Kseniya I. Content Marketing Expert

How to increase sales with the help of social proof

Social proof is one of the main marketing triggers, psychological hooks that increase conversions and encourage users to make purchases.

Social proof can be used everywhere: in sales scripts, on landing pages, in social media posts, in sales emails and in outdoor advertising. In this post we will tell you how.

What is social proof and how was it discovered?

Social proof is a psychological phenomenon that occurs when people base their decisions on the views of others under confusing circumstances. The law of marketing and sales is that you will enhance conversion if you show customers that others who are like them are purchasing your product. Some psychologists claim that social proof and the so-called herd instinct are interchangeable terms.

One example of social proof is the off-screen laugh on a TV show. It was invented by the sound engineer of the American CBS channel Charlie Douglas in the middle of the 20th century. Douglas noticed that during the recording of programs, the audience did not always react to comedians' jokes in the way the producers wanted. Sometimes people laughed too early, sometimes too quietly, and sometimes they didn't speak at all.

This didn't sit well with Douglas, so he started putting in some off-screen laughter. This helped the audience react in time and catch the “wave of fun”. The technique was called "sweetening" the audience.

Later, artificial laughter began to be criticized, saying that it kills everything funny and does not allow the viewer to independently appreciate the joke. However, this technique has remained a classic example of social proof.

In psychological science, the effect was described a little later and social proof first appeared in the book "The Psychology of Influence" in 1984. The author of the book, Robert Cialdini, named this trigger as one of seven ways to influence the consumer.

The Psychology of Influence lists several experiments proving the effect of social proof. Here is one of them. People were more willing to make a donation if the list of participants in the charity program was larger. Conversion grew even higher if the subjects found their acquaintances in the list.

There are many similar examples in marketing. For example, guests look for hotels with the best ratings, read product reviews and reviews on YouTube, and are guided by search suggestions in Google. Below, we will look at a few tricks on how to use social proof in sales.

Reviews

Posting reviews about a product or service is one of the most popular social proof techniques. According to Aliexpress Russia and Data Insight, 9 out of 10 buyers read reviews before buying. It is believed that real texts work better: fake reviews for low-quality goods are effective only in the short term.

Social proof through reviews is not only about positive texts or videos on landing pages and social networks. When users search for information about a company, they often end up on marketplaces or review sites.

Users are more likely to write negative than positive. Therefore, companies often use the “review bonus” technique. For example, the Shein clothing brand gives customers points for reviews. Points can be used on future purchases.

UGC content on social media

UGC is an online word of mouth. It stands for User Generated Content - content created by the buyer. For example, these are video product reviews on YouTube, as well as posts and stories with a brand mark.

You can increase the volume of UGC content using special techniques. A simple and popular scheme is giveaway for reposting. Users repost, tag friends, and then the randomizer chooses the winner among those who have met these conditions.

Support of influencers

Users are influenced by bloggers. This is the same UGC content, only from reputable people. Head-on advertising in social networks is giving way to semantic integrations, where the blogger interprets the brand philosophy. The blogger shows how and where he/she uses the product and describes under what circumstances it can be useful.

Good efficiency is shown by advertising from micro-influencers, bloggers with up to 100 thousand subscribers. According to ExpertVoice, 82% of shoppers are ready to purchase a product after being recommended by a micro-influencer. In some industries, social media blogs have become a major sales channel.

Are social network and search engine algorithms social proof?

Algorithmic social media feeds and search rankings can be called a form of social proof. Social networks analyze the number of likes and comments and first show posts that arouse keen interest among users.

Similar principles exist in the work of search engines. Algorithms study whether the site is popular with users. Artificial intelligence analyzes a wide range of factors showing how useful and interesting content is. Among these factors are the number of backlinks, the readability of materials, the time spent on the resource.

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