Social Proof: The Breakdown

With social proof, it is often a matter of influencer or influenced.

Have you ever asked a friend for advice on the best restaurant in town? Or maybe you’ve taken your favorite YouTuber’s word on what products work best. Whether you’ve done one or the other, you have been a willing participant of social proof. You use reviews from sources that you’ve deemed credible to guide your decisions. That’s it! That is social proof.

Most of us are very keen on reputation. Therefore, we end up making a lot of our decisions based on the reliability of someone else’s input. Social proof is a pretty old concept that we’ve taken and jazzed up a bit. The reality is, for decades people have been using feedback as a guide. However, with the rise of umpteen social media platforms making information about businesses, products, trends and basically everything else so accessible the value of reviews and testimonials have been bolstered. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram serve up real-time shares of day to day experiences which include interactions with businesses, use of products and even where’s great for lunch!

What’s certain for business owners is that before a customer gives in to your product, some amount of doubt exists. Nonetheless, it gets a lot easier to convert newbies once they’ve seen others that they trust indulge. Social proof is the uncut key to building trust and boosting sales. Tap in and share your results.

Be sure to check in for our follow up post “ Social Proof: The Market Magnet”