Social proof must be on your side

People tend to do what other people do. Psychologists call this the “joining effect” or “herd behavior,” and marketers call it social proof.

In e-commerce, this technique is used to increase the number of purchases, giving users evidence that this action will be approved or already approved by others.

Competent submission of social evidence makes the decision of the visitor not to use your services illogical and beyond the norm, which greatly complicates the refusal process.

How can you use this phenomenon for your own purposes:

1. Reviews and reviews

Reviews and reviews are the most powerful way to use social proof in an online store. In addition to the obvious information provided in the recall, the visitor concludes that this product has already been bought by others and may be worth buying for him.

In addition, reviews have “natural” content. They are not like licked SEO-texts, product descriptions and other texts on the site. If you decide to use copywriters in order to gain feedback for your products, do not scold them for minor grammatical and punctuation errors, this will give reviews their credibility.

The question remains what to do with negative and sharply negative reviews. Removing reviews is not a good idea at all, an impressionable visitor, not finding his review on the site, can raise a good scandal, using social networks and other methods that are available to everyone today. A few devastating product reviews should be a signal that you should think about stopping the sale of this product, but each such review is worth a detailed review. Perhaps the client got a defective product, a competent approach to the return and compensation policy will make him the most loyal of your client. After successfully solving the problem, do not forget to ask him to leave a review about it.

Reviews indicating minor flaws in the product will add credibility to all reviews.

Never create a separate page for reviews, they should be visible directly next to the product. If you have a narrow range of goods or services, a great solution is to broadcast reviews on the main page, they will immediately attract the attention of users and motivate you to go to the page of this product (service) in order to better familiarize yourself with it.

2. Approval from authorities or “Dental Association recommends”

This technique is based on the use of "expert" opinion or the use of quotes from famous people that directly relate to the service (product) being sold. The more famous and influential a person, the stronger the social evidence.

If your business has not yet earned a compliment from a well-known person respected by your audience, try to achieve this. Pay attention to him, provide the highest quality services or make a gift, become a sponsor of his event, etc.

In addition, you can place a photograph of an “expert” on the page with the words “research has shown ...”, research has shown that it works.

3. The number of subscribers

It’s not just about mailing, the phrase “100,000,000 people have used our services” has a magical effect. For example, its introduction in the registration form orbitmedia.com increased the number of completed registrations by 14 times.

4. Social sharing buttons

Variation of the previous paragraph. Add to the page the number of citations of posts on social networks. If we are talking about an online store, then why not give the buyer the opportunity to boast of a new thing, in addition, you can give a discount for citing your page, firstly it will be an excellent “natural” advertisement, and secondly, the numbers that have run up on citation counters, will become your reliable assistants in using social proof.

But remember, it is better not to have any evidence than the bad. If there are holes of zeros on the counters, it is better not to put them.

5. Widgets for social networks

If you are not already involved in social marketing, it may be time to start doing it. Using the widget with your group members on VK or Facebook will give you several positive points:

1. It looks like your product (service) has a group of fans;

2. Avatars with photos make them individual, which inspires confidence;

3. Social proof begins to work for you.

Do not use these widgets if your group is dead. Going to it can discourage the visitor from all desire to cooperate with you.

6. “We are in the media”

If you have ever been written about in the media, social proof is already on your side, of course, if you are not completely defeated in the article. Place logos and links to reputable media that mentioned you in their publications on the main page.

7. Cases of trust

This method is not as common in domestic practice as in foreign. A foreign online store can participate in a dozen communities and associations that “guarantee and provide reliability and competence, high quality, excellent service, etc.”



Placing the symbolism of such associations in the basement of each page will make you part of a large team and show your visitors your high level.