What is Social Proof?
Ever asked your friends their opinion on a product, store or restaurant before you went out and bought, visited or ate there? You’ve used social proof to determine your behavior. Social proof is a psychological phenomenon where individuals use the feedback of others to determine the correct course of action in a given situation. Social proof can be helpful in a variety of different mediums, but can be especially powerful when used in your marketing strategy.
What’s the point of Social Proof?
Don’t think that it isn’t important to have social proof, especially in today’s sales climate.
- Nearly 70% of people look at a product review before making a purchase.
- 83% of people look to recommendations from friends and family before purchasing.
Social proof can help or hinder your ability to market your business. Negative social proof can hurt your reputation and make it so people don’t want to do business with you. It can also be very hard to correct. The point of social proof is simply that having confirmation that your service is exemplary will make it easier for prospective clients to become paying clients. People generally follow the herd, so make it easy for them.
How do I get Social Proof?
Ask! Ask for testimonials from your current clients, all they can say is no, and anything positive they do say will only help you in the long run. Offer them an incentive to fill out a review on your Facebook page or to give you a recommendation on LinkedIn. Create case studies showcasing how you helped Chiken Coop Inc solve their marketing problems. You build your social proof, have collateral to help you educate prospects and you make Chiken Coop Inc. feel special. Get out there and start asking now!
How do I use it?
Depending on what particular form of social proof you have depends on how you use it. Testimonials, either written or recorded can be used on your website and in marketing campaigns. Videos can be used on all social media platforms and help engagement. Building collateral like case studies can again be used in marketing campaigns, as deliverables on your site and in person. The sky really is the limit for how you use the social proof you’ve collected.
How do you go about collecting social proof for your company? Leave us a comment and let us know!
