Every marketer knows social proof marketing is huge… and it is more important now than ever, as there are too many people pretending to be who they are not…
…as well as there are tons of blogs and information for people to select from. To make lives easier and let people know you are the “one” you have to use social proof marketing.
Here are several factors smart marketers use to display social proof the way it has to be done:
Subscribers, Followers, and Fans
Tweets, Likes, and Shares
You can read more about how and what to install on your blog to display them by visiting a cool write Kristi Hines did for Kissmetrics here: http://blog.kissmetrics.com/
I will concentrate more on socially proving yourself… as you must know this is a key factor for your success online.
The online space is crowded with “wanna bes” (don’t want to offend anybody, but it just is, there are too many people trying to fake it till they make it) and people have become more sceptical. So it’s a good idea to ease your potential customers and/or followers’ minds by letting them get a sneak peek inside your life and your business.
It’s not just showing them money snapshots and bank accounts that will prove you, although they do a pretty good job in most cases, but also showing them you are just a regular human like everybody else…
…which means giving people the opportunity to see pictures of your family, or your pets, or friends etc.
Showing people you are one of them is even more important than proving your incomes. We are all people no matter how rich, funny or smart, we all like connecting with like-minded individuals we relate or want to relate ourselves to.
Let everybody know you are a cool down to earth person, because this is exactly who they want to buy from, or do business with.
Time to talk about the very essence of social proof marketing – Testimonials!
How To Boost Conversions With This Social Proof
source: http://www.youtube.com/
7 Things You MUST Understand When Leveraging Social Proof in Your Marketing Efforts
1. Negative Social Proof is Horrible for Persuasion
2. Positive Social Proof is More Influential than Saving Money
3. Social Proof Works Better with Pictures
4. People are Influenced by Similar People
5. Stories Deeply Connect with Customers
6. Authority Rules!
7. Better to Have No Proof Than Low Proof
source: http://blog.kissmetrics.com/
I can easily agree with all the factors from point 1 to point 6… point 7 though is something I don’t think is quite true. I understand why somebody would say lack of social proof would make you visitors think your site is either new or isn’t trustworthy…
…however no proof can never be better than low proof.
Low proof is still some proof, besides there is nothing bad about your company being new… if it is awesome people will like it, and use it. Many new companies have changed the world while they were still new, so people thinking your company is new is barely a problem…
on the other hand, people thinking your company isn’t trustworthy is very bad for you, but it’s not the lack of social proof that will make them think that, it’s the lack of quality that will do.
So low proof is better than none, and building your social presence online from day one to gain high levels of social proof is the way to go.
Although Social proof is a very important part of your marketing efforts, I personally think it’s a bit overrated… people worry too much about it rather than spending more time on thinking how to offer more quality.
Concentrate on more value and your social presence online will build very easy… and by that you will have high social proof.
