This document discusses how to use social proof to get more people to buy from you. It explains that people tend to follow the behaviors and choices of others when making decisions. The document then provides 4 ways to leverage social proof in marketing: 1) Showing proof from other users like testimonials and reviews, 2) Highlighting your product's popularity through metrics like subscriber counts, 3) Enticing customer recommendations through rewards, and 4) Using expert endorsements from influencers. It also shares results from an A/B test showing ads with social proof generated lower costs per lead than ads without social proof.
Turn Digital Reputation Threats into Offense Tactics - Daniel Lemin
Social Proof Marketing Guide
1. How to Use Social Proof
to Get More People to Buy from You
How to Use Social Proof
to Get More People to Buy from You
@AdEspresso
2. Do you sometimes wonder why customers pick
your competitors over you?
3. After all, you do everything by
the book. You attract the right
traffic, engage visitors with
killer content and constantly
test different approaches to
improving the user experience
9. They see others using your competitor’s products.
They hear stories from friends about how well they
have helped them, and read reviews and praise for
your competitors’ efforts…
10. So while you think your products are better,
customers still prefer to buy something else… just
because of social proof that convinces them to do so
13. I’m sure you’ve noticed:
Whenever you’re unable to make a decision, you
look at what others do, assuming that their actions
are correct for the given situation
14. You pick a restaurant based on the
number of people already dining there.
Sign up for a service based on the
number of people already using it.
And pick a product with more positive reviews.
15. And you’re not alone.
You see: We humans are
pack animals.
We exhibit what
Friedrich Nietzsche
called the Herd Morality
“lacking any individual will
and living by group instincts”
16. Harsh? Perhaps. But so
true... Just take a look at
these couple of
examples.
17. Experiments like the Stanley Milgram’s Street
Corner Experiment or Dr. Solomon’s Asche’s Lift
and Line Experiments have proved that we tend
to assume that if many people are doing
something, have done something or believe in
something, there must be a good reason why.
18. And you can use this behaviour to
entice more people to buy from you.
19. How? By displaying proof that confirms your
credibility, trustworthiness and popularity
20. Here are 4 ways to use social proof to
entice more customers to buy from you
2. Highlight Your Product’s Popularity
(AKA Wisdom of the Crowd)
3. Entice Customers to Recommend
Your Products (AKA Peer Recommendations)
4. Use Expert Endorsements
(AKA Expert Social Proof)
1. Show Proof from Other Users
(AKA User Social Proof)
22. Do you pay attention to what
other people have to say about a
product before purchasing it?
So do 77% of other customers.
Reviews, testimonials, and
case studies work as an
approval for a product or
service. In fact, 88% of people
trust reviews as much as
personal recommendations
25. Use schema.org to display ratings
and reviews in your search listings
26. Promote user generated video
GoPro is one example of a company that successfully incorporated
user-generated content in their marketing. And to some great results.
In 2013 the company’s net income grew by $28 million with only $41k
more in marketing costs.
All thanks to embracing user generated video as a social proof
27. Offer case studies for
prospective clients to download
Case studies provide an insight into a customer’s story,
from the problem they experienced and the reason
they sought out your solution to how you’ve helped
them solve it and in doing so, they help prospects
validate their buying decision
29. Intercom combines the power of testimonials
with case studies to offer a strong social proof
on their website
30. Show client logos
If you work in B2B, displaying logos of companies
you’ve worked with might offer enough social proof to
convince visitors to reach out and inquire about your
services
32. Seeing that the others might
be benefitting from
something makes many of
us want the same
And you can use this
phenomena (called the Fear
of Missing Out) to entice
more people to buy from you
38. We almost unconditionally
trust recommendations from
the people we know
And so, enticing people to
recommend your products is
another way to highlight
their value and popularity
43. Use a credible source
(a celebrity, an influencer or
another recognizable
person your audience
identifies with) to endorse
or approve a product or
service in some way
45. Feature testimonials from
your industry’s influencers
Copyblogger’s home page features testimonials from people
their audience would consider influencers and look up to:
46. Get celebrities to tweet or
promote your product in other
ways to their followers
48. All of the above sounds great,
doesn’t it?
But does it REALLY work?
We decided to test it for
ourselves. We ran a test as part
of the AdEspresso University
to find out if adding social
proof makes any difference
49. We ran two ad campaigns
In both campaigns we used 3 types of ad creatives:
• One included a rounded number as a social proof (i.e. 35000+),
• The other, an exact number,
• Finally, the third ad featured no social proof whatsoever
One enticing people to join
our newsletter
The other, an eBook
download
54. Ads with social proof generated lower cost per lead
than the one without any social proof
The “Newsletter” Campaign:
Cost per Lead
• Ad with exact social proof:
$1.973
• Ad with 35000+: $2.202
• Ad with no social proof: $2.478
The “eBook Download” Campaign:
Cost per Lead
• Ad with 15,000+ : $1.572
• Ad with exact social proof:
$1.741
• Ad with no social proof: $2.056
55. And so it’s true, to entice more people to buy from you:
Show proof that confirms your credibility,
trustworthiness and communicates your
product’s popularity