Social Proof is holding the digital marketing game right now and some business are yet to discover it!
Picture this. You’re visiting a new city and just arrived after a whole day of traveling. You find out that the hotel restaurant is closed, late hours, but its too bad since you’re really starving!!!
You then decide to walk down the street to find a place to eat and come across two open restaurants. One is almost empty and the other one is packed, all you see is people laughing, and the cutlery knocking over the plates swiping off food from the plates to the mouths. Which restaurant would you walk into?
I know for a fact I’ll go into the busy one. If I’m new in that city and all those people picked the busy restaurant, something has to be right. I mean, their food has to be amazing! I’ll trust their opinion.
That’s called the consumer instinct.
Consumer instinct pulls people towards what other people are already choosing and trusting. We can also refer to it as social proof. It’s one of the oldest, most powerful psychological triggers in human behavior.
So What Exactly Is Social Proof?
Social proof is the phenomenon where people look at the actions and opinions of others to guide their own decisions. I wouldn’t call it a weakness, but rather the nature in which our brains have been wired to make safe decisions. The best example is the trending patterns that we see online where people join to participate in them so as not to feel or appear left out.
In marketing, social proof can be seen in testimonials, reviews, ratings, case studies, press mentions, follower counts and user generated content. The reason it works so well is because it’s a representation human proof in the online space.
I refer to it as a natural instinct where the process of someone purchasing something online involves them looking at what the other person who had a similar problem like them did and if that specific product was able to solve that need.
Where to Place Social Proof in Your Copy
( And Why It Matters)
When someone lands on your website or opens your email, their brain is doing a quick unconscious calculation: is this worth my time and money?
That’s why placement is everything. The most powerful testimonial won’t do much for you if it’s somewhere a visitor wouldn’t reach. Here are 5 places that you can add your social proof to make it effective for your brand:
- Near your headline: Your homepage or landing page makes a big promise. Back it up immediately with a one line testimonial from a client. You’ve barely introduced yourself and already added someone to vouch for you. It builds trust in seconds.
- Next to your pricing: Money topics are the highest anxiety points for any sales conversation. When someone is considering spending money on your product, their brain is prone to suddenly raise every possible doubt surfaces. A strong testimonial placed right above or below the prices section will directly address that moment of hesitation. Bring in that happy client to tell them that your worth every penny.
- In your email sequences: Most email marketers write entire nurture sequences without a single piece of social proof. Don’t be part of the statistics and start adding short client quotes into your educational emails, naturally, not as a separate “here’s what client’s say section.” Add it as part of the story you’re telling, it always feels more authentic and far more persuasive.
- On your About Page: Your about page is where potential clients are deciding whether to trust you, not just your services. A well placed testimonial that speaks about your character, communication style, professionalism or their experience in working with you does more for your credibility than three paragraphs of you self describing.
- In your social media bios and captions: Your bio has a few seconds to make an impression. If you have a standout testimonial or a striking result lead with it.
What Makes a Testimonial Actually Powerful
Not all testimonials created are equal. A generic five star review that says your brand is ‘amazing’ is almost completely useless from a conversion perspective.
What you need is a specific, before and after, outcome driven proof. A powerful testimonial should answer these three things:
What was is it like before they found you? What changed? Was there a specific result that they gained?
Let me add two examples for reference.
I love this brand so much, the products are beautiful and the service is great!
Or
I had been struggling with anxious sleep for three years and tried everything. After two weeks of using this routine, I was sleeping through the night for the first time in years. I genuinely didn’t think it was possible.
The second one actually makes readers feel something. It puts you in the shoes of someone else who had the exact problem and found a way out. That’s the version that sells.
When asking for testimonials from clients, don’t be afraid to guide them on the format that you want it in. Use specific questions, ask them what problems they had before working with you, what had made them hesitant at first, what results did they get and what would they tell someone that is on the fence about trying your products or services.
Conclusion
Social proof isn’t a section you add to your website as an after thought. It’s a copy strategy that needs to be added throughout your pages, be it homepage, emails, about page, proposals or even social media pages.
If you look at it carefully, you’ll finally realize that the brands that win consistently aren’t always the ones with the best product. They’re the ones that have made it impossible to doubt them by backing themselves up with social proof.
If you’re just launching, start small, offer free services or products to three people, ask for a review in return. Use a specific set of questions for the reviews then out it to work.
If you’d like help auditing your current copy, identifying exactly where social proof should sit on your website or emails, let’s talk. Send an Email