What is social proof, its benefits and how to use it
Miguel Nicolás
04/07/2019
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We are going to tell you what the social proof is and how you can use it to benefit your business. Improve conversion by leaning on your current customers.
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We are going to deal with this matter, which is very interesting, in depth. It affects an eCommerce in many ways. We are talking about the social proof: what benefits you and how you can use it.
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What is the social proof?
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First, let´s answer the first question. Social proof is any public action done by a third party outside the company who, on a personal basis, makes a contribution of value regarding to a particular product, brand or eCommerce itself.
This third party who acts on a personal basis is usually a satisfied customer. If we manage to generate an experience which is satisfactory enough to make the client "spend sometime" leaving a positive review on our page, in a specialized portal, in a forum or in their social media profiles, we are generating an implicit recommendation for the community.
This is exactly what we understand as social proof: a recommendation that is assumed to be objective and we can trust because it comes from experience. We can project ourselves within that same context of use/purchase and we value a lot that someone who has made that purchase share their experience.
We can also say that the positive social proof in the digital environment has the inverse effect on the online reputation crisis for our brand. -
What signs and means of social proof can be found?
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I mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph the importance of reviews and positive criticism, but online trust does not only lives from those user-generated content so let's see some of the ways the social proof reaches potential customers.
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#1 - Public recommendation
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This is just what I was talking about. Every time a user is sincerely praising our product or brand, it has a direct impact on who sees it directly and, even more on the one who seeks proactively. See what happens when you start typing the phrase:"opinions of..." in Google.
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All suggested results are trademarks (and a novel containing those keywords).
We should differentiate between what is really public and what is not at all. I mean:- Public for contacts: an opinion on Facebook within our profile and depending on our privacy policy will be exclusively visible to our followers. A good practice is always to look for this organic content and ask for permission to incorporate it as marketing material, because users love it.
- Public 100%: everything that is indexed in the search engines and can be consulted freely. Hence, for example, the importance of using the famous stars in the snippets of the results.
We would also distinguish by the nature of the support:- Own means: essentially comments on our site and social profiles.
- External means: from a third party blog or a forum to a portal specialized in recommendations. Thousands of examples as: Trip Advisor, Yelp, Trustpilot, EKomi or Google reviews from My Business...
What is more important? Well, although it is logical that you always look for users and sources of greater authority, it is also important that your presence reaches as many media and users as possible to work as a social proof. -
#2 - Good practice, recognition and volumen
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As I already said, user generated content is not everything. In fact, there are few arguments that work better at the level of social proof than those that seem to be supported by entities we know and respect, but especially when they are motivated by audience.What I mean is that jsut seeing the logo of a trusted online bank during the checkout process helps reassure us in orderto finish the purchase and obviously this should be sought. But I am not talking exactly about this. I am referring to the confidence that it brings, for example, having a public profile in social networks.
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Although this is something basic, I am going one step further:
- Is the profile verified? You know it is not that easy, but, precisely because of this, having the corresponding check next to the account name generates a big impact.
- Does it have an interesting volume of followers? Accounts without critical mass are suspicious.
- Do they add value and have good level of engagement? There is no need for the user to be advanced.A simple glance at a timeline tells us if its content is worth ,it engages its customers, generates conversation and, soemthing vey important, that feedback is produced at a correct time and tone.
Any award or recognition given by audience is a good resource. In case you are wondering, it is not necessary to be a prize delivered in an auditorium, often enough to play your cards as Amazon does (and many eCommerce later on) with modules such as "Sold Products", "Other customers bought" or even "Other customers also looked at" are implicit social recommendations based on purchase behavior. -
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In addition to al this, there is something very important that caters to criteria related to volume. The most downloaded Apps from different stores or the number of reviews that exist globally work like a hammer: "If it is the best seller, it will be the best."You can even use the social proof associated with volume to generate urgency. This resource is very typical of travel portals ("25 users are looking at this hotel now" or "the last reservation was 15 minutes ago"). This type of anonymous proof has worked for long in eCommerce.
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Some considerations
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It is very important the growth that is experiencing everything related to social in eCommerce. Users rely on what they read and see online but have developed a greater critical capacity.
If in the past having 5 stars or 100% of excellent rates was enough to attract audience, now it is imperative that these are credible and exist in a considerable amount. Deceiving the client is not an option.
Even so, if you are not entirely convinced of the importance of the social proof, think about this: Amazon uses, as one of the main criteria of positioning within its marketplace, the amount of positive reviews and, as you can imagine, has thought about it at length. -
Is social proof clear to you? Come on, start boosting it today.
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Images | Pexels, Amazon, Facebook and Google.