If you’ve ever used a customer review or testimonial in your marketing materials, you’ve enlisted the power of social proof.
This stuff isn’t new or novel; we listen to one another at the end of the day, and people are more willing to trust (and try) a brand when others share their experience. That’s why social proof is such a powerful tool in your marketing arsenal – it helps you break through the noise and turn a curious shopper into a buyer.
What’s more, you can enlist social proof at any phase in the customer journey. Make it a part of your win-back and re-engagement strategy, invite your VIPs to try a staff favorite, and welcome your new subscribers with raves about your best sellers.
There are a million (yep, we counted them all up!) ways to use social proof in your marketing materials. Let’s look at a few:
Customer love = not-so-humble-brags.
Your audience is on social media and tagging you in photos, stories, and posts. Use them! That user-generated content (UGC) is the most authentic content you can share, and it gives your other followers a chance to see real customers using (and loving) your products.
Tip the scales on your emails.
Are you trying to up-sell, cross-sell, or get that abandoned cart over the finish line? Use a testimonial in your email about the product your customer has been eyeing. Link to the product page for easy click-thru or give them an option to add it to their cart immediately.
Showcase your love letters.
Long before your customer gets to a product page, they’re gathering info that influences their decision to buy or not. Incorporating social proof on your core web and shopping pages builds trust and excitement early. Customers heavily traffic homepages and product pages, and showcasing your rave reviews there helps boost the believability of your product claims.
Get real with real people.
Take your social proof to the next level with testimonials, customer showcases, and case studies that put a face to the people who are using and loving your products IRL. Pictures, videos, and personal anecdotes broaden your reach and relatability.
Ask your customers how they found you, why they love you, and what keeps them coming back; details, storytelling, and depth engender trust with those curious about your product offerings.
Get your besties on board.
Word-of-mouth is the most potent marketing channel you can’t measure. What you can do, though, is encourage your customers to share and then reward them for doing so.
A brand ambassador or referral program is a win-win: you foster loyalty with your VIPs by rewarding them for spreading the love, and they bring in their community (who are likely of a similarily VIPs in the making). What’s essential in building a referral program is that it is easy for your customers to use and seems worth it; Parade’s send-a-pair program featured here covers both those bases.
Influencer marketing is social proof, too.
Influencer marketing gives you access to new customer communities via an endorsement from an opinion they trust.
When working with influencers, you want them to love your product and be able to speak candidly and authentically on why. You can personalize their campaign with trackable referral codes or SMS opt-in numbers that also help you build your subscriber list. You can then send curated content and product suggestions to this segment of customers.
Tell it far and wide!
There are many ways to build and utilize social proof in your marketing once you seek feedback from your customers. Bringing it into your marketing will impact your bottom line, so get started! Remember, you work hard for your customers, and they love you for a reason. Shout it from the rooftops for all to hear, and so everyone can find you.
Ready to get started? Try Drip’s email and text message marketing tools for free. We make it easy to run sophisticated, multi-channel ecommerce marketing campaigns that drive more sales today.
