When first starting out as a newbie in business , the most common advice you’ll probably hear is that you need to get social proof, just get it and spread it everywhere, on your websites, on your socials, on your dinner … well maybe not.
In a way, it’s not terrible advice, since social proof is massively important and often all it takes is one super review from a happy client to get the ball rolling.
But just winging it with a bunch of testimonials on a single page of your website is not going to magically book out your business or have products flying off the shelf.
So in this post we will be exploring the magical elixir of social proof in a bit more depth.
So what is social proof and how do you use it to build trust on your website?
Put in simple terms social proof means that people will mimic others behaviour to be seen to be doing the right thing.
In the business world it means using testimonials, reviews and other user generated content ( more on that later) to show potential customers it’s ok to trust you.
Since 92% of consumers trust recommendations from others even people they don’t actually know, social proof is so important for your business.
It’s pretty much your secret weapon to increase conversions and give your customers that feeling of trust that you will deliver and they can be excited to buy from you.
What can we use as social proof?
So it’s basically anything good that your previous customers or other professionals have said about you. Anything your proud of, like what makes you an expert in your field and any professional qualifications you have.
So lets break that down in to the types of social proof.
Expert recommendations –
So this kinda speaks for itself and you’re dead smart I can tell, but just in case, this means testimonials from other experts in your field telling the customers who trust them that they can trust you as well. It means posting content where another expert has recommended you or agreed that you too are a qualified expert in your field.
Where to put them
These need to be sprinkled throughout your website. Long gone are the old days where you would just have a testimonials page and lump all your reviews on there. Customers now expect to see them all over your site, but definitely on your home page and on your about page. Wherever you customer might be looking to check out if you are the expert you claim to be.
Certification
This means adding badges which show your a certified member of a particular group on your website for example displaying a badge which shows you’re an accredited accountant or the ABTA logo to show you are part of the travel agency group and they will get their money back if the trip is canceled.
It can also be adding something like the SSL badge to your shop to show that you are a secure website.
Where to put it
You can put this anywhere you like but the most common place is in a bar running through your footer so it’s on every page or adding to your home sales and checkout pages. Since it doesnt take up much space then in the footer bar is a good place to start and it’s a fab idea to have each badge link to the professional site too.
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User social proof
So this is testimonials, reviews, nice messages you have got from your previous customers. This is the most powerful social proof for most people. I guess they feel like, yeah ok so these experts rate you and you’ve got the qualifications but can you actually deliver.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating so they say and when it comes to enticing new customers to buy the experiences of those who have bought before top trump pretty much everything else.
You really need to ask your customers to pop you a review or testimonial (bonus points for video) after they’ve had a chance to use your product. Make it really easy for them by providing a feedback form they can simply email or perhaps a discount off further products for each review.
Where to put them
On your home page, your sales pages and you checkout page, the hot trio of where you need to lock your customers in to buy.
What can be better than a carousel of testimonials just floating across the bottom of the screen or a video popping up casually chatting about how amazing the item your customer is about to buy is.
Crowd mentality
No not the black friday sale type, we’d like to keep all our limbs intact. But the type of peer pressure where if loads of people have used a product and say it’s amazing then you are going to want to use it more.
This one is pretty simple to get hold of simply ask for ratings and one liners from your satisfied customers. You can display this on like x amount of 5 star ratings or x number of happy customers. This website widget helps you gather and display rviews on your site
Where to put them
Again the trio of home page, sales pages and checkout page is a great place. I personally like to display them in a section that counts up to how many happy customers ive had. And to have the one liners popping up across the bottom of the screen with people saying how happy they are with my services.
Dont underestimate the power of 5 gold stars and a single line of text.
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Case Studies
The big kahuna of social proof, these case studies can show exactly how you’ve rocked someones world,
These are better for you high ticket items and your services I think. I cant see me reading a case study about how a low cost product changed someones life …. Unless it was mascara, I’m on a lifelong search for the perfect mascara for my shitty lashes ( seriously! If you know of one do a girl a favour and hit me up with the deets!)
But I digress. An in depth look at how your product or service has changes someones life or business or relationship with in depth before and after images will smash it.
If you can add in some information about exactly what you did that makes you so great and get some content from the user, preferably video to go with their before and after pics this really is top tier social proof.
Where to put it
Well its the boss of social proof , plus its long and detailed so this bad boy really needs its own page to do it justice.
But dont forget to add snippets to your other main pages about how great a job you did and link back to the case studies page where your potential customer can read all about your amazing skills and get excited to work with you.
So that’s the basics of social proof right there.
I’d love to hear how you get on so don’t forget to hit me up with your success stories here
If you need more help designing a website that sells then check out this course and if you just want someone to do it all for you and make it awesome head on over to my services page and get on a call with me.
Wishing you freedom, flexibility and financial abundance.
Until next time
Nicki
xoxo