Written as a ghostwriter for a private client. The original publication is no longer available. Shared for portfolio purposes only.
Brief: This article will explain why social proof is important for every online small business and how to make sure social media ads and campaigns have it. Write to business owners, both startup and growing companies–NOT employees.
08 February 2021
How to make sure your social media marketing campaigns have social proof (and 3 reasons why you need it)
Whether or not you realise it, social proof is an important aspect of our everyday lives… And even more so in the online universe. Yet, despite it being a tried and tested method to boost sales and brand awareness, so many companies underutilize social proof in their social media marketing.
What is social proof?
The simplest way to explain social proof is with a very popular example… The restaurant experiment:
If you’re looking for somewhere to eat, are you going to choose the empty restaurant that doesn’t look like it’s seen a customer in weeks, or will you choose the busy eatery full of happy diners?
If you picked the busy restaurant, you used social proof!
Here’s another example:
We all know shopping online for a pair of jeans is a dangerous task, and it can be incredibly tricky to find a pair that fits properly without trying them on in store first! So, when you come to the online store, what’s going to help you make your decision? Are you going to look solely at the seller’s description, or will you be looking for real reviews from real customers to establish the quality? Bonus points if those reviews include real pictures of the buyers wearing the clothes, so you can check the fit, sizes, and even colours beyond what the seller is telling you.
Customer reviews and testimonials are a key aspect to social proof, one which you have undoubtably relied upon countless times in your own online experiences as a customer. But social proof is more than a numbers game.
In other words… Social proof is the theory that people follow the lead of others when making their decisions.
Learning how to use social proof effectively can not only dramatically increase sales and click-through rates, but it can also work to enhance your brand image and awareness, and help show your customers that you value their feedback.
How do you use social proof on social media?
Implementing social proof as part of your social media strategy might sound complicated, but chances are you’re probably already using at least one form of social proof without realising it!
Even the smallest company or start-up venture can use social proof to their advantage. All it takes is a little understanding and effort. To illustrate, here are three very simple ways you can make sure your social media campaigns feature some form of social proof:
- Experts
The first form of social proof looks at the idea that people “follow the leader” to make decisions. This could be as simple as a “dentist recommended toothpaste” or sleep experts raving about the mattress they just tried. But it goes further… https://www.instagram.com/oralb/
Any stamp of approval from an authority figure can be used to demonstrate expert social proof: the idea that someone who knows what they’re talking about values your products or services.
For your social media marketing, you could simply post images featuring the expert approval or graphics that show how brilliant your brand is, or you could take it further by including experts in discussions with your customers.
One excellent way to get experts involved is to go Live on Facebook or Instagram. Host a live interview with an expert and invite your followers to leave questions they can answer. Posts featuring educational content are always popular on social media, too.
If your products or services have been reviewed or mentioned in a leading publication, you should also not be shy to share these accolades on social media. Share articles you’re featured in, and include the logos of the most well-known publications on your profile so people know you’re the real deal.
- Influencers
Influencer marketing might be getting a bit of a bad rap at the moment, but that doesn’t make it any less effective in helping you showcase social proof and bring more potential customers to your door.
Utilizing brand ambassadors and sharing images of high-profile individuals using your brand are highly effective strategies that enable you to demonstrate social proof with minimum effort.
Influencer marketing can be particularly helpful for start-up businesses who might not have many clients yet to post reviews. By getting a handful of influencers to share the pros of your brand, you can reach larger audiences.
Always repost (positive) mentions of your brand on social media to show your followers what other people think. If the post comes from a well-known individual, you could quickly see huge boosts to your customer base.
- Users
While influencers are excellent at boosting your brand awareness, user social proof is also highly effective. In fact, 91% of 18-34-year-olds said they trust user reviews as much as a recommendation from someone close to them. https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/
Even if it sounds daunting to take product reviews off Yelp and onto your Twitter feed, doing this has been shown to be highly effective at converting customers, as they can effortlessly see that other people are already enjoying your products.
Another way to showcase positive user reviews without just reposting is to share user generated content. Starbucks’ Instagram account, for example, commonly takes the best photos from their real-life customers to use on their own feed. https://www.instagram.com/starbucks/
You can even spot some Twitter posts from customers on their Instagram, showing how you can mix-and-match your social medias to give a little social proof boost across sites. https://www.instagram.com/p/CJYznVgn2Yk/
- Followers, Likes, and Comments
One of the most basic forms of social proof is how many people like or use your services. The number of followers you have on social media is an easy way to demonstrate that your brand is popular, and therefore good.
Utilizing social proof in your social media strategies will help you grow your follower base, giving you even more social proof points! Although we don’t recommend you base your entire strategy on followers or likes. This is so much more than a numbers game. https://blog.hootsuite.com/how-to-get-more-instagram-followers-the-ultimate-guide/
Why do you need social proof?
If you’re ready to start implementing social proof in your social media marketing strategy, and do it well, then it’s worth understanding why social proof is important. We believe there are three main reasons to use social proof, although the list as to why social proof is beneficial for brands is basically limitless!
- It verifies your claims
We’ve already mentioned that people will trust customer reviews almost as much as they trust recommendations from friends and family, but social proof actually lets you go a little further than this. It proves to potential new buyers that what you’re saying is true and helps build trustworthiness.
Consider that nearly 70% of online customers always look at a product review before making a purchase, and that 70% of Americans seek out reviews from independent sources before buying.
https://optinmonster.com/11-ways-to-use-social-proof-to-increase-your-conversions/
You can make this even easier for your customers by proudly showcasing reviews and testimonials on your social media. Let them see how much everyone loves you without having to search for it!
- It taps into our herd mentality
Social proof is, fundamentally, all about herd mentality.
As a species, humans are innately drawn to imitate the behaviour of others. Therefore, by demonstrating social proof on your social media sites, you’ll attract more potential customers as they follow the wisdom of the crowds.
Whether this is a need to fit in (like the Solomon Asch conformity experiment demonstrated) or simply that we believe the crowd has knowledge we’re lacking, ensuring your social media campaign features social proof will attract more customers. https://www.simplypsychology.org/asch-conformity.html
- People pay attention to it
The third and final reason you should use social proof in your media marketing is because it works.
In fact, 63% of consumers state they’re more likely to purchase from a website that features product ratings and reviews, even if these aren’t millions of 5-star rankings. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/social-proof-customer-acquisition-roi/291903/
By encouraging your users to leave reviews, complete surveys, take part in promotions, or any other sharable activity, and then sharing it yourself, you’ll be demonstrating an active awareness of what makes your customers tick. And people love that.
PS Copywriting 