How To Use Social Proof To Boost Sales
Abigail Mohebbi
What Is Social Proof?
Think about the last time you went to purchase a household appliance. Most likely, you either went for a brand you know of or had used before and trusted, or perhaps you looked at reviews to compare what was on the market. Both of these are examples of social proof.
Social proof, also known as social influence, is the concept that consumers will adapt their behaviour based on what other people are doing.
There have been several studies into this psychological phenomenon, and it isn’t a new concept either. One classic example is the Solomon Asch Conformity Experiment, which took place in 1951. In this experiment, participants were asked to take part in a simple line length test where the correct answer was obvious. However, they were placed in a room with actors who had all been directed to gave the same wrong answer. A sizeable number of participants answered in line with the actors, despite that answer being obviously incorrect!
When interviewed afterwards, the participants who had changed their answers to conform with the actors gave a couple of reasons for doing so:
1. They wanted to fit in with the group.
2. They believed the group were better informed than they were.
Social proof, also known as social influence, is the concept that consumers will adapt their behaviour based on what other people are doing.
Why Is Social Proof Important In Marketing?
When marketing your brand, social proof ultimately comes down to getting people to like your brand and talk about it.
Imagine now that you find a toaster you like the look of, the brand name is recognisable, and the price point is good. But hundreds of customer ratings total an average 3 stars. Would this sway your decision to buy the toaster?
Negative social proof can do a lot of harm to your brand, but good social proof is a very powerful and persuasive marketing tool.
In Marketing, There Are Generally 6 Types of Social Proof.
In Marketing There Are Generally 6 Types Of Social Proof
01
Certification
A stamp of approval or certificate by an authority figure or board in your industry, like a TripAdviser travellers choice award or Elle beauty awards, for example. It perhaps goes without saying that these are great for building brand trust.
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02
Expert
Recommendation of your brand by an industry expert. For example, a LinkedIn endorsement or shout-out on social media. Like certification, expert recommendations of your product increase trust in your brand.
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03
Celebrity
Endorsement of your product or service by a celebrity or public figure, such as through a social media post. These are most effective when the endorsement is not a paid review and create a sense of brand value.
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04
User
Previous customer or client recommends your product or service based on their positive experience of it, like reading a user review on Amazon. 88% of consumers trust user reviews as much as personal recommendations.
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05
Friend Wisdom
Approval of a product or service by your friends, such as a word of mouth recommendation, or seeing that your friend likes a page on Facebook. 83% of consumers say friend recommendations make them more likely to purchase a product.
06
Crowd Wisdom
Large group of people appear to endorse your product/service. For example, thousands of product reviews or social media followers. FOMO (fear of missing out) plays a large part in this.
Keep reading to find out how you can use social proof to boost your business.
Building Social Proof
We’ve looked at the types of social proof and established why it’s important.
Here are some ideas to help you incorporate social proof into your digital marketing to boost sales.
01
Positive Reviews
Most of us are familiar with and use online reviews in our purchasing decisions. In fact, they have a major impact on buying behaviour. Try to get positive reviews on all the major sites for your industry. This of course begins with providing a great product and customer service!
Don’t rely on customers leaving review organically – reach out through email, social media, or messenger to ask for feedback. Offer a carrot in the form of a promo code or competition entry in return for a review, and remember to respond to your reviews (particularly the negative ones – an apology and compensation will go a long way!) for added social proof.
Add the best reviews and testimonials to your website and use them in your adverts.
Word of caution: most shoppers require at least a 3 star rating to consider making a purchase.
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02
Customer Testimonials
Similar to reviews, testimonials from customers who have used your product and had a positive experience can be very compelling marketing.
One brand who have had huge success with customer testimonials is that of Kayla Itsines, a personal trainer and entrepreneur who built her ($63 million) business almost entirely from customer testimonials.
A successful testimonial demonstrates how your product solves a problem – it goes much further than just saying ‘this is a great product’.
Reach out to your happy customers and ask them if they’d be willing to offer a testimonial, perhaps in return for a gift/discount. Use this testimonials across your social media, website and adverts.
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03
Social Media Following
The number of followers you have on your social media can form part of your social proof – so long as they are authentic (more on that in a minute).
Basically, people will feel safer climbing on board if others are already there, so having a decent good social media following increases trust in your brand. Think of the adverts that pop up on your facebook feed with ‘your friend and 14,756 others like this page’.
Building a good follower base (or page like count on facebook) requires having compelling content. This is where you can create brand value by offering valuable content such as engaging and relevant articles, tips and resources to your following.
Running engagement adverts for page likes/follows on facebook and instagram are an easy way to build your following quickly at a relatively low cost.
An added benefit of having organic (not bought) followers on your social media page is that you can target them in your advertising campaigns.
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04
Customer Count
Similarly to social media following, customer count increases your brand’s trust and value by showing it is worth purchasing from.
If your company has a large customer base, use those figures on your website and social media. Not only are you showing that what you have to offer is valuable, you will also be making use of our human herd mentality to belong to a group.
Instead of saying ‘over 1 million happy customers’, try using language like ‘join over 1 million people using our service’.
If your company is B2B, another method is to include the logos of well known clients you have worked with.
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05
Awards & Recognition
Brand trust plays an important role in consumer buying behaviour, but just telling your customers your brand can be trusted is often not enough.
Having evidence to prove that your brand is as brilliant and trustworthy as you say it is, is excellent social proof.
Awards and stamps of approval from a third party work to validate your brand and add a sense of prestige. So if you have received an award or two, be sure to display those badges on your website and social media.
Similar to this is receiving a mention in a well known media outlet. Including ‘As featured in Forbes, PC world, TechCrunch’ etc., is a great way to add credibility and create an ‘everybody’s talking about us’ buzz. This is most effective when the logo of the media source is used rather than simple text.
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06
Celebrity & Influencer Endorsement
As we’ve already seen, public opinion has a massive impact on consumer spending behaviour. This is amplified when that opinion is coming from a figure your audience knows and trusts.
Influencer marketing is particularly effective on social media and relatively easy to do. The biggest challenge is choosing the right influencers – so make sure you know your audience. There’s no point paying a young YouTube gamer to endorse your product if your customer base is older women on facebook – regardless of how many followers that YouTuber has!
Downsides to influencer marketing include the expensive (the more social clout the influencer has, the higher the fees), and the fact that sponsored posts are required to be stated as paid promotions.
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Bottom Line
Social proof is excellent for boosting sales. Try out the tips above and see what results you can achieve for your business.
Bottom Line
Social proof is excellent for boosting sales. Try out the tips above and see what results you can achieve for your business.
Written by Abigail Mohebbi
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