{"id":167240,"date":"2017-09-04T13:00:16","date_gmt":"2017-09-04T13:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/premium.wpmudev.org\/blog\/?p=167240"},"modified":"2017-09-05T01:20:35","modified_gmt":"2017-09-05T01:20:35","slug":"social-proof","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/social-proof\/","title":{"rendered":"Using Social Proof to Positively Influence Potential Customers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Social proof is kind of a scary thing. It\u2019s the idea that, despite any gut feeling one might have to the contrary, people are more willing to go along with a decision if the majority of their peers agree with it.<\/p>\n

Take movies, for instance. You\u2019ve got the original The Fast and the Furious<\/em> movie which was, arguably, a highly entertaining movie. So, the movie makes a ton of money, the stars become popular A-listers outside the film, and the movie studio thinks, \u201cHmmmm\u2026 I guess if everyone loves it, we should make another.\u201d There will be ten F&F movies by the time all is said and done, which may seem like they\u2019ve taken that social proof overboard, but people still flock to the theaters to see them so perhaps not.<\/p>\n

When you look at studies actually conducted on social proof, you\u2019ll see that the results support this sort of zealous fandom when the majority rules in favor of something. For instance:<\/p>\n

TYIh4MkcfJA<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This is the Asch Conformity Experiment<\/a>. As you can see, despite the subject\u2019s better judgment, he went along with what the others in the group chose. There were a variety of reasons for why this happened, but the one that we as web developers and marketers hope to capitalize on is \u201cWell, there\u2019s a bunch of them and only one of me, so they must know something I don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asch isn\u2019t the only one to study the power of social proof either. Muzafer Sherif conducted \u201cautokinetic effect<\/a>\u201d studies in the earlier half of the 20th century. These tests demonstrated how conformity to social proof isn\u2019t just a random one-off case but instead can shape people\u2019s perceptions long past the interaction with said object, person, etc.<\/p>\n

Whatever you want to call it\u2014FOMO (fear of missing out), mob mentality, follow-the-leader\u2014social proof is a very real thing and something you should absolutely take advantage of as a web developer (and business owner). Social proof will help your website build trust, credibility, simplify the decision-making process for customers, and validate their decision to buy in the first place.<\/p>\n

The 6 Types of Social Proof<\/h2>\n

You\u2019re looking to get potential customers\u2019 attention. Do you know what will make you stand out? In the minds of your customers, social proof would definitely help.<\/p>\n

Now, despite the word \u201csocial\u201d in the name, this doesn\u2019t necessarily have anything to do with social media. In fact, much of social proof is simply about demonstrating that there are other, more trustworthy people (i.e. your audience\u2019s peers) saying positive things about your brand. Here are the main types of social proof you\u2019ll see around the web:<\/p>\n

1. Expert<\/b><\/p>\n

With 61% of consumers<\/a> going online to read reviews before committing to a purchase, you can bet they\u2019re going to take a lot of stock in what the experts have to say about your brand. Experts could come in the form of physicians, influential people in a particular field, or even online reviewers who specialize in certain subject areas.<\/p>\n

2. Celebrity<\/b><\/p>\n

There are so many examples of celebrity endorsements. William Shatner\u2019s stint with Priceline is probably one of the most cited:<\/p>\n

JE4tWeK4m-c<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Then you\u2019ve got the string of celebrities who promote Proactiv\u2019s line of skincare products:<\/p>\n

j0HWy6_SaD0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

3. User<\/b><\/p>\n

For smaller business websites, this is perhaps one of the easier forms of social proof to use. As consumers trust other customers\u2019 words ( by 12%<\/a>) more than what a brand will tell them, it\u2019s imperative to get your customers\u2019 opinions out there. One way to do this is through user-generated content. Another is by encouraging them to leave reviews anywhere they can online\u2014on Yelp, Amazon, your product pages, etc.<\/p>\n

4. Crowds<\/b><\/p>\n

There really is something to the whole strength in numbers thing. In this case, it\u2019s the number of customers you\u2019ve amassed, readers of your blog, followers on social, or purchasers of a product that demonstrates your strength as a brand. A lack of a crowd that can be evidence enough of a brand\u2019s quality in both the digital and real worlds.<\/p>\n

5. Superlatives<\/b><\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve ever taken a moment to look around a restaurant\u2019s entrance while you wait for a table, you\u2019ve likely seen signs touting the awards they\u2019ve received. But they\u2019re not the only ones who receive superlative honors for their quality work:<\/p>\n

\u201cBest Burger in Downtown Cleveland.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMost Trusted Accountant in the Tri-State Area.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c#1 Doctor at ABC Hospital 3 Years in a Row.\u201d<\/p>\n

These honors are a big deal\u2014especially if they demonstrate your trustworthiness within a specific geographic region or field.<\/p>\n

6. Friends\/Family<\/b><\/p>\n

This is one every brand should rely on, whether they\u2019re trying to conduct business online or in person. 54% of people say they\u2019d give a new product a shot if a friend or family member recommended it, even if there were overwhelmingly negative reviews otherwise.<\/p>\n

Using Social Proof to Positively Influence Potential Customers<\/h2>\n

Okay, so we know what kinds<\/em> of social proof there are, but do you know how to make those actually work for your WordPress site? Let\u2019s take a look at some examples.<\/p>\n

Customer Testimonials<\/b><\/p>\n

\n
\"Post
Todoist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

In general, when collecting customer testimonials (written or video) to publish on your site, try to stay away from generic ones like \u201cGreat job!\u201d and \u201cAwesome product!\u201d.<\/p>\n

Users want something helpful and that actually sounds like it comes from someone with first-hand experience. Those generic testimonials just sound plain insincere or made-up.<\/p>\n

Customer Reviews<\/b><\/p>\n

\n
\"Dollar
Dollar Shave Club Customer Reviews<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Even if you don\u2019t have your site set up to collect reviews or ratings of your products or services, there are plenty of online services that will. By showcasing those reviews on your site, you can give your business a good boost in revenue. One study found that a one-star bump in rating on Yelp could yield between a five and nine percent increase in revenue<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But be careful with this one. Negative feedback can inflict damage on your reputation as a seller or provider. While you don\u2019t want to avoid being transparent on your site, you do at least want to be mindful of how the average user is responding to your product. One study<\/a> showed that when retailers first receive a negative review, it can result in a drop in weekly sales between 5% and 8%.<\/p>\n

Expert Reviews<\/b><\/p>\n

\n
\"HostGator
HostGator Expert Reviews<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

You can\u2019t always choose who will do a review of your business, but you can surely promote the good ones when they happen. Keep tabs on trackbacks to your site and set up Google alerts to scour the web for good reviews of your brand. Then you can link to them from a \u201cNews\u201d or \u201cPress\u201d page, showing customers what the experts think.<\/p>\n

Influencer Endorsements<\/b><\/p>\n

\n
\"Zappos\"
Zappos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Influencers don\u2019t always have to be celebrities, but that\u2019s probably the most common one people think of with these sort of endorsements.<\/p>\n

Just be careful about using this sort of social proof on your site. Public opinion can turn sour very quickly for celebrities and you wouldn\u2019t want that to reflect poorly on your site. Sometimes it\u2019s not even that a celebrity has done anything immoral or illegal either. Sometimes if they become too popular, they pick up one too many product endorsements and then the public begins to perceive their opinion as meaningless since they\u2019re obviously just doing it for the money.<\/p>\n

Trust Seals<\/b><\/p>\n

\n
\"Post
A Trust seal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Trust seals, or marks, can do a lot for helping establish credibility on a site, especially if it\u2019s brand new or your name isn\u2019t widely known just yet. In fact, there are studies that have shown that over 60% of customers<\/a> won\u2019t make a purchase if there are no trust marks on a website.<\/p>\n

Even if you\u2019re not running an e-commerce site that\u2019s easy to equip with a payment security badge, there are other ways to use trust marks on your site<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Data<\/b><\/p>\n

\n
\"Post
Zendesk data<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

There was an interesting example that ConversionXL<\/a> gave about how to use data in order to sway public opinion in one\u2019s favor:<\/p>\n

