How can you use the power of social proof to influence people naturally to have a go with your products or service? Let's break explore the possibilities.
Imagine sitting at a fancy foreign cuisine restaurant for the first time and you haven’t got a clue on what to order. You look at the menu, and the names are all a challenge to pronounce and visualising the food is another problem. On the table, you find these odd cutleries lying around placed next to your large, irregular shaped plate. To make it worse, a sophisticated looking gentleman, the head waiter, is standing beside you, ready to take your order. He looks over his shoulder multiple times, visibly irritated and impatient.
Most likely, here’s what you’ll feel: Uncertain.
There’s a lot of hesitation in your mind.
A few things that you’d do would be:
Look around, what are people ordering? How are people acting?
Looking at the menu, and see popular or best selling orders.
Ask the sophisticated man what he would recommend
Look at the restaurant’s page and see what others have ordered
What do these things mentioned above have in common?
You’re looking at what other people are doing.
This brings us to this article’s key topic - Social Proof. As mentioned in a great book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini: Without question, when people are uncertain, they are more likely to use other’s actions to decide how they themselves should act.
What does this tell us? How can this principle of Social Proof be utilised to convince our followers into making a purchase, or to convince that our product or service is valuable?
In order for this conversion to happen, you must eradicate their uncertainty, you must make them trust you and have zero hesitation.
By using the principle of Social Proof, you now know that in order for them to do something in the midst of hesitation, they are inclined to follow what others are doing. In this case, you must show that other people trust you.
That’s it. That’s one way to you make them trust you.
What you must now work on on your side would be to make these claims believable and influential.
The book further shares that “The principle of social proof operates most powerfully when we are observing the behaviour of people just like us.” In other words, you will be more inclined or convinced to act based on the action of others especially when we view those others as similar to ourselves. To sum that up: Similarity.
Business everywhere have been making this principle work for them in many ways.
One great example would be Razer, a very renowned brand for gamers (headsets, mouse, keyboard, etc.) have been collaborating with international and professional gamers for testimonials, reviews, and even a full on sponsorship for big tournaments. Their target is, as you might figure, gamers.
Now to apply this to your business, here’s a list that might help:
Testimonials - what do people say about your product or service?
Ratings - stars, out of ten, we often see this when we want to decider to watch a movie or purchase a book
Brand deals - sending products or hiring content creators to share their experience with your product to their audience.
Collaborations - working together with another business that aligns with your brand
Reviews - seeking reviews from your existing customers might help in acquiring new customers, especially people who are similar to them
Showing your work - if you’re a service based business, a portfolio or case study will help you convince clients
Awards - restaurants, products, services that win awards will have an increased value in the public eye.
Features - the more good stories are told about you, the better your image is shaped in their mind
And many more. Use these as part of your content strategy to have a better chance of interested followers convert into buying customers.
Get creative with the way you want to let this out into the world.
When people are uncertain, they turn to others, especially others who are similar. Use this to your advantage.
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We hope this article gave you great insights and ideas to implement to your next marketing strategy or campaign. Social Proof is a powerful weapon that can help businesses grow and gain an audience.
Our goal at AiCreativv, a multidisciplinary design agency in Brunei is to help ambitious businesses build brand strategy, identity design and social media that inspires.
If you happen to be looking for social media management for your business or company,
Feel free to contact us at hi@aicreativv.com, and we’d be happy to discuss about your projects.
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