Conversion of traffic is what marketers always wish for and all the strategies they implement are directed towards it. But seldom would they get the desired result. The most common result would be loss of effort, time and money.
The secret behind converting new visitors into customers is trust. No visitor would blindly trust a brand they are coming across for the first time. In order to trust the brand, they would need good proof. This can be achieved through the means of social proof. Social proof has been hailed as the most effective means for an ecommerce business to build trust. The power of social proof can grow much stronger, along with your growth.
What is Social Proof?
Dr. Robert Cialdini, an American professor popularised the psychological theory of Social Proof. This theory describes that humans have a tendency to rely on the opinions of others to gather information about our own. Be it big or small, social proof has influenced many a decision that people make in their lifetime.
What social proof does is that it makes people to checkout a social media post due to the high number of engagement that it has. It helps them to know more about a brand, especially if it is a new brand for them. This is also the reason behind us checking out a TV show or watching a movie that people are always talking about.
Types of Social Proof
- Popularity – A brand’s popularity can be skyrocketed with Social Proof. If your potential customers get quantifiable signs of it, then they would feel easy to purchase from you. They would at least go through your products and services to know what you are selling. The types of social proof here would be the number of likes, comments, views, and other types of engagement on social media posts, the number of subscribers on your email list and so on.
- Public Praise – While planning to purchase something online, people would look at what other people have said about the product. They would trust the words of their peers and it would be a powerful marketing tool for your business. As per stats, it is believed that almost 85% of customers trust online reviews. The reviews they come across can influence their buying decisions and it can be the secret behind boosting your conversion rates.
- Influencer Marketing – This is becoming a popular means of marketing and can also be tricky. Their endorsements can also play a big part in converting your visitors to customers.
- Proof of Demand – This is a sales showcase strategy which shows that customers are really eager to purchase from you. The best way to use this is to share the number of orders you have fulfilled in the blog article that you prepare or any other marketing medium. You can also display in you site the number of items sold and the details of individual customers who recently purchased a specific products. You can also show the number of customers currently viewing a specific product page or your site.
So, now where to use Social Proof? It can be used on your shopify online store, on social media, in PPC Campaigns, in e-mails, blog posts and such. With the best Social Proof strategy, boost your business and scale great heights.
