Social Proof: Use Psychology to Boost Your Marketing Strategies and Elevate Your Sales
People want to buy from brands they can trust, but sometimes just saying you’re trustworthy isn’t enough. As your customers will no longer base their purchasing decisions on what they hear or read in ads, and the messaging from your business won’t provide the information and proof they need to trust and buy from you, your ability to provide social proof throughout your customer journey is make or break. If you want your brand to stay competitive in your market, attract new consumers, and effectively turn interested prospects into paying customers, you need to take notice.
WHAT IS SOCIAL PROOF?
In short, social proof is the concept that people will follow the actions of the masses. The idea behind the theory is based on the perception that if a group of people behave in a certain way, it will cause others to follow. A classic example is if you're walking down the street looking for somewhere to eat. You will naturally pick a restaurant where people are already eating above one that is empty, automatically assuming that the empty restaurants aren't as good. Others would be there if it was good, right?
Although this is social proof in action, the principles are the same when applied to marketing your equine business: By showcasing the popularity of your brand, products and services, you can make people more confident that you’re the right choice for them. When compared to it's offline setting, we dare argue that it's even more important in online marketing efforts. and in particular in our digitalised society. In real life you can have the ability to make a direct comparison of products before making a decision to purchase, whilst online, you have to rely on outside opinions and experiences to make your final decision. A study found that 50% of shoppers use their smartphones while shopping in stores to research products before they buy them despite the ability to compare products, and a Nielsen study from 2016 indicates that 82% of Americans seek recommendations prior to making a purchase.
HOW SOCIAL PROOF INFLUENCES CONSUMERS
As reading others experiences and sharing our own is a native element of our life online, customers need help with their purchasing decisions. Customers used to rely on advertisements and word of mouth when deciding to make a purchase, whilst nowadays we want transparent and authentic guidance to assure us that we are making the right choice. This is why your customers will look for social proof, with 98% of consumers reporting that if they can identify at least one trust symbol in the buying process it will increase their likelihood to purchase.
There are 4 primary principles of how social proof will influence customers in ways that advertisement can:
Uncertainty: Customers look to social proof for guidance when they are in unfamiliar territory.
Similarity and Expertise: Customers use feedback from sources they can relate to or who are more knowledgeable than themselves (this is why influencer marketing is very effective)
Number: Customers consider the number of satisfied customers before them.
Data from a survey by Trustpilot confirms that social proof strongly influences consumers, but also that some trust signals influence consumers more than others (see infographic). The survey found that the power of social proof appears to be universal, with demographic differences (America, Australia, United Kingdom and Europe) having no significant impact on the influence of trust signals. The data however showed that 72% of Gen-Z’ers were more likely to purchase on the bases of social proof versus 66% of millennials, 65% of Gen X’ers, and 63% of baby boomers.
The Most Effective Trust Signals:
The most effective trust signals.
The Most Effective Location to use Trust Signals:
The most effective location to use trust signals.
The Trustpilot survey also showed that the different generations are responsive to different types of trust signals throughout their customer journey. Whilst Gen-Z’ers indicated that they value third-party opinions from individuals by being more receptive to cues such as social media metrics, influencer endorsements and media publisher quotes, Baby Boomers highlighted that they value security when purchasing online.
As the next generation embraces the digital environment to a much larger extent than past consumers and will age into greater purchasing power, trust signals will become increasingly important. When running a business, it is essential to understand who your customers are and how you can identify and share trust signals that matter to them. Selecting and leveraging trust signals that will work for you and your brand is key to growing your business and should form an integral part of your marketing strategy.
HOW TO USE SOCIAL PROOF AS PART OF YOUR MARKETING
Whatever niche of the equine industry you're in, all marketing efforts will work better when they feature trust signals. It is however important to note these signals will work differently at each stage of your purchasing funnel.
If you were looking to use public figure endorsements, these are seen as most beneficial early in the buying process, for instance on social media. Following this, testimonials are used during the investigative part of the buying process before authorised seller badges are at their most effective towards check-out (see infographic).
Positive Reviews -
Fact: BrightLocal found that 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, with 59% if consumers wanting to read reviews from 2-3 different review sites before making a decision about a business.
Tip: Gather reviews on all major search engines, as well as on trusted feedback sites and social media like Facebook. Use this to create content for your social media, as pop-ups on your website at stages of your purchasing funnel, in your email marketing and so on.
Client Testimonials -
Fact: Testimonials proves that there is value in your services or products. One industry that has leveraged this is the human health and fitness industry, and we commonly see the method utilised in within the feed and supplements side of the equine industry in the form of ‘before’ and ‘after’ images.
Tip: The key to provide compelling testimonials is to give the answer or solution to the problem your customer was presented with. For example, we have testimonials that point out the specific results our client’s have seen, such as more engagement for their campaign or increase in sales.
Endorsements -
Fact: Endorsements from influencers or celebrities can be very profitable. Businesses are averaging $6.50 for every $1 spent on influencer marketing, with the top 13% earning $20 or more. Twitter users have a 5.2 times increase in purchase intent after seeing content influencers, with 49% relying on recommendations from influencers on Twitter. Content from influencers earns more than 8 times the engagement rate of content shared directly from brands. 40% of people say they have purchased a product online after seeing it used by an influencer on SM.
Tip: Affiliate or influencer marketing is not terribly difficult to do. Influencers can be someone with an active social media following, a celebrity, and industry expert, or simply someone who has influence over a group of people you are trying to reach. You can read more about affiliate marketing here.
Customer Count -
Fact: Showing how many customers, clients, subscribers or users you have shows others that people think what you’re offering is valuable.
Tip: As humans our primal instincts tells us that we need to belong to a group. Talking about this in your marketing If you have an established customer base is beneficial. You can also display the logos of businesses who have used your products or services. If you go this route, make sure you’re pointing out brands your audience is likely to recognise as it will give you more validity.
If you’re not leveraging the power of social proof to your advantage on your social media posts, throughout your blog, on your landing page(s), in your email marketing and any other marketing channels, they are unlikely converting as well as they could be. Do you want to know how we can help you create and present social proof to the right audience at each stage of the buying process, providing the sense of trust and transparency required for your customers to complete a purchase? Get in touch and book a FREE discovery call today!
