Marketers these days underestimate the subtle power of influence as a way to improve conversion rates and attract customers. One easy way to do this is through the use of social proof, which refers to the positive influence of people’s opinions on others. For instance, you’re more likely to buy a product if it’s recommended to you.
What is Social Proof?
The Basics
More than a useful marketing strategy, social proof is a psychological phenomenon that accounts for the ways that people are influenced to act based on other people’s behavior. People are naturally inclined to do something when they observe others doing the same thing.
Savvy digital marketers recognized this psychological effect and cleverly decided to implement similar practices in order to get more people to buy their client’s products or services. Social proof can ultimately be what makes or breaks your business, you just need to know how to leverage it.
Turning Customers into Promoters
After someone becomes a customer, you can use their unique voice or opinion throughout your content to show prospective customers that people just like them found success with your business.
Ways you can utilize a customer’s voice include:
- Testimonials
- Reviews
- Case studies
- Social media posts
- Ratings
- Recommendations
To gauge your customer’s experience, send follow-up emails with surveys or review pages that they can submit to your site. Maybe even include an incentivized offer so that they’re more inclined to participate.
Filter out the positive ones and strategically place them throughout your site where they correspond to your content. Customers seamlessly become brand ambassadors when you use their input in this way.
Some Voices are Better than Others
The Role of Influencers
Customer reviews are integral for an effective marketing campaign, but there are certain people that have greater success attracting customers than others.
Every industry has influential thought leaders that are highly regarded among their peers. When they put their word behind a particular product or service, it goes a lot further than a random customer’s input.
If an influencer in your industry approves of your products or services, try to get a quote or testimonial that you can use to better persuade potential customers. Consumers are more likely to buy a product endorsed by experts or someone who is recognized in that field.
Leveraging Clients
If your company does business with big name clients, make sure that they’re prominently displayed on your website. When prospective clients are checking out your website and come across other notable clients of yours, they may be more motivated to go into business with you as well.
Social Sharing
Social media is probably one of the biggest platforms for digital marketing campaigns. They depend on user engagement and shares to expand their reach to a larger audience.
To make sure your content reaches as many people as possible, it’s wise to include social sharing buttons on your website’s content and emails. Sometimes, these social sharing buttons can include a running meter that records the number of shares accumulated from each platform.
When someone views your site sees how many users shared a post, they might be more encouraged to share it themselves. After that, your brand’s reach will increase and potentially attract more customers.
Utilizing social proof is one of the best ways to market a company. It’s time that you begin using it too!
