preuve sociale

How to use social proof as a marketing tool?

Social proof is a powerful tool widely used as a marketing strategy by businesses.

The principle consists of adopting a psychological approach based on human behavior when it comes to making purchases.

Social proof is used in particular on websites, social networks, product pages, Google, landing pages among others.

It mainly consists of oobtain proof that a brand is what the consumer needs, and to leverage this evidence to build a sense of trust among the public.

When social proof is well implemented, it allows a company to increase its conversion rates, but also to increase its sales and turnover.

Why is it important to work on the social proof of your business?

As mentioned above, social proof is a psychological concept that implies that people tend to reproduce the behavior of a large group of individuals.

In other words, people look at how others act in a particular situation before doing the same thing again because they believe it is the right behavior to adopt.

Why this?

According to Maslow’s pyramid of human needs, our need to belong is fulfilled when we are part of a group. Thus, by adopting the behavior of others that we consider to be good, humans satisfy their need to belong to a group.

maslow

In fact, social proof has a great influence on small or big decisions made throughout our lives, which also includes our product purchasing journey.

Indeed, human beings continually need to know what is happening around them, to have a better understanding of things, but also to know the right behavior to adopt.

Overall, social proof encourages the future buyer to consult the opinions of others on social networks for example to validate your choice before making a purchase.

By using the experience of others as proof, this allows them to be certain that their purchase is worth the time and money they spend on it.

Let’s talk about the different types of social proof

When a company wants to work on its social proof, you should know that it can do it on all online platforms where it has a presence, such as its website and social networks.

It can come in different forms, including:

1. Social proof thanks to the support of experts

Here, this involves the opinion and recommendation of a brand’s products by popular influencers or by people whose voices are authoritative in the industry of the brand in question.

For example, when a recognized influencer recommends a brand’s products, it is almost certain that the brand’s sales will increase.

2. Social proof through popularity

The more quantifiable a brand’s popularity is, the more value it adds to its social proof, which can lead future customers to purchase their products with less hesitation.

popularity

The number of likes, comments, views, shares on social media publications, or even the number of subscribers will tend to reassure the potential customer when they see that the brand has a good presence in her field and that she is recognized.

3. Social proof through customer success

customer success

This form of social proof refers to highlighting the experience of people who have used the brand’s products through social networks for example.

Generally, consumers do trust the opinions of others online. So, if a company can display the positive reviews shared online by its consumers, this will be a very effective sales tool for the company.

4. Social proof by the number of satisfied customers

This type of social proof highlights the reputation of a product or service by displaying the number of satisfied customers.

number of satisfied customers

This tells future buyers that the brand’s products or services are popular and widely consumed, and this can lead to more sales.

5. Social proof from those around you

This social proof is particularly powerful since it consists of receiving recommendations for a certain product or service by friends or family members.

It seems that a large number of people tend to make purchases and become loyal customers after discovering a brand in this way.

Promote your business with social proof

As you will have understood, social proof is a powerful tool for effectively boosting a business.

However, you must be able to apply it correctly and for this several methods are possible.

Social proof through interesting stories

This involves building a compelling landing page through interesting stories told to visitors. This technique is also called story marketing.

To do this, we will use customer testimonials, anecdotes or success stories by turning this into a story.

The goal is to show the value of a website’s products. For example, telling the story of a customer’s experience by stating their initial problem, the research they did to find the solution, and the positive results they subsequently achieved is a great place to put. highlight the social proof of a company.

Indirect social proof

Usually, social proof is done through positive, direct affirmations from customers about a product or service.

In the case of indirect social proof, this consists of to encourage people to buy a product or service by making an implication that if they don’t, that means they’re not doing what it takes to get it.

For example, the following statement: “I earned $10,000 in 1 month thanks to my blog. Do you want to know how to do this? » insinuates to the reader that if he does not try to find out how this person got there, he will be the only one to blame when he does not win the 10,000 dollars.

Social proof through photos

Another way to optimize the social proof of your business is associate messages, opinions or comments with a face.

Knowing that humans are social and like to look at human faces, adding photos representing the person speaking allows them to project themselves.

It even seems that images have more impact and provoke more reactions than other types of publications on social networks.

Social proof through persuasive videos

The video is part of Internet users’ favorite content on social networks. Therefore, including filmed content for customer testimonials, for example, brings even more credibility to a brand.

It is even a powerful tool that a company can use in its marketing through emails, social networks, a blog or even on the home page of its website.

To conclude, social proof is likely a formidable marketing tool which focuses on one of the primary instincts of human beings, which is to be part of a group.

Social proof helps fill this need.

It is used to justify buyers’ purchasing decisions, and can be adapted to different contexts. It can also be applied to several communication channels including a website, e-mail marketing, social networks or even a blog.

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