Social proof is a marketing technique that uses the actions and opinions of others to influence potential customers. Social proof is a powerful way to build trust in your brand, encourage new customers to purchase from you, and increase sales.
But what exactly is social proof? And how can it help your marketing efforts? In this guide, we’ll explore everything you need to know about social proof: what it is, the different types, why it matters for your brand’s marketing strategy, and how to use this powerful tool effectively in marketing campaigns.
What Is Social Proof?
Social proof is a marketing tactic that you can use to improve the credibility of your brand and increase the likelihood of conversion.
Social proof occurs when a consumer sees how other people are responding to a product or service. For example, if someone is looking at your website and sees that it has a lot of recent positive testimonials or reviews, they might be more likely to buy from you because they believe that other people must like what you’re offering as well. Social proof can also help improve trust in a brand by showing users what others think about it—and showing them that people do in fact buy after visiting your site.
How Social Proof Helps Marketing
Social proof is a way to build trust, credibility, authority and influence. It gives people a sense of what others are doing and believing – which helps them decide what they should do next. This works on both micro- and macro levels:
- On an individual level: A customer can see that other customers have a certain opinion about your product or service before they make their own decision. For example, when you’re visiting a new area, you might look up restaurants near you on Yelp and see how many five-star reviews each place has before deciding where to eat that day.
- On a larger scale: Companies will use social proof as part of their marketing campaigns in order to increase conversions or improve brand awareness among new audiences without having to spend as much money as they would normally have spent on paid advertising like Google AdWords or Facebook Ads (which can be expensive).
Why Social Proof Encourages Potential Customers to Purchase from your Brand
- It creates a fear of missing out (FOMO).
- It establishes and creates a trust-factor with the audience.
- Social proof also conveys authority for your brand.
How to Use Social Proof in Your Brand’s Marketing Strategy
- Social Media through hashtags – #Hashtags are a great way to demonstrate social proof. They can be used to show that you have a wide range of followers, or that your content has been shared by others. You can create a custom hashtag for your brand and encourage shoppers to share posts with that hashtag to increase brand awareness. This will help promote your brand and increase your exposure as well as get more people interested in what you’re doing or selling.
- Testimonials – Testimonials are opinions from people who have used your product or service, and they can be written in any format you choose. To make them more persuasive, make sure each one sounds genuine, positive, and honest. Testimonial videos especially go al long way in influencing a visitor’s purchasing decision.
- Reviews – Product reviews are a powerful way to demonstrate social proof for your business. By collecting reviews from happy customers and displaying them on your site, you can show potential customers that other people have had a positive experience with your product. When people see that other people have tried your product and loved it, they don’t need to be convinced anymore. They just want to buy it!
- UGC (User Generated Content) – Read more about UGC on the User Generated Content Creators blog
- Case Studies – You can demonstrate social proof through case studies in one of two ways: 1. Share a case study that demonstrates how your product or service helped a customer with a problem similar to the one they’re facing now. 2. Share a case study that shows how your product or service has worked in multiple cases, not just one.
- Influencers (other brands, micro & macro influencers, celebrities, etc.) – Your influencer’s followers will spread the word about you and your product to their networks, increasing your reach exponentially. Influencers have built up relationships with their followers over time, which means they can offer insight into what their followers want to see from brands they love, and their followers trust them with product recommendations.
A few other ways your brand can show social proof are:
- Customer retention/loyalty
- Customer service
- Customer satisfaction surveys
- Customer feedback
Use Social Proof to Boost Your Brand’s Marketing Efforts and Build Trust.
Social proof is a powerful marketing tool you can use to boost your brand’s marketing efforts and build trust. Social proof can help you attract new customers, increase conversions, build brand awareness, increase customer loyalty and more.
Here are two final ways social proof can help your business:
- Attract new customers. When potential customers see that other people have made a purchase or signed up for an account with your company, they’re more likely to do the same thing themselves. They don’t want to be left out of something popular and exciting!
- Build trust in your company’s products/services by showing off reviews from happy customers who’ve purchased from you in the past. Highlight the solution your brand or product offered. This will make potential buyers feel like they’ll get their money’s worth if they purchase from you as well!
Conclusion
Social proof is one of the most powerful tools that you can use to boost your brand’s marketing efforts, establish trust, and increase conversions. We hope this article has given you some insight into how social proof works, and how it can help your brand grow.
