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Visibility Generating
Authority Building
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Writing and Marketing Information
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| May 19, 2015 / Newsletter 051915
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What is Social Proof? Is it Important?
By Karen Cioffi
Before social media networking, social proof came in the form of
reviews, testimonials, recommendations, referrals, word-of-mouth, and so
on.
Now, it’s all about social proof.
But what exactly is this new strategy?
According to TechCrunch, “Put simply, it’s the positive influence
created when someone finds out that others are doing something. It’s also known as "informational social influence.”
Wikipedia describes social proof as “a psychological phenomenon where
people assume the actions of others in an attempt to reflect correct
behavior for a given situation.”
Pro-copywriter and marketer Colin Martin also weighs in on this subject.
In a webinar I attended, he said, “The influence of your friends,
family, and co-workers has greater effect on your buying decisions than
the best advertising [. . .] People give more credence to ideas that are
started by multiple sources.”
Why is It Important?
For one thing, social proof is recognition (acknowledgment) that other
people and businesses value you, your business, and/or your services. It
shows you have influence.
As an example of this phenomenon, marketing research shows that book reviews sell more books.
People perceive you and your brand as having authority based on what
others are saying about you. This perception motivates consumer
behavior. In other words, if Joe sees that Tom, Jessica, Amanda, and
lots of others bought your program or software or product, he’ll be
motivated to buy it himself.
It’s very similar to how search ranking works. The more people who visit
your site and share your content, the more valuable the search engines
will perceive you to be.
So, these numbers matter significantly. The higher your numbers the
better your search engine ranking, traffic, authority, and conversion
It’s important to note that having social proof from influential people carries an even heavier weight.
In the realm of social media networking, this proof is more quantifiable
than before. Now, we’re talking about hundreds and thousands weighing
in on your influence through social networks.
Social Proof and Numbers
How many Twitter followers do you have? How many Tweets, Favorites, and
Retweets do you average? Are you on any ‘social proof’ lists?
What about Google+ and Facebook? What about LinkedIn? What about YouTube?
How many blog post and social networks shares do you get? What about comments.
How many email subscribers do you have?
Again, these numbers matter. The higher the numbers the more influence you will be perceived as having.
How to Get Social Proof
There are a number of ways to garner the proof you need. Here are eight simple ways to get started:
- Guest blogging on influential sites
- Getting comments on your social media posts and your blog posts
- Provide case studies on your website and social media
- Provide case studies on how you helped clients move forward
- Be active on social media and promote engagement (activity)
- Show you're numbers (number of followers, number of shares, etc.)
- Show the good stuff (show any 'good' comments you get on your social media channels, show any 'good' lists your included in)
- Show off your LinkedIn recommendations
- Show actual testimonials and recommendations
Keep in mind that video testimonials are more powerful than any other
kind of testimonial from clients. The reason is the visitor to your site
can actually see a person. She’ll know it’s not a fake. This absolutely
matters.
You can also create banners for your website’s home page showing your numbers. Add it to your header or your sidebar.
Colin Martin recommends:
- Use content share buttons that display the number of shares
- Use the WordPress Rotating Testimonial Widget for your website sidebar
- Use the WordPress Facebook Comments Plugin
- Get some YouTube testimonials up
There are other tools and strategies to use to get your social proof out
there, but these should get you going in the right direction.
For examples of Social Proof and the rest of the article, please visit:
http://www.karencioffiwritingandmarketing.com/2015/03/what-is-social-media-proof-is-it.html
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Article reprinted from The Writing World newsletter. Want more must-know writing and marketing information along with updates on free webinars right in your inbox? Get access to The Writing World (http://thewritingworld.com) today.
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Karen Cioffi, Freelance Writer
For Individuals (Academic Papers, Essays, Editing, and More)
The Article Writing Doctor
Your Content Marketing Prescription
(For Small and Home Businesses)
karencioffi [at] ymail [dot] com
I'm an affiliate for some of the products I recommend. I only tell you about products I've checked out.
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