This is the fourth in a 12 part blog series, where I review CXL Institute’s ‘Digital Psychology and Persuasion’ Minidegree. This week I took two new courses: i) Nonconscious Motivation, and ii) Cognitive Biases. In today’s blog we will discuss how to use social proof as a nonconscious motivator and how it creates a bandwagon effect.
Your Customers Don’t Trust You!
Historically, marketers and advertisers aren’t trusted by people and more often than not, are considered liars. This might bring up uncertainty and fears in your customers regarding your product or services.
When humans encounter fear or uncertainty they instinctively look at others for guidance and safety. Consumers trust other consumers’ word 12 times more than the brand description. This is why we must employ social proof effectively: to remove any doubts and fears a customer might have and to influence purchase behavior in them.
Social Proof is More than Just Reviews
Robert Cialdini in his book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, gave seven principles of nonconscious motivators. One of them is social proof, that is, “we view a behavior as more correct in a given situation to the degree that we see others performing it”. Psychologists call this conformity, herd behavior, or the bandwagon effect. Simply put, people tend to do what other people are doing.
Be it customers’ doubts, fears, uncertainties or any other source of friction, social proof is frequently used to alleviate any pain points and guide customers towards the best product choice. It is evidence of or from others, like us.
6 Types of Social Proof
1. Case Studies:
It is referred as a longform social proof, a data-driven, in-depth analysis of the product or service you provided a current customer with. Use this to highlight success stories of your customers.
2. Testimonials:
Testimonials are one of the most persuasive form of social proof. These are simple, short-form recommendations from happy customers. Make sure to complement a testimonial with a good quality customer picture, as it increases “truthiness”. Testimonials are more likely to be believed when it has a corresponding picture.
3. Reviews:
BrightLocal found that 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Use this social proof to display positive feedback from actual users. One interesting tidbit of information from BrightLocal’s survey is that people don’t just trust the first review they see. On average, consumers check 2-3 different review sites before making a decision about a business.
4. Social Media:
Praise from current customers and/or brand advocates in the form of tweets, Facebook posts, Instagram comments, shares, follow counts, engagement counts, etc. Endorsements from influencers on social media is also picking up pace at a rapid rate. Influencer marketing has been considered the fastest-growing consumer-acquisition channel.
5. Trust Icons:
This can include: badges, seals, certifications, awards won, mentions in media outlets, etc. It is a popular approach to establishing credibility, which is usually as simple as displaying meaningful icons and logos. Placing the logos of business customers on a company website can increase conversions by as much as 400%, according to Voices.com.
6. Data/Numbers:
This is a quantified metric of customers served, number of subscribers, etc. Showing how many customers, subscribers or users you have shows people think what you’re offering is valuable. People feel comfortable joining a crowd and have a desire to belong to a group.
3 Steps to Harness Social Proof Efficiently
Angie Schottmuller, Forbes Top 10 Online Marketer 2015, in her CXL Live 2016 session talked about social proof power plays. Catch this fascinating and informative session by Angie below:
She discussed the following 3 steps to efficiently harness the power of social media:
STEP #1
Identify your audiences fears, anxieties, questions and doubts.
Angie says, “The social proof psychology principle says that when people are uncertain, they’ll most likely look to others for behavioral guidance. In order to harness this concept for persuasion, marketers must first identify the uncertainties of their customers and then buffer accordingly with appropriate social proof.”
STEP #2
Brainstorm and inventory 6S formats to buffer audience’s fear/questions.
Oftentimes, people believe they don’t have any social proof to display or use. But social proof has a wider scope than just reviews and testimonials. Consider doing an inventory using the following 6S format to explore various options you might already have.
6S Formats of Social Proof:
Sum it. Score it. Say it. Sign it. Show it. Shine it.
- Sum it: Quantified metric of numbers of active users, subscribers, etc.
- Score it: Qualitive metric of reviews in the form of ratings, for example, 4 out of 5 stars; or rankings, for example, top 10 selling products.
- Say it: Reviews, expert Q&A, forums, podcast bits, etc.
- Sign it: Source of ratings and reviews, mark with ‘who said it’, names of consumers, etc.
- Show it: Visual display of logos of business customers.
- Shine it: Approval seals, certifications, awards, badges, etc.
STEP #3
Know the quality of your social proof.
When it comes to making a conversion impact, quality trumps quantity. We only want to display social proof if its persuasive enough to encourage conversions. If poorly implemented it can backfire and negatively impact conversion rates. Therefore, it becomes imperative to put the quality of our social proof to test before implementing them. Angie suggests the CRAVENS model to assess its quality and how to score it.
7 Factors of Social Proof Persuasion Quality:
- Credible: Believable, authentic, trustworthy;
- Relevant: Meaningful, applicable, timestamped;
- Attractive: Whether creates an emotional trigger;
- Visual: Pictured, graphed, viewable;
- Enumerated: Quantified, scored, ranked;
- Nearby: Proximity to the fears/uncertainties;
- Specific: Descriptive, detailed, precise.
Score each of the factors above, depending on how well they meet the criteria mentioned, using the following standard:
SCORING: 3 = Exceptional, 2 = Good, 1 = OK, 0 = Missing, -5 = Bad
Sum the scores of all seven factors, and access the persuasion quality depending on where it lies on the scorecard:
Negative = -35 to 0
Weak = 1 to 5
Neutral = =6 to 10
Helpful = 11 to 15
Persuasive = 16 to 21
This scorecard is a good indicator of how effective the social proof will be in reducing the fears and anxieties of the customers, to help with the conversions.
Social proof is a cost-effective nonconscious motivator every business should take advantage of. Use the approval and popularity of your product/service among your existing users to acquire new customers. Assess different social proof formats and identify which works best in your favor. As venture capitalist and blogger Aileen Lee says, “Think of it as building the foundation for massively scalable word-of-mouth.”
Next week, I will further discuss my learnings and opinions from the next few courses I take in the Minidegree. To stay updated with my weekly blogs and explore the ‘Digital Psychology and Persuasion’ Minidegree with me, subscribe to my blog.
Until then, explore the various programs offered by CXL, by clicking on the link below: