Marketers are always looking for ways to improve conversion rates, generate leads, and increase sales. It is not easy to persuade a person to buy your product or service. Buyers are becoming increasingly savvy, and they have many options to choose from. Marketers need to come up with innovative approaches to persuade the ideal customer to buy their products.
Social proof is one of the most advanced techniques widely used in marketing. Testimonials and reviews from celebrities and influencers are used as marketing techniques and this is exactly what social proof is all about.
This article covers everything about social proof and its types.
What is Social Proof?
Wikipedia defines social display as a psychological phenomenon in which kenya phone number list people tend to copy and follow the actions and behaviors of other people under certain circumstances, thereby adhering to what they see as correct behavior.
According to Robert Cialdini , people assume a behavior to be right when they see other people doing it. When a person does not know how to react to a particular situation, they will watch others and do what they are doing. For example, if there are people waiting in line at the cashier, you will get in line. Similarly, a celebrity drinking a specific soda causes other people to tend to buy the same drink, especially in the case of those who are fans of the celebrity.
The halo effect is another phenomenon that better explains why people follow celebrities and experts. It is used to make quick and biased decisions influenced by a person. In the halo effect, a person's trait is used to value something. This is the reason why your ideal clients follow experts, because they assume that since they are informed, everything they do is right.
One of the most famous experiments to test social proof was conducted by Solomon Asch in 1951. Asch was testing conformity theory using a vision test. Conformity theory suggests that people conform to the decision of the majority, even if it is wrong.
A total of 50 male students participated in the experiment. The participants were divided into groups, and each group consisted of eight students. Only one student per group would be tested, and the other seven would know the answer to the question. Asch presented different cards to the respondents and asked them to choose the line on the right card that matched the length of the line on the left card:
what is social proof
The correct answer was obvious in each of the tests. The test takers always took the last test and the other seven students always knew the answer, which was usually wrong. The results revealed that 75% of the unknown participants gave the wrong answer at least once – thus making up the group. When all seven students chose the correct answer, the test taker gave the wrong answer less than 1% of the time.
Asch then asked the students being tested why they made the wrong choice and discovered two main reasons:
They chose the wrong answer to be part of the group and fit in.
They believed that the group (the other seven students) were better informed.
Social proof is a powerful phenomenon that is widely used by marketers to influence the purchasing decisions of their ideal customers.
Types of Social Demonstration
Social proof is not just about celebrity endorsement, but we can find it in various forms and types. Celebrity social proofs that you can use in your business are:
1. Testimonials
Customer testimonials are one of the most effective forms of social proof. Each review is a vote of confidence that does an exceptional job of persuading potential buyers of your product.
2. Reviews
Your customers leave reviews on your website, third-party websites, niche sites, and web directories. These reviews and ratings give you the opportunity to show potential customers the ratings you have received.
3. Shares on Social Networks
Social media shares are a great social proof that your business and its posts are shared by many people, making it look trustworthy. Not only the shares, the number of followers also plays a vital role. Businesses with few followers are considered low quality, which makes it harder to gain followers organically.
However, when you have thousands of followers, new people start following you daily. This is because of social proof.
4. Expert Support
Another effective social proof technique is to get your product or business featured, signed, endorsed or shared by an expert. Experts have the potential to influence the purchasing decisions of their followers. So if an influencer shares a photo of themselves using your product, their followers will want to buy it too.
Experts are those who have followers, such as celebrities, influencers, CEOs, authors, bloggers, etc. These experts do a great job influencing the purchasing decisions of hundreds of people.
Does Social Proof Work?
Yes, it works. Here are some social proof statistics that speak for themselves:
The average customer reads 10 testimonials before making a purchasing decision.
70% of customers trust the recommendation of someone they don't know.
92% of people trust a peer recommendation.
97% of customers say online reviews and testimonials influence their purchasing decisions.
40% of people have purchased a product because they saw an influencer using it on a social network.
49% of people trust influencers' recommendations on Twitter.
14% of people say celebrity endorsements impact their purchasing decisions.
68% of shoppers are more likely to buy from a local business if it has good reviews.
Testimonials have increased sales page conversion rates by 34% .
57% of customers only buy from businesses that have at least a 4-star rating.
Yes, social proof works, and it works in every way. Here's an example from Fitbit that showcases what the experts are saying about them:
