Why Social Proof Is Essential?

20 years ago, the only time you would have heard the term social proof would have been at a psychology conference or a university economics lecture. Ask a marketer today if they’re using social proof, and they’ll jump in with a quick of course! The concept of social proof — the phenomenon that our own behavior is impacted by the influence, actions, attitudes, or beliefs of others — has been around for quite some time.

We see social proof examples in the real world all the time:

• The long line outside a restaurant signals that the food is possibly good.
• A celebrity endorsement makes us want to buy a product even more.
• An empty place makes us uncomfortable and we assume there’s something wrong with the place.

We’re social beings and we subsist on the positive benefits of social relationships, and today, the concept of social proof has become a key tool for today’s modern marketer — allowing them to capitalize on the psychological underwiring of consumers.

In the social media era, the power of social proof has been amplified, with everyone now able to share their thoughts and read the opinions of their peers, across a wide range of connective platforms. This has made social proof an important consideration for marketing - for example, did you know that 93% of consumers say online reviews now impact their purchasing decisions and that 80% of consumers are likely to make a purchase based on friend’s suggestion? This data underlines the value of social proof and ensuring that your target audience has a comparative measure to help guide their thinking.

Finally, social proof is part of our existence

Social proof has made the online experience more seamless. It’s provided many avenues to successfully interact with customers in new ways and its only part of a wider trend we’re starting to see online. Personalization, better segmentation, and more unique online experiences are in store for the future. We’re starting to see more companies to start to grasp these concepts throughout their marketing, and we expect the trends to accompany social proof in the year to come.

Why Social Proof Works The Way It Does?

1.Uncertainty

The foundation of social proof is the concept of uncertainty. It’s a basic human instinct to look around and learn by watching when faced with an unfamiliar situation. The beginning of the customer cycle, when the customer is still in the process of discovery, always produces an initial atmosphere of uncertainty. Uncertainty leads customers to seek out various forms of social proof to guide their path to purchasing.

2.Similarity

The first people someone usually turns to when seeking out a new business is their friends and family. Word-of-mouth marketing is usually the most powerful for this reason. Someone needs a service or product and their friend knows just the place to get it. Since the person they asked is in their inner circle, they are likely similar to the customer in question.

We’re simply more comfortable with people who are like us. Even if the decision is subconscious, we seek out those who resemble us the most. So when thinking about your social proof marketing strategy, define your target demographic and your current customer base. 

3.Expertise and Endorsement

When someone surrounding a topic is much more knowledgeable on the subject, then their opinion is weighed even more heavily. For example, a makeup artist’s opinion on the best brand of foundation may hold much more value than someone’s best friend with similar skin. Their input is even more influential the more similar this expert is to the potential customer.

In a comparable way, those with a lot of influence over a large general audience may endorse something without expertise. People following the influential figure are likely to take their advice as seriously as that of an expert.

4.Number

Finally, one of the last types of social proof is the number of people standing behind an opinion. That opinion might be where to purchase a burger or who to vote for in a local election. People don’t like to be wrong. The more minds supporting an idea, the more valid it seems.

Examples of some of the best social proof we’ve seen

• McDonald’s displays how many customers they’ve served on their sign.
• TV shows and sitcoms have always used it to generate desired responses with laugh tracks and other pre-recorded reactions.
• Toothpaste companies’ campaign with their slogans: “9 out of 10 dentists approve of said product. 

Some Ways To Use Social Proof Marketing In 2020

Now that we know the basics of social proof and why it works in marketing, we need to apply it. Here are some ideas to get started: 

1. Show real-time stats on your website - Display number of customers served, orders fulfilled, clients helped, etc. in order to display numerical social proof.
2. List and link to media mentions - Harness any publicity you get, no matter how small and make sure you include it on your website with links back. 
3. Highlight popular products - Highlighting popular products and those suggested by your customers gives visitors a suggestion on what to get before they decide to purchase. This way your customers can validate the popularity of the item themselves before they come to visit or order online.
4. Get case studies and stories from big clients and regular customers - Depending on the type of your business, you want to find a big client with high demands or a regular customer. Either is a type of expert. Both have an influence on any other individual seeking out each type of business. You can share these as blog posts on your site, video blogs, or a combination of both.
5. Find influencers and brand ambassadors - Influencers are people with more of a celebrity status who might cost your business money. However, influencers do have a high ROI and that might be a great route for your company. On the other hand, you can get a similar outcome with brand ambassadors who cost little to deploy. Using this method can be both endorsement and numerical social proof. It depends on your strategy.
6. Celebrate milestones - Milestones are also beneficial to social proof marketing. It means that not only are others supporting your business, but they are returning and bringing more with them. It solidifies the quality of your business offerings.

Your brand and your business will determine how you should use social proof marketing. For example, a local plumber probably won’t seek out a social media influencer or brand ambassador to represent them online. They simply don’t need that kind of marketing. Local, service-based businesses need reviews and a lot of them. But a local boutique might want brand ambassadors to represent them on social media for a lot of free user-generated content. The approach taken depends on the needs of the business and the needs of their customers.