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The Power Of Social Proof In Ecommerce Marketing

Running a successful eCommerce business is not so easy. You have to understand the psychology of the customer. Taking this in mind, you have to take excellent marketing tactics for your business. Social Proof is one of the most powerful marketing techniques that can quickly improve your sales and also increase your popularity. 

Sadly, most marketers do not know about the marketing Psychology “Social Proof” concept. 

Well, in this article, we will describe the selling power of Social Proof in the eCommerce business.

So, let’s get started!

What is Social Proof?

Before getting the concept of social proof, let’s take an example – Suppose, if you are looking for a product, and you do not have any idea what you will get. Now, what will you do in that situation?

Obviously, you will ask your friend to recommend a shop or online store to buy this product or you can buy it according to other reviews or other proof. This phenomenon is called social proof.

Social proof is a psychological concept where people follow others’ actions on the assumption that those actions reflect the right behavior. It’s the most powerful marketing tool for marketers if they will apply it correctly. Most Importantly, it plays a huge impact on the customers’ purchase decision if they are viewing that other customers will really get results from that purchase.

The biggest online eCommerce business Amazon uses the power of Social Proof to enhance its conversion rate.

Principle of Social Proof

Social proof’s built with four basic principles- Uncertainty, Similarity, Expertise, and Number.

1. Uncertainty: Sometimes in an uncertain situation we prefer to follow other people’s reactions to that uncertain situation. The Uncertainty concept mainly focuses on that issue.
2. Similarity: People are more likely to follow a similar condition that has happened to other people. It means. We’re programmed to imitate the actions of like-minded men. 
3. Expertise: The Expertise concept highlights when we need guidance from expert people to handle an unfamiliar situation.
4. Number: This principle focuses on our psychological effect as we prefer the decision where the majority of people agree with it. 

Types Of Social Proof That Definitely Boost Your Selling In Ecommerce Marketing

Let’s divine nine effective and proven social proof examples that you can also implement together to increase your business conversion rate and revenue.

1. Customer Testimonials

Customer testimonials are one of the most common strategies that are used by the high conversion business. For example, Amazon, Aliexpress etc are the largest eCommerce store that uses this strategy by displaying their customer testimonials on every product. According to the case study of VWO and WIkijob testimonials increased purchases by 34%. It is a huge effective example of social proof as we have always a tendency to hear the recommendation of a product before buying it.

To implement the Testimonial on your website, you have to know that the power of all testimonials is equal. Such as, written testimonials are more effective than video testimonials.

2. Endorsements of Public Figures

Well-known experts Endorsement plays a huge impact on your business and builds the reputation of your branding. It impacts beyond just advertising.

Many big brands use this type of social proof by adding celebrity and well-known expert endorsements on their product line or description to attract more customers or fans of those celebrities to purchase. To implement this strategy, we will suggest you take the permission of the celebrity before applying on your site otherwise you will face big trouble.

3. Customer Success Stories

Another type of social proof is customer success stories that mainly use to build customer confidence in your service or product. It is also referred to as a case study. This type of social proof is basically used in B2B services such as software, and hosting companies. It could be a video or blog post with a rich image to increase visibility and sales.

4. Customer Ratings and Reviews

Customer review is a more common type of social proof for us. According to the local customer review survey, about 88% of customers trust customer reviews the same as personal recommendations. That means it possesses a huge impact on the customer’s buying decision.

For example, Amazon uses customer ratings and reviews on every product and gives the option to write reviews. This amazing feature not only enhances the conversion but also improves the customer experience.

5. Highest Number of Customers Who Takes Your Service

Promoting the numbers sometimes talk for you. More importantly, in a store, it indicates how many customers take your service. So, it’s an effective type of social proof that easily catches the attention of customers. Providing only numbers can bring a huge difference in your sales.

For instance, The biggest eCommerce platform Shopify uses the power of social proof to promote its business.

6.  Accreditations And Awards

Telling loyal is not enough to make yourself trustworthy among your customers. It’s much more compelling to provide proof to back you. That is the reason why Accreditations And Awards are the incredible power of social proof for validating your brand.

For example, displaying the BBB membership ratings, the qualification of your website, badges, logos, etc all are equally providing a better conversion.

7. “Best Seller” or “Popular Product” Feature

This is another type of social proof you can use on your website if you don’t use it yet. Most eCommerce retailers use this type of proof to sell their items more. You can use this strategy on your search filter of any category or can use it on the sidebar or even your homepage.

8. “Recently Sold” Notification

To increase your brand popularity, recently sold notifications can work as the power of social proof for your eCommerce store. Knowing the product that sold last time allows your customer to place more trust in it. furthermore, it also drives more sales on your site.

9. Social Sharing Number

Nowadays, social media marketing is an effective part of marketing. Taking this in mind, you can use the simple type of social proof as displaying the number of social shares on your site. This type of social proof is basically used in blog posts or any informative post. 

Conclusion

Having knowledge of the power of social proof helps an eCommerce marketer to control the behavior of his current and potential customers. If it is done properly on your site it will also increase your marketing sales performance.

So, now it’s your turn. Hopefully, this article will help you to realize the selling power of social proof in eCommerce marketing. You can try out various forms of social proof on your site and identify which social proof combinations best appeal to your customers. Most importantly not forget to monitor the conversion levels before and after, so that you can do your own case study.

To add more, if you want to track your e-commerce business performance then you can check our 10 important Ecommerce Metrics which play a key role in your business strategy, result, and revenue. Also,  you can check our complete e-commerce solution to track, control or manage your files easily.

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