What is Social Proof Marketing? The Ultimate Guide (2020)

No matter which corner of the world you are selling your products from, it is always expected of you to inculcate the sense of social acceptance regarding your product in your target market. The purchasing behavior of humans vastly depends upon the behavior of society towards it. Or it can be cited that the opinions, thoughts, and actions of others are one of the major deciding factors responsible for our behavior towards something. Well, you can easily catch the concept if I ask you one question. Have you ever purchased a product or availed of any service on the recommendation of someone? I can hear a blaring Yes from your side and why it should not be. It is pretty normal for human beings to be influenced by their surroundings. Thereby, the propensity of human beings to cast their behavior as per others is being used as a powerful marketing strategy by businessmen to gain results in favor of the latter. At this point, when it is certain that the present and future of business lies online only, the whole world seems to be immersed in developing new marketing strategies and levelling up the old ones. The blend of human mind psychology which is mostly stirred by others and marketing strategies backed by online social networking platforms gives birth to what we call Social Proof Marketing.

Social Proof is also referred to as informational social influence. Let us now discuss an example that you are most likely to connect with. Say you arrive in a new city which you do not know much about. You decide to take a stroll down the lane and come across a restaurant that you find jam-packed. Now, what will you infer from it? Ninety-nine in Hundred probabilities denotes that your mind will make a favorable image of the restaurant. And there is a gigantic possibility that next time you will give preference to that restaurant to some other one. This is the power of Social Proof. Without even actually adopting face-to-face marketing or promotional activity, the restaurant managed to attract a new customer.

Keeping the above-mentioned explanation of Social Proof in consideration, it can be inferred that from the viewpoint of the consumer Social Proof is a means of generating opinion and provoking actions in unknown circumstances. Let us now be familiar with some unknown precepts which are associated with the notion of Social Proof Marketing.

The below-mentioned bullet points deal with the same.

The Precept of Uncertainty: The Precept of Uncertainty denotes how humans tend to deal with a respective situation which they are almost oblivious to.
The Precept of Similarity: Deliberately or undeliberately if you ever land to a situation that you are yet to get familiar with, that’s where the Precept of Similarly comes into role.
The Precept of Expertise: The Precept of Expertise in Social Proof signifies how we look up to those sources of knowledge which can be pretty beneficial to us. The resources can both be natural and man-made as well. You must have experienced it as a student when you needed your queries to be sorted out by the teacher or the senior.
The Precept of Number: The concept behind the Precept of Number is pretty straightforward to be understood. It simply suggests how much do we humans follow the herd. The human mind regards to crowds and more numbers as a memento of security. Whenever encountered by an unknown situation, it is the majority that is pursued by the majority.

Data which proves the efficacy of the Precept of Number.

👉As per research, it was being proved that more than 60% of the buyers online show the proclivity to be guided by customers’ testimonials before actually buying a certain product.

👉 91% of the online purchasers who are between the age of 18 to 35 are most expected to make a purchase only after a recommendation from somewhere else.

👉 65% of online customers revealed that before buying a product online they always gave a scroll down to the product reviews and the ratings.

👉To be one’s utter surprise, one research came up with an inference that proved that nearly 70% of the Americans consult with an autonomous review site before actually striking a deal. Sounds interesting, doesn’t it?

The above data clearly states that how much there is a need for a Social Proof Marketing System in a technology-driven world. Reviews from the other customers besides the rating evidently illustrates a well-managed Social Proof Marketing System. Reviews from other customers or their testimonials lay down the grounds for a better and lucrative deal arising out of new customers. If you are also an entrepreneur and looking forward to building a powerful and dependable customer base then Social Marketing is going to be your matter of concern. Making the best out of Social Marketing would not only help entrepreneurs boost their customer memberships but also help them create a brand image in the long run.

However simple and straightforward the concept of Social Marketing might sound, there are still numerous complexities that are involved deep within. The psychological concept of Social Marketing is more or less based on the herd mentality followed by humans. The herd mentality effect can be simply understood by answering the following question. How often do you sit down and try to analyze each aspect associated with a product right before purchasing it? In the majority of the cases, the answer is never. The reason being, our herd mentality or our tendency to keep on jumping over the bandwagon.

Social Proof is just like one of the facets of marketing i.e. promotion. Just like promotion, Social Proof possesses the potential to either make or break a product or sometimes a brand even.

Let us now look at how exactly one can incorporate Social Proof methodology in one’s business.

The more customers your product is able to procure, the more the others would develop the urgency in them to grab your product. Remember the Precept of Number, don’t you?
When experts start forming an opinion in favor of a respective brand then what follows the same is the herd or the crowd.
Recently, celebrity testimonials have gained a lot of popularity by making a convincible remark in favor of the brand. Since the general public is moved by the opinions of the celebrities, there lies tremendous opportunities for businessmen to endorse their brands.

Let us take a deep insight into the specialities of the Proofly

It is quite easy to establish an online store and start selling products. But the acid test lies in the long run when you have actually to understand the ways of keeping up a thrilling engagement amongst your customers. The two elements of Social Proof and Sales Notification add the subject of FOMO and build confidence in the target customers which in turn compels them to make a deal. If you are also an entrepreneur and want to add your creativity to your business then try to with Proofly.

Proofly is a tool that enables you to capture an outstanding market share by way of securing the confidence of potential customers. Recent Activity Notifications allow popup notifications to be displayed right in front of the customer as soon as he starts browsing your website. The popup would give crucial information relating to the name, address, location, and product recently purchased by the customer in real-time.

Social Proof Popup

What are the other benefits of the Popup activity?

The below-mentioned bullet points deal with the advantages of the same.

The hugest advantage of popup notification activity is that it instils a sense of urgency in purchasing a product in the customers.
After coming across the information relating to the customer, a connotation of trust and connectivity is created.
For converting cold customers into regular and loyal ones, the feature can play a commendable task.
The complete customization option is one of the major aspects leading to the creation of a broad customer base.

With the live visitor count option, you can keep an eye on the number of the customers visiting your page live. The article would still seem incomplete if not concluded with the types of Social Proofs.

Here are the five types of Social Proofs:

Expert Social Proof : As the name suggests, this type of Social Proof primarily spots the experts and makes them a mediator in this whole initiate of gaining a greater market share. A credible can anyone ranging between an influential businessman to a proficient blogger.
Celebrity Social Proof : A good part of the society seems to be impacted by the glamorous strata of the society who comprise the celebrities. The big example of celebrity poof is Beautymint which managed to attract 500,000 visitors on the day of its new product launch through Jessica Simpson and the prominent aesthetician Nerida Joy.
User Social Proof : User Social Proof is comparatively economical than other Social proof. But the results which are being yielded through it are no less. The success stories from other customers and their testimonials are just like assets to the companies. The assets which serve as the basis for procuring new and potential customers in the future.
Crowd’s Wisdom : Crowd wisdom is nothing but the bandwagon concept which arises out of the spontaneous mentality of the humans which compels them to be a part of the general trend
Friends’ Wisdom : Being a social animal, man lives under the strong influence of his friends. And hence it is quite certain of him to derive his opinions and thoughts from his friends’.

Next, here are some techniques of Social Proof Marketing.

Publishing Testimonials
Mentioning Ratings and Reviews
Badges
Endorsements by Influencers
The number of subscribers
Logos concerning the Media
Connections arising out of social media.

Hence, summing up it will be pertinent to say that Social Proof is a method and an opportunity for laying down the foundation for a long-term and lucrative business. But just like any other strategy, the essence of Social Proof also lies in the quantum of it’s effective while it is being implemented. The more confident one seems with the process, the more chances lie there for growth and productivity.