5 Proven ways to use social proof to boost conversions (Works quickly)
The most valuable asset a business can have is trust. Trust is a core value for any purpose driven business. Every interaction with your customers is an opportunity to earn more trust. Trust is a very important aspect in any relationship, Similarly, people must trust the business they are dealing with. There are many ways a business can prove that it is trustworthy known as trust signals, and social proof is one of the most important trust signals nowadays.
“people will look to the actions of others to determine their own”
Dr. Robert Cialdini
Table of Contents
What is Social proof ?
Social Proof is a psychological phenomenon when people will follow the action of other people because they think if many people have done that behavior then it’s more likely to be good.
Social proof is an incredibly powerful tool every business should use in their marketing plan. Many studies have found that most of our actions are subconsciously influenced by Social proof. Most people seek evidence from other people who have already found value in a product or service. Social proof can effectively boost your conversions by 175% if applied into business marketing plan the right way. In this article, we’re going to discuss 5 proven ways to utilize this powerful tool within your marketing plan in order to increase your conversion rate dramatically.
5 Proven ways to use social proof to boost conversions
1. Positive reviews
Most people nowadays are more likely to check reviews of a particular place on Yelp or google before having the new experience. you are more likely to visit a place with hundreds of 5 stars reviews rather than visiting a place with 3 stars. Online reviews have become very effective and it has great impact on our buying decisions. Studies have shown that more than 88% of the customers depend on online reviews as much as they depend on personal recommendations. On the other hand, poor reviews can have negative effect on your business so it’s highly recommended that you contact with your customers and make sure they are satisfied and ask your happy customers to write a review telling other people about their good experience.
2. Testimonials
When it comes to buying a new product or service people are looking for perfect results. And they will be convinced to buy it if other people who used it had positive experience. for example, showing images before and after in a weight loss program.
The key to have a powerful testimonial is to address a certain problem and explain how can your product solve that problem for the client. Studies have found that 92% of Customers are more likely to engage with non-paid recommendations rather than paid advertisements.
3. Social Media Followers
Big number of followers on social media can be a useful attracting tool for more followers and it gives your business a significant deal of influence. The reason why is that people tend to like what other people are sharing or interacting with the most. So, the greater number of followers you have, more people will trust your business. but you shouldn’t buy fake followers to make a greater count. Instead, you should focus on interacting with audience to get more engagement and eventually build more genuine following.
4. User count
People have the herd mentality by nature. The want to follow the crowd that’s why most successful businesses use the trick of showing user count. Many of the big brands like McDonald’s used that powerful tool for years to attract more customers. A simple message like “Over 99 Billion Served” can make huge difference in the number of new customers.
If you have an online business you can also use that trick to show the number of subscribers, users, or perhaps how many purchases on a single product. You can also highlight on some popular brands that used your product or service to add more credibility and influence.
5. Earned Awards
Recognition can be used as an evidence of your success. The greater the reward the greater the challenged you have passed. One of the reasons why awards is great for social proof is because always a third party is involved in the recognition process. The more recognizable the source of your reward the more impact it has on your business and conversions.
4Ps For Social Proof
To make sure that your social presence is strong and efficient you must check the 4Ps of the process:
- Professionalism: Make sure to set up your business profiles, and keep your content consistent at least on weekly basis.
- Popularity: you should have a good amount of followers, and your content is receiving interactions such as likes, comments and shares.
- Proactive: You engage with your audience by responding to comments and answering questions.
- Promote: You Should invest in promoting content especially the ones that had the most engagement.
Bonus Tools
If you have a website, then here is a gift for you! As we discussed above the importance of positive reviews for social proof. It’s time to show these reviews on your website to boost your conversions. I have two powerful tools to share with you. Morevago and Proof
Both are easy and great tools to show your best reviews as notifications, you can also show up the visitor count or recent deals made on your website.
Conclusion
Social proof will always affect new customers subconsciously, because when people don’t know a particular business, they will rely on other people to do that. You should start taking advantage of social proof now. By applying the techniques listed above you will be ready when people check you out on social media next time. And it will definitely increase your popularity and trustworthiness.
