If you’ve ever asked yourself whether or not the term “social proof” is just a buzzword, you aren’t alone. The term seems to be thrown around more and more with each passing day. The problem is that people don’t understand the true power of social proof and how to best leverage it. While social proof may look cool on a web page and make you feel good about your work, that’s not the point. At it’s very core, social proof is about lead generation. If you’re going to focus on social proof, you need to do so in the context of lead generation.
Using Social Proof to Influence Sophisticated Audiences
The question isn’t “should you” be using social proof to drive leads, but rather “where” and “how” do you use it for best results. These are the keys to generating leads and maximizing resources.
- Emails. The average business user receives 84 emails per day, while only sending 41. This means people are receiving 2.04 emails per email they send. In other words, as recipients, we aren’t very interested in most of the emails that come through our inboxes. This means emails are ineffective in their current form. If you want to increase response rates, something must be done to make this communication more effective. By adding social proof to the copy of your messages, you grab the attention of recipients and make better use of the space you have.
- Customer testimonials. As successful entrepreneur Syed Balkhi mentions, “Testimonials are by far the easiest social proof you can add to your site.” You literally don’t have to do anything but ask customers for quick testimonials and then copy and paste them into your website. Now that’s simple social proof. Just remember to make these blurbs look as genuine as possible. “Because testimonials can be easily faked, you should include a customer’s photo, name, company, and job title to further boost the credibility of the testimonial,” Balkhi says.
- Landing pages. If you use landing pages as part of your current lead generation strategy, go ahead and incorporate some elements of social proof into these pages. Make sure they standout – placing it above the fold – and tie the proof into the CTA. For example, instead of just saying “Give Product ABC a Try,” you could incorporate a CTA that reads, “Do What 5,000 Other Business Owners Have Done and Give Product ABC a Try.” You’ve instantly gained credibility by simply stating the truth.
- Social media. For obvious reasons, social media is a great place to leverage social proof. For example, if you notice customers posting positive content about your brand, share or retweet those posts. Not only does this show the specific user that you’re listening to what they say, but it also gives you a chance to show other users social proof in real-time.
- Quotes. Many businesses try to incorporate social proof into their lead generation strategies but fail miserably because it feels too contrived. If you’re worried about your efforts being artificial or forced, don’t be afraid to take a more natural approach. Any time you’re interviewed for an article or asked for a quote, integrate social proof into your responses. As writers and members of the press quote you, they may then choose to include some of these factoids and sound bites.
Putting it All Together
For B2B organizations, social proof should be more than a buzzword. It’s a practical tool for growing, nurturing, and converting leads. There are plenty of examples of successful social proof on the internet and there’s no excuse for not using it yourself. Whether it’s via email, customer testimonials, landing pages, social media, or quotes, there are a variety of options for implementing social proof starting today.
