Social proof can be one of the best ways to get people to engage with your brand. While small businesses work hard to educate their clients and prospective clients about who they are and what they offer, consumers tend to trust what others say about you vs. what you have to say about yourself. To take advantage of this, here are a few tips on using social proof to increase website engagement and get more business.
Need more convincing that garnering social proof is worth the effort? Check these statistics out, as illustrated in a social proof article by A Better Lemonade Stand:
Social proof WORKS!
We’ve been preaching about the merits of getting customer reviews for years because it’s WORKS. People trust reviews from other people, especially people they know. That’s the model behind Yelp and other review sites. The better you can get on asking for reviews for your small business, the more social proof you’ll build up for your brand. Using customer reviews to market your business is big!
One report found customer testimonials to be among the most powerful content you can have on your website, with a content marketing effectiveness rating of 89%. That’s impressive! Unlike reviews, which are often about a specific product or service, testimonials tend to be more about the company as a whole and also tend to be more benefit-oriented such as “This company saved my 40% by helping me set up and manage a CRM.”
Celebrity social proof typically takes the form of a celebrity using a product and promoting it on social media or in public. This form of social proof is especially meaningful if the endorsement is unpaid. Sure, if you can get Justin Timberlake to endorse your product, that’d be pretty sweet but honestly, local “celebrities” can have a lot of pull too! That can mean a public official like a mayor or governor, the owner of a prominent business in town, or someone active and well-known in your community. It all helps!
OK, assuming “JT” is available to tout your small business, you still have access to experts in your industry. When we buy something that we’re unfamiliar with, we often defer to an expert’s opinion to see what they have to say about the product or service. If a product has been reviewed and recommended by an expert in the relevant field, we are more likely to trust that review and think highly of that product.
Need more examples of social proof? Here are a few more from Optimizely:
Using social proof to increase website engagement and ultimately purchases is a savvy way for small business owners to grow their business. Take time to add this to your strategic marketing plan and see what kind of results your small business gets from this effort.
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