Why You Should Use Social Proof to Boost Your Conversions - And How

Carole Peterson - Proofly blog author
Carole Peterson

August 14, 2021 | 151,942 views | 6 min. read time

Social proof is one of the most effective ways to convince your visitors to take a specific action. This means you need to find more ways to make them trust you and your website. Social proof is a phenomenon that arises when we are unsure about what course of action to take. In such circumstances, we often look for cues from others to guide our decision-making process. If someone else has taken that action before us, we tend to feel more confident in our own decision and follow suit. On the other hand, if no one around us has ever taken that action before, we are likely to distrust that course of action and refrain from doing it ourselves. Social proof is also known as ‘customer validation’ or ‘social endorsement’ because it usually involves the use of customers as third party validation for your brand or business. In other words, social proof can be any kind of evidence which proves that your visitors trust you and find value in your services/products. Here’s why you should use social proof as a conversion optimization strategy now:

1. Social Proof Instills Trust

The foundation of every successful marketing campaign is trust. Social proof is a highly effective way to instill trust among your visitors by demonstrating that others have used your product or service successfully. When your prospects see that other people have found value in what you have to offer, they are more likely to trust you. For instance, let’s say you run a SaaS for managing customer feedback. You can use social proof to show your prospects you are trustworthy. You can cite reviews from happy customers, have case studies as proof that your software works, or invite testimonials from satisfied users. Social proof works in two ways. First, it shows you have value to offer. Second, it shows you have confidence in your product. Prospects are more likely to trust you when they see that you are confident in what you offer.

2. It Shows That You Care About Your Audience

While it is good to show that you are confident in what you are promoting, it is even better to show that you care about your audience. This is especially important in the context of B2B (business to business) marketing where personalization is a rare phenomenon. In B2C (business to customer) marketing, it is common to find brands that have social proof that shows they care. For example, an airline may have customer service representatives who respond to negative comments by customers. Social proof can be used the same way for B2B marketing. For instance, let’s say you are a SaaS for managing customer feedback. You can welcome your prospects to your platform, respond to their queries, and try to solve their problems.

3. It Helps You Find Out What Consumers Want From You

Although social proof can have a positive effect on your visitors’ decision-making process, it can also have a negative effect if you misuse it. If your social proof represents your product or service inaccurately, your visitors are likely to make a poor decision based on their perception of the situation. This may lead them to either click the back button or not click the button at all. To avoid this, you should use customer feedback not just to show your visitors that what you offer is valuable, but that it is valuable to them.

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At the end...

Social proof is one of the most effective ways to boost your conversions. It instills trust, shows that you care about your audience, and helps you find out what consumers want from you. To make the most of social proof for your business, find ways to incorporate it into your content and marketing strategy.

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