Top 7 Ways To Use Social Proof To Boost Your Sales

Every business strives to win customers. There are unimaginable ways to gain the trust of customers. One of the most popular methods is using social proof to grab the attention of customers.

Let’s be clear that people on your website are just people. Nobody wants to try something new. It is in our nature to be influenced by others, whether we admit it or not.

Social proof entices us to ask questions before making the right decision, and this can be a powerful tool in Internet marketing.

What Is Social Proof?

The phrase was first mentioned by Robert Cialdini in his mind-altering book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. It teaches how people imitate other people’s actions even if they don’t know how they should respond to the situation. As a result, before making a big decision, people observe the actions of other people whom they consider experts.

 “We conform because we believe that others’ interpretation of an ambiguous situation is more accurate than ours and will help us choose an appropriate course of action.”

To sell and establish trust at the same time, social proof is the company’s most authentic way to hit two birds with one stone. Whether it is sales, advertising, or marketing the end goal is to sell a product and social proof can help in selling the product.

You just need to show the potential customers that people are already buying products from your website and even their friends recommend your products. Sentences like “99 of 100 people…”, and quotes and testimonials from users are just a couple of examples.

7 Worry-Free Methods to Boost Your Sales with Social Proof

Here is a list of ways in which you can use social proof for your benefit:

1: Reviews

84% of the customers believe in online reviews as much as personal recommendations. The reviews are actually short experiences people had with a product or service. Most of the time, the ratings depict the love-and-hate bond with the brand’s offerings.

Most of the companies use email automation to solicit feedback from customers about their experience with the products. This feedback can be used to implement better strategies to add value to products. When customers feel happy, they often share their experiences on social media and often these reviews get listed in search results.

2: Case Studies

Case studies are one step ahead of reviews. They are often treated as one of the most trusted forms of social proof because customers look for in-depth reviews when they plan to select a vendor for their services. And case studies provide detailed examples of how the brand helped its clients.

Case studies are essential for B2B marketing and agency services. This is their opportunity to provide detailed data and stats regarding the results that were delivered.

For instance, as a digital agency, we have served a wide range of clients and helped them to scale their business. Our case studies describe in detail how we managed to make our customers happy. Every case study is a problem that we resolved, and the results fascinated our clients.

 

3.  Certification and Badges

During our academic lives, we receive certifications and similar accolades for our achievements. I still have a dedicated cupboard where I put all the badges and certifications that I won in my school days. Whenever I heard that a special guest was coming to our home. I used to place all these badges and certifications in a prominent location and made my parents proud.

You can do the same with your brand. Do you know that displaying trust badges on your website can boost sales by up to 30%? It is not just about being proud, it is about making the customers feel comfortable so that they can use your service with complete faith and confidence in your capabilities.

4: Social Following

A report by statista.com revealed that the social network population reached a whopping 2.82 billion in 2019 and the numbers are snowballing daily. Since there is a huge number of social media users, it opens doors for marketers and brands to brandish the love and trust customers have in them.

A loyal social media following is not easy to come. A company needs to stay active on social media channels to build its followers. Although a digital marketing agency can help you with this, you must display and show your following so that visitors feel safe while trying your brand for the first time.

A higher number of followers on social media networks builds credibility for the brand. One sure-shot way to increase your genuine following is to post regularly engaging content that connects your services with the needs of the customers. Upon doing so more customers will engage with your brand and convert into raving fans.

5: User-Generated Content

One of the fastest ways to create engagement and get social proof out of people is to entice customers to generate content.

When customers create content on your social media channels everyone can see and take part in it. In doing so, it will be easy to establish trust for the company and promote your content most naturally. You can ask customers to be part of a marketing campaign or request them to share content with a specific hashtag (#). You’ll be amazed by the content that people generate. This approach will distinguish your company’s worth as a brand.

6: Media Mentions

When it comes to establishing trust among visitors, getting featured on reputable websites can serve as noteworthy social proof. In fact, not just people, Google algorithm increases the rank of those websites that get mentioned in famous publications.

Just by adding logos on the website, you will be able to create a massive impact in the eyes of your audience.

7: Numbers, numbers & numbers

All and all social proof is all about numbers. No one can deny numbers. Stats and numbers are easy to absorb, and people trust stats more than anything else.

Numbers and stats can quickly raise the level of urgency and force the customers to buy, even when they are not sure.

Here are some of how you can take advantage of the numbers:

• Show years of experience
• How many customers you’ve served over the years?
• Total numbers of employees and business locations that you have.
• Your price compared to your competition.

Social proof is emerging as a key differentiator for brands. If you want to soar above your competition, you must show how other people are thinking about your brand. As they say “seeing is believing”, so you better start working on building. Your social following and flaunt your social clout to lure in more customers. Happy hunting!