We live in a society obsessed with trends. If Apple releases it, we'll buy it. If a Kardashian wears it, we've got to have it. Maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but what isn’t an exaggeration is the power social proof has in influencing our buying behaviour.
Think back to the toys you had to have as a child (because everyone else had them) or the clothes that you thought you'd die without in your teen years. We learn from an early age that items endorsed by others we respect or admire are to be sought after and acquired.
So What is Social Proof?
Also known as informational social influence, social proof is a psychological phenomenon where people assume the actions of others denote the correct action in a given situation. This assumption drives decisions either in favour of, or against, a specific service, action, brand, reaction or product.
How Does Social Proof Impact Your Marketing?
By aligning your brand, service or product with a party that possesses strong social clout, you're adding a trust factor to it. This trust factor stems from the weight that your target audience places on the social proof from the party you've aligned your brand with.
5 Types of Social Proof
1. Use
As its name suggests, use social proof relates to collateral that speaks volumes about your brand, product or service's ability to successfully meet the needs of your target audience. Social proof of this nature includes:
- Product reviews
- Testimonials from prior clients
- Case studies
When using social proof like this, it's important to include a strong element of story-telling in your Content Marketing that helps your reader or viewer relate to your proof on a personal level.
2. Expert
Expert social proof relates to proof given by experts in an industry or field that endorses your product, service or brand. The way your target audience relates to the expert providing the endorsement provides the proof needed to convince them of your trustworthiness. If you do plan on using expert social proof, it's imperative to ensure that you align yourself with a well-respected one.
3. Celebrity
We've all seen examples of celebrity social proof before. It's in the brand endorsements, or splashed across magazines, TV, billboards, and the Internet. In a world obsessed with celebrity, this form of social proof has tremendous weight with a target audience. People associate celebrities and celebrity-endorsed products with ideals of self-worth, making them powerful methods of social proof. The downside though is that celebrity is often fleeting and fraught with opportunities for disgrace, so aligning your brand with a fallible individual can be dangerous.
4. Wisdom of Friends
Here's where your social media game needs to be on-point. We trust our friends' opinions, and there's an undeniable amount of power assigned to their endorsements of brands, products or services. The psychology behind this is our tendency to form strong positive opinions of those we relate to and find credible, and to be friends with individuals similar to us, which boosts their credibility even further. By sharing your content online, or boosting the ability for your target audience to share your content, you create "wisdom of friends" social proof when they share your content with their friends.
5. Wisdom of the Crowd
In an age where technology keeps us in constant contact with one another, few things strike as much terror into the hearts of people than the fear of missing out on something. It's even coined it's own acronym, FOMO, and it's a powerful driving force behind the "wisdom of the crowd" social proof. You can play on this need to participate by running subscriber or user numbers on your website, showcasing your popularity. A word to the wise, however, this should only be done if you've got sufficient crowd numbers behind you, otherwise it might work against you.
Social proof can be a powerful weapon for marketers, and deserves a second look if you've not been paying it much attention until now. Have any experience with social proof? We'd love to hear from you!
