Looking for ways to increase your visibility and credibility using social media platforms? How can you incorporate social proof into your marketing strategy?

Why Is Social Proof Important in Marketing?

The term comes from psychology and it’s not a new concept. It is described as a phenomenon (psychological and social), which makes customers (people) copy what others are doing in a specific situation due to this innate need that we have to conform. That is to say, when individuals aren’t certain of what to do in a situation, they rely on the people around them, assuming that they have the right answers to what should be done.

Social proof influences us in many ways that we may not be aware of. Examples of social proof can be the opinion of an industry expert or testimonials of product by customers. It triggers potential customers and influences their response to your products or services. It can inspire them to approach your business in a positive light and make them confident of their choices.

On a marketing point of view, social proof can serve as confirmation for your claims around your product/service. Generating approval from people can positively affect the mindset of potential customers making them willing to try out your product and engage with your brand.

Just think about how many times a positive opinion on a product expressed by someone you know has impacted your response towards it. The larger the number of people that appear to be benefiting, the more other potential clients may feel like they are missing out.

Social proof has been around for ages and marketers have always incorporated it in their marketing strategies. With the emerging of social media, it has just become more prominent than ever.

Social Proof on Social Media

In the same way bloggers display the number of their subscribers on their feed, the number of followers, fans, likes and comments is displayed prominently on social media websites. When new visitors land on the page and see that a large number of people are following or are subscribed to you, they automatically think that your brand is popular and it’s worth following.

The benefits are numerous:

1. You’ll have an edge over competitors that don’t use it.
2. It’s highly effective, because it adds credibility to your business.
3. The customer feels more connected to your brand seeing your commitment to build your presence.

So as a bottom line, we can say that social media greatly enhances social proof.

How To Use Social Media Platforms As Social Proof?

On social media, social proof mainly is seen in the numbers. The more followers and likes you have; the more people are interested in your content or product. Positive comments from buyers or potential customers can influence others to think positively of your product. It increases the chances of more people engaging with your page.
Social networks like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc are smart about it. That’s why your activity is shown on your friends’ feeds such as likes or retweets. It’s more likely that they will engage with the post too.
It shows that you’re active and you’re providing value.

Let’s take an example of social proof in action:

Let’s take 2 online stores which are in the same niche, selling the same products. You see that Store 1 has many positive testimonials, whereas Store 2 not as much. You’ll be tempted to go with Store 1, because you assume that the other store probably doesn’t carry good quality products or is not as credible as Store 1. If it were, more people would buy there, right?

There have been many studies showing that people are more likely to follow the action of the masses. And they follow social proof for 2 reasons:

They want to fit in, or they believe that the crowd is better informed.

Organic and Paid Social Media

Social media has been around for a long time now, so no matter what your niche is, your competitors are already on it. If your brand is relatively new, organic growth of your presence on all platforms is going to take time. Little to no social proof can negatively impact your business.
Thus your social media accounts will have a slower growth, and your competitors will continue to grow exponentially.
As a result, the organic approach on its own is not the most effective strategy and must be combined with paid campaigns:

• Build a foundation on all your social media accounts. It’s much more difficult to go from 0-10K followers than it is to go from 10K-20K. Buy real followers and likes from real people, so you can attract more readers or potential clients to your brand.
• Increase your credibility by making sure you’re getting shares and positive comments on your content. This creates a snowball effect and more people will join in.
• Add social buttons to your website. High numbers of followers or shares featured prominently on your site will result in stronger social proof and better conversions.

We have been providing social media services to individuals and brands for years, helping them to increase their visibility on every platform. The quality of our services is unmatched, so team up with Think Social and get ahead of the competition now!