Consumers are getting much smarter and critical these days, checking every customer review and recommendations before actually availing a product or service. With hundreds of competitors panning across the market, you must find the best and most effective ways to convince these people that your business or brand is the right one for them.
There are various effective marketing and advertising strategies that you can use, such as PPC, SEO, banner advertising (as seen on platforms such as Ads-supply.com), and of course, what’s considered to be one of the best – Social Proof.
What is Social Proof?
Social proof, or also known as herd mentality, is a situation where people or potential consumers view other people’s actions as the correct and appropriate behavior, therefore conform to it.
So, How Can Social Proof Boost Sales and ROI?
- Customer Testimonials
Deliberately sharing how (and if) your previous and current customers have loved your products is one of the simplest yet powerful ways to attract potential customers to buy your products. Studies show that more than 60% of all consumers read customer reviews and recommendations before making a purchase.
It’s also useful to feature reviews and testimonials of clients with the same profile (class, age range, demographics) as the ones you deem as potential customers because then they can become more relatable, therefore even more convincing.
- Influencer Marketing
Celebrity or influencer endorsement is a classic marketing strategy to boost sales and ROI. People respect and look up to them, and this admiration extends to the businesses, brands, or products they are advertising.
You can also include these big names in your featured customer content, so it can draw more attention and consequently boost sales and ROI.
- Expert Recommendations
Credibility is vital when you’re trying to make a sale by merely integrating big names into your business. In this case, no one is more reliable and trustworthy than the product experts themselves. You can have these experts take over your social media accounts for a day, where they share their knowledge on a specific situation or problem, demonstrating how the mentioned product can solve that situation. This will lead your potential customers to be convinced that they actually need your products.
- Strong Online Presence
Consistency is the key to building a strong online presence. Use your social media pages to promote your business and products regularly – share photos, informative posts, positive customer reviews, and recommendations, etc.
To provide better customer experience, you may opt to create engaging activities such as Twitter polls, hosting a watch party on Facebook, or quick yet fun-filled games through Instagram stories. Make sure always to use an exclusive hashtag so you can easily keep track of the related online activities.
While the techniques mentioned above are proven to be cost-effective, using Social Proof to boost your sales and ROI is not a one-size-fits-all kind of strategy. You can focus on just one, or you can mix and match, depending on your business type and the potential customers you are eyeing.
Social Proof strategies are not limited to just these four alone. There are still other means that you are yet to explore and probably will give you new ideas on how to boost your sales and ROI.