\u201cConsumers were told they would save $54 a month, that it was socially responsible, that it would prevent the release of more than 262 pounds of greenhouse gases monthly, and that 77% of their neighbors had already started using fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Numbers will always play a big role in convincing consumers to pull the trigger because it\u2019s hard to argue with the proof. Sure, a brand could fudge those numbers, but what would be the point? If customer and expert reviews contradict the \u201cproof\u201d provided, prospective customers will be able to see through the lie.<\/p>\n

Real-time Statistics<\/b><\/p>\n

\n
\"Post
Hotels.com Real-time Stats<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>
\nThis is a little different from the data proof above. Whereas data focuses on relying heavily on what customers in the past experienced, real-time statistics focus on what\u2019s happening on your site right now<\/em>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s like that example of the crowds from earlier. If you can show that there are 50 customers looking at this one product or 14 people who recently purchased it, you could effectively show off your digital crowd size and give customers the sense that they\u2019re getting in on something of great value.<\/p>\n

Community Numbers<\/b><\/p>\n

\n
\"Post
WPMU DEV Community Numbers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Here is another way to use numbers to lure in more customers. This one isn\u2019t necessarily trying to sell visitors on the customer base; instead, the goal is to show how large the community of subscribers or members is.<\/p>\n

Social Media Numbers<\/b><\/p>\n

\n
\"Post
Social Media Today social numbers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Let the popularity of your brand\u2019s social media pages speak for themselves. Leverage what you\u2019ve done outside of your website and integrate those impressive numbers into your content. You can add social widgets that display the numbers of connections or followers you have, along with a recent feed of posts shared.<\/p>\n

User-Generated Content<\/b><\/p>\n

\n
\"Post
Tissot UGC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

You really can\u2019t go wrong with using UGC<\/a> on your site. We already know how much consumers appreciate being able to see products and services in action through photographic or video proof, so if you\u2019ve got customers eager to share it, then flaunt it!<\/p>\n

Popularity Indicators<\/b><\/p>\n

\n
\"Post
Duluth Trading Company bestsellers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

For online businesses, there are a number of ways to show off your superlatives. One of the more creative ways to do it, and one which has proven effective in boosting conversion rates, is to create your own superlatives for your products and services. Specifically, the superlative should relate to its ranking when pitted against your other offerings.<\/p>\n

This would be like viewing a restaurant\u2019s menu and seeing five-starred items that are the establishment\u2019s best sellers. A study out of Beijing<\/a> set out to prove this point by studying restaurant menus. \u201cWe find that, depending on the specifications, the demand for the top-five dishes is increased by an average of about 13 to 20 percent when the top-five popularity rankings are revealed to the customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a website, you could use indicators like \u201cBest Seller\u201d, \u201c#1 [Product], or \u201cCustomers also bought\u201d.<\/p>\n

Wrapping Up<\/h2>\n

The whole idea of social proof is kind of a hard one to swallow as a business owner. You work so hard to build a brand and a website that you fully believe in, but you find that consumers just don\u2019t want to take you seriously or trust in you\u2026 unless others do. Thankfully, it\u2019s not all that difficult to integrate social proof into WordPress websites, so there\u2019s a silver lining in all of this.<\/p>\n

Just remember that social proof tends to be an accurate reflection on the experience of working with your company or using your products or services. If you\u2019re finding that you don\u2019t have the kind words, high ratings, or general statistics to back you up, then it may be time to reassess your business model or site\u2019s design. The customers aren\u2019t always right, but if the majority indicates that there\u2019s something clearly wrong, it\u2019s time to listen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Social proof is kind of a scary thing. It\u2019s the idea that, despite any gut feeling one might have to the contrary, people are more willing to go along with a decision if the majority of their peers agree with it. Take movies, for instance. You\u2019ve got the original The Fast and the Furious movie […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":344989,"featured_media":167534,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"blog_reading_time":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_tutorials_categories":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10469],"tags":[982],"tutorials_categories":[],"class_list":["post-167240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-marketing","tag-social-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/344989"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167240"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167240\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":188546,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167240\/revisions\/188546"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167240"},{"taxonomy":"tutorials_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tutorials_categories?post=167240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}