of losing an opportunity that others are already benefiting from. In marketing, this translates into urgency, scarcity, and exclusivity. And the best part? It works like magic. People are more driven by the fear of loss than the excitement of gain. This is rooted in behavioral economics, especially the concept of loss aversion. A customer would rather not miss a limited-time offer than wait for a better one tomorrow — because tomorrow feels too uncertain. Why FOMO Works So Well Here’s what happens inside your customer’s brain: → They see a countdown timer or the words “Only 3 left.” → It creates anxiety. → That anxiety demands resolution. → The resolution? Take action. Now. And that’s exactly what you want. How to Use FOMO in Your Marketing Here’s how top brands — and smart marketers — use FOMO every single day: → Time-Limited Offers: “Ends in 2 hours” or “Sale closes at midnight.” Countdown timers on landing pages aren’t decoration — they’re conversion tools. → Scarcity Language: “Only 5 seats left,” “We’re closing entries soon,” “Last chance to register.” → Exclusivity: “Be the first to get access,” “For early subscribers only,” “Limited-edition drop.” → Social Proof with Urgency: “1,200 people have already joined — don’t miss your spot.” A Word of Warning Overusing FOMO can backfire. If every single thing you sell is “about to run out,” your audience will stop believing you. FOMO should feel real, not manipulative. It works best when it’s tied to actual scarcity or deadlines. Final Thought If you’re trying to move people to act — to buy, to sign up, to click — don’t just tell them what they’ll get. Remind them what they’ll miss if they don’t. #Fomo #FomoMarketing

Recently, we've seen massive #concerts sell out in a matter of seconds — from Diljit Dosanjh's shows selling 100,000 tickets in under a minute on Zomato, to global acts creating frenzy among fans. This isn’t just an India-specific trend; it’s happening worldwide. 💡 What’s driving this #phenomenon, and what can marketers learn from it? Scarcity Drives Demand: The psychological principle of scarcity is in full force. Limited tickets + limited time = heightened urgency. It's a classic FOMO strategy, which pushes customers to act instantly. Cultivated Communities: Artists and brands that build engaged, loyal communities create a demand that far outweighs supply. Fans feel connected beyond the music—they want to be part of a shared experience. Cross-Channel Promotion: Marketing campaigns that tap into multiple platforms — from social media to streaming apps and food delivery platforms (like Zomato!) — create a sense of omnipresence. The message is loud and clear: "Everyone's going, don’t miss out!" Experiences Over Products: Today’s consumers value experiences more than ever. Concerts represent more than entertainment; they’re a cultural moment. Marketers who can position their product as part of a larger experience will stand out. Data-Driven Personalization: Platforms and artists are using data to target fans with precision. Personalized notifications, email reminders, and social media buzz create anticipation that feels tailored, not generic. 🔥 The Takeaway? As marketers, we need to create experiences and build communities that go beyond the product. Whether it's a concert ticket or a service, make your audience feel like they’re part of something bigger and that they can’t afford to miss out! #MarketingInsights #ConcertMarketing #CustomerExperience #FOMO #ScarcityMarketing #DiljitDosanjh #EventStrategy #CommunityBuilding #Zomato