Social Proof is a psychological phenomenon whereby people are confirmed to be liked by, similar to, or accepted by the influencer or wider society.
For instance, when you’re browsing the internet and you see a testimonial, that’s social proof. When you see someone you respect and/or an industry expert using a certain product or service, that’s social proof. When you sign up for a demo because you’ve seen that the product or service solved the exact same issue you are experiencing, that’s social proof.
Social proof is incredibly powerful, so how do we harness it to help us to grow our business?
Here are five types of social proof for you to consider using:
- Case Studies. Demonstrating how your product or service solved an issue for one (or several) of your clients is a clear demonstration of social proof.
- A happy customer leaving you a review is a very powerful form of social proof (with or without the case study). Online reviews powerfully demonstrate what your customers think of your business, your product and your customer service. If you do nothing else but collect online reviews your social proof will skyrocket.
- Facebook posts, Instagram comments etcetera are a great way for your customers to become brand advocates and praise your business. Don’t think this ‘just’ works for B2C businesses. It’s powerful for B2B businesses too!
- Trust icons. These include the logos of organisations you’re a member of (Chamber of commerce, FSB, IoD etcetera) and the logos of magazines/newspapers you’ve been featured in. If your customers recognise those names/logos and trust them they will act as social proof for your business.
- Whether it be the number of customers you’ve looked after or the number of people attending your next event. Combine this with another form of social proof (online reviews for instance) and you super charge it! Here’s an example from us, ‘5.0 / 5.0 based on 334 customer reviews’.
Social proof works particularly well on landing pages where you can catch a browsers eye quickly with a short, sharp, powerful message that instantly reassures them (“I’m in the right place”). Remember to back up your social proof with a strong call to action – ‘Book Here’, ‘Call Now’, ‘Claim Your 10% Discount’…whatever it is, to ensure immediate action is taken; and don’t forget to keep updating your social proof with new examples.
Keep it fresh, keep it up-to-date and it will seriously help your business!