DIGITAL MARKETING
Social Proof: What it is and how it can increase your conversions?
All of us know the iconic toothpaste ads mentioning how “9 out of 10 doctors recommend their product”. So, why was this iconic ad was (and still is) so fixated on telling us that so many doctors say that their product is the best?
It’s because of the human tendency to stay safe. This triggers our old part of the brain, which is billions of years old. All we want is to be secure and only to invest in the things that are tried and tested. It hurts us when we spend our money or time on something, and it doesn’t meet our expectations.
Hence, we end up looking for people who’ve already used the product and are satisfied with it. This helps our brain to reason out the decision we are going to make.
Researchers and Marketers understood this psychology and started to make strategies around the same. Instead of their potential customers trying to reach out to their existing customers to get reviews, they began to put out validation on their websites on their own.
This also reduced the possibility of them finding out bad things about their product.
When people see others have also purchased the same products and are happy with it, they feel content. They feel confident in buying the product or service offered by the company. It also helps in forming trust with the customers.
So, what exactly, this psychological phenomena social proof that I keep talking about is?
What is Social Proof?
Social Proof is based on the concept of normative social control, which says that to be liked by, similar to, or approved by the influencer (or society), people will adapt.
In simpler words, social proof is any third party proof (unbiased) that’s outside of a claim your company would make to influence their customers’ decision.
Remember the last time when you were surfing a webpage and looking for a solution and found a testimonial of an industry expert you respect. Suddenly you started the solution provider a little bit more, that’s social proof. When you sign up for a demo because you see the tool solving the same issue you have for a similar company, that’s social proof.
Let’s look at how it is commonly used.
5 basic types of social proof (with examples)
There is some standard social proof we will see everywhere. You should have at least one of them on your website, based on your requirements as well.
- Case Studies
If you’re a B2B provider, case studies are the best social proof you can provide to your customers. They are data-driven, in-depth analysis of how your product or services solved the problem of your existing customers, hence helping in closing big deals.
2. Customer Reviews
Customer Reviews are very objective as compared to testimonials and hence are immensely powerful. They come in very handy in products or services that have a very competitive market like the technical industry, restaurant business, etc.
In a study done by BrightLocal, they found out that 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Another interesting finding of this study was that people don’t just see one or two reviews, they tend to see at least 5 of them.
3. Trust Icons
This goes by different names such as badges, certifications, seals, etc.
All of these logos and icons technically lie under social proofs, but they are hardly anything social about them. The only reason they lie in this list is that they at times, increase credibility.
Icons such as BBB, McAfee SECURE, just helps customers feel a little bit more secure on your website (though I seriously doubt how many people know the meaning of these icons, that’s a story for another day)
4. Testimonials
Testimonials are short, cute, and simple texts of the experiences of your happy customers. It’s a vote of confidence in the integrity of the commodity. All kinds of testimonials have the same impact.
The only thing to keep in mind is to never forget to legitimise your testimonials. Always add a photo, name, and company name. Have different kinds of pictures, job positions so that they don’t look made up.
5. Data/Numbers
Data like the number of people in your mailing list, the number of customers served, the number of monthly blog readers, etc. act as social proof. It helps people see how proficient you’re in what you do.
This works exceptionally when combined with social proofs. Example- By doing so, you’re saying, “Not only have X people bought our product or service but here’s how much they love it.”
Secret Pro Tip: Another type of social proof that is gaining a lot of attention these days is Activity Social Proof. Gone are the days when you just used to tell the number of consumers of a particular product. Companies like AngelList even tell their potential customers what and how they helped their previous customers. Adding this extra piece of information makes your numbers a little more trustworthy and acceptable.
How can it help me improve my conversions?
So, we talked about what social proof is, what its type, but does it help me improve conversions?
I would like to answer this with the help of an example.
Suppose you’re looking for a shirt for your graduation. You went to a shopping mall and started looking for it. You went to different shops and finally narrowed down your choices to 2 shirts. At that time you can compare the price, quality, and properties of the fabric, the look it has on you, etc. But it’s a little different when it comes to shopping online. It is a lot more difficult.
You can not measure anything listed above except for the price. Hence, you need to rely on outside opinions for making a decision. You look for reviews about what people are saying about the packaging, the fit, the quality, and whatnot.
At times these reviews can even sway your decision as you read that people were unsatisfied with the experience they had even if you liked that product.
This is the power of social proof. It can sway your customers’ decisions and help them reduce the frictions, uncertainties, and doubts they might be having while buying and hence increasing conversions.
Notably, according to a study, it shows that approximately 50% of shoppers use their smartphones while shopping in stores to research products before they buy them.
Recap
A quick recap of what we covered in this blog
- What Social Proof is?
- Types of Social Proof
- How social proof increases conversions?
Thank you!
Let’s connect if you want to know more about some more Social Proof (how do write social proof) or Growth Marketing. You can reach out to me at LinkedIn at Shreyansh Goel or email me at shreyanshgoel16@gmail.com.
