If you’re a marketing fanatic and haven’t heard of social proof, you could be missing out on a vast number of sales. Since the beginning of time, social proof has constantly enhanced conversions. Due to the power this marketing tactic holds, we’ve created a detailed guide on everything you need to know about it. But, before we discuss how and why you should use it, what is social proof in marketing?
Social proof in marketing terminology is the tactic of using evidence of previous customers to increase value to your product or service. This could be through reviews, testimonials, or trust icons, etc. The marketing tactic works well, as it ensures new customers that people are already happy and intrigued with your business.
As you can see from the above, the whole concept behind social proof makes sense. Businesses started to use this tactic heavily since the famous study of social proof was conducted by Muzafer Sherif’s in 1935.
Since Muzafer backed the findings behind social proof, brands have taken this in and begun to implement it into their marketing strategies. But, apart from the study, why else should you use social proof in eCommerce?
Why should you use social proof in eCommerce?
The list of reasons why you should use social proof is immense. However, apart from a study conducted in 1935, what are some fundamental reasons why you should use social proof in marketing? Here’s why:
- According to this post, 87% of buying decisions begin with research online. Therefore supplying social proof to match these related searches can massively increase conversions.
- Another significant statistic to be aware of is that, on average, each consumer reads around ten online reviews before making the initial purchase.
- If your business is on Yelp, then a one-star increase on this platform can increase your total revenue by 5 to 9 per cent.
- Lastly, another considerable statistic is that 50% of all consumers say their next step after reading a positive review about a business is to visit their website. Here you’ll be able to create this 50% of users into first-time customers.
As you can see from the above, using social proof is undoubtedly exciting and can massively increase your overall revenue if executed correctly. Still not sure how you can begin to use social proof on your eCommerce website? Check out the below.
Five ways to use social proof in eCommerce
Social proof comes in all different types of styles, shapes and sizes. Because of this, I’ve detailed some social proof techniques that many marketers use on their eCommerce platforms.
1.Past rewards and achievements
Here you’re able to add banners (typically at the footer of your eCommerce site) of past rewards or achievements that your business has been awarded. For example, you may have been mentioned on a top 100 list of favourable companies within your niche. If this list is from a powerful source, you’ll want to add this to your social proof strategy.
2.Previous customers
Later on in this post, we’ll be talking about using previous customer data to enhance your social proof and increase conversions. With this method, you’ll have a small pop-up on your eCommerce site, which will give brief details about previous customer purchases.
You may have even seen it yourself while shopping online. When businesses use this strategy, a small box will appear in the corner of the web page. It simply says the customers name, a rough explanation of where they live (E.G United Kingdom, Australia, Netherlands), and a date or time when they purchased.
When seeing this, it indicates to users that people are already interested in using your product or services. From implementing this, it’s persuading the customer to purchase due to others doing it also.
3.Influencer marketing
Another excellent social proof method that many marketers are using in today’s world is influencer marketing. Here is where you let a large social media icon test out your product or service. However, they don’t just finish there. Next, they’ll create a video to post on their social media profile. Now, your business will be broadcasted to all of their trusted followers. Because they trust the influencer, it massively increases the chances of them converting into customers.
4.Testimonials and reviews
One of the oldest methods of social proof in marketing is testimonials and reviews. It goes without saying, this technique has been implemented and worked since the beginning of time.
For this social proof to work on your eCommerce site, you’ll need to add previous testimonials or reviews on your product and home pages. Here users can get a feel of what past clients really think of your product. From knowing this, they’re more likely to be persuaded to make the purchase.
5.Trust icons
Another social proof tactic is using trust icons. But, what do I mean by this? Trust icons are small logos placed on your website from a well-known business. For example, if you’ve been mentioned on Forbes, Fortune, or a large news company, then you may want to add their logos in a “Mentioned on” section.
By doing this, customers can quickly identify that you’re well trusted as these large and trustworthy businesses have mentioned you.
As you can see, there are various ways in which you’re able to use social proof on your eCommerce website. However, apart from using it, how can you add it to your site? This next section describes just that, from using the well-known website builder Builderall.
How to add social proof with Builderall
Builderall has made adding social proof easier than ever. Below we’ve created a how-to guide to implementing a small “Previous customer” box, similar to what we discussed earlier in the post. Here’s how:
- First things first, when you’re on the Builderall platform, you’ll want to head over to “Social proof” in the left-hand menu.
- To start a new campaign, click “New campaign”. Once you’ve achieved this, fill in all the required information.
- Now you’ve done this. You’ll want to click the vertical eclipse icon near your campaign and select “Get Embed Code”. After you’ll want to copy the script and head back over to the dashboard and click “Site Settings”.
- Now, at the very top, they’ll be a text saying, “Other scripts are in the scripts section. Click here for script settings”, click on this.
- Here is where you’ll want to paste the code you’ve just copied.
- Afterwards, you’ll want to head back over to the dashboard and click on “My pages”, and you’ll want to go onto the page you selected to show when you filled in the information.
- The last step is to click on the element you designated the social proof to and select which information you want to share when they opt-in, purchase or perform a specific action.
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