All of us are influenced by Social Proof, and you may not even be aware of it! Whether a friend raves about something they’ve bought and loved, or someone shares a great book, or you automatically hop onto Google to check out reviews or ratings for that new purchase you are planning to make …. These are ALL types of social proof!
Social proof is certainly not new! And has been around for as long as marketing has existed. Check out this 1950’s Washing Machine advertisement, with the Tag Line ‘trade in your troubles’. Showing a relaxed housewife, feet up! Boasting a Five-Year Guarantee, that they support.
Social Proof – How it’s defined
Wikipedia states that social proof (or informational social influence) is a “psychological and social phenomenon referring to people’s reliance on the feedback and actions of others to determine what is right and what is wrong. Sometimes the social proof is also referred to as ‘herd mentality’ experiences that become credible and then supported through the behaviour and opinion of others.
Why Social Proof is Important for Business Owners
In a super competitive world when it comes to products or services, using social proof as a tool is a must for any business owner. We all work so hard for new clients and customers, so it’s only natural that our new clients and customers will seek out some form of social proof before working with you, adding your product to their cart, booking a discovery call or signing up to a freebie on your landing page!
7 Ways to Use Social Proof
Here are seven easy tips to help you unleash the power of social proof on your social media, website, or landing page:
- Credentials and Certifications: If you’ve got some … flaunt them! Be proud of your achievements. Your credentials and certifications build trust. Share anniversaries of when you gained qualifications, showreels or snippets of webinars or training you attend.
- Trust Badges: Trust badges add an extra layer of credibility and help build customer trust in your website and landing pages. They assure potential clients and customers that you are experienced and trusted in your industry. Trust badges can also include, free shipping, secure checkout, accredited seller, be a member or certified through an external process. Check out my trust badges featured on my Home Page.
- Chat Bot & Real-Time Validation: Consider integrating live chat on your website and display real-time notifications of customer interactions and purchases (again perfect for e-commerce sites). Seeing others engaging and purchasing from your business creates a sense of urgency (FOMO … Fear of Missing Out) and fosters confidence in those potential new customers.
- Online Reviews: Encourage your e-commerce customers and client to leave positive reviews on popular platforms like Google or your industry-specific review sites. Create posts for your socials, website and your landing pages to show potential customers just how amazing your products and services are!
- Testimonials: Have a template ready to send out to happy clients asking for their testimonials to use on your website and socials. Authentic testimonials from real people are very powerful. Testimonials are ideally suited to service-based industries versus products.
- User-Generated Content / Earned Media: Unleash the Power of Your Followers and Fans when clients or customers share their experiences and tag your business on social media. Repost their content, with permission, to share how real people are enjoying your products or services. It’s an authentic way to showcase your products or services. Tip! Cafes and restaurants are great at utilising their UGC.
- Social Media Shares, Mentions and Likes: Make sure your social media posts are shareable and like-worthy. Produce engaging content that compels your audience to hit that share, comment or like button. The more your posts are shared, the wider your reach will be, and your social proof will be seen by a bigger audience!
So, there you have it an introduction to Social Proof and why it is important to use every day in your business.
