What is Social Proof? How to Use it in Your Marketing Strategy

Social proof refers to copying the actions of others when you lack your own experience. Here, get to know this social psychology concept that doubles as a popular digital marketing tool.

There’s a scene in the classic film Dead Poets Society where Robin Williams’s character, a professor, explains the concept of conformity to his students.

He asks three students to walk in a circle while the rest watch, then notes afterwards how quickly they all conformed to marching in a single pace. He also notes how the onlooking students all began clapping in unison without prompting.

This also illustrates the psychological concept of social proof.

Let’s dig into this concept and how it relates to digital marketing and consumer behavior with the help of HawkSEM Senior Paid Social Manager Kaleigh Myers.

What is social proof?

In a questionable situation, people often attempt to imitate another person’s behavior to achieve desirable results or fit in.

What does this have to do with marketing? Surprisingly, a lot.

This psychological phenomenon is also one of the reasons people choose products or services that others have already tried and liked.

Social proof is the process of assuming the actions of someone else in a situation where you’re unsure of how to behave.

Imagine you’re walking down the street. Suddenly, you see a group of scared-looking people sprinting the other way, as if they’re running from something terrifying.

Would you continue ambling along on your way, or would you turn around and sprint along with them, just in case?

Social proof works the same way in marketing.

70% of online shoppers read 1-6 reviews before making a purchase decision. (Image: Unsplash)

What is social proof in marketing?

“Social proof is a type of content that lets your target audience know how your products work and what pain points they alleviate through your customers’ experiences,” explains Myers.

This can come in the form of testimonials, case studies, and story-driven content clients share about using your products or working with your team.

Someone who’s looking for a vacuum cleaner but doesn’t know much about them is likely to choose the product with hundreds of reviews and a 5-star rating over a product with no reviews and a 3-star rating.

Common types of social proof marketing are:

• Expert’s opinion – An industry expert speaks highly of your brand (in articles, on social media, in interviews).
• Endorsement – An influencer or celebrity endorses your offering by recommending it on social media, in interviews, or on TV.
• Another consumer – Users of your products and services recommend them to other consumers (on social media, through customer reviews, or in person).
• Crowd – A large group of people endorse your brand through follows, reviews, or posting favorably about your brand.
• Friends and family – Someone a consumer knows (such as a friend, family member, or co-worker) personally recommends your brand.
• Certification – An authority certifies your brand as trustworthy (like a blue checkmark on Instagram or a Better Business Bureau accreditation).

Many of these types can fit into your marketing strategy. Not only that, but the majority of them allow you to use social proof with a limited marketing budget.

How social proof benefits marketing

Social proof is one of the most powerful tools of marketing available. According to behavioral scientist Robert Cialdini, social proof is one of the six major principles of the psychology of persuasion.

“Social proof content helps target audiences get in the shoes of the customers and clients you’ve already helped by sharing their stories of success and how your product or service assisted in their success,” Myers explains.

“It can work for ecommerce companies by getting user-generated content to share how customers use your products, or for B2B companies through client testimonials of what they were able to achieve by working with you.”

Further reading: User-Generated Content: Expert Tips + Examples to Grow Your Brand

To truly understand the power of social proof as a marketing or persuasion concept during the decision-making process, we can simply look at how one of the most commonly used items in grocery shopping was created: the shopping cart.

Sylvan Goldman, owner of a small supermarket chain in Oklahoma, was the first person who tried to promote the shopping cart.

He saw it as a way to reduce grocery store trips and make life easier for his customers (while making more sales at the same time).

To his surprise, this tactic backfired. Customers said pushing the cart made them look bad and that it reminded them of a baby stroller.

It wasn’t until he paid professional models to push the shopping carts around his stores that people adopted the idea and started using them.

Still not convinced? Let’s look at the stats:

• Nearly 100% of people read online reviews before buying a product
• Three out of four people use social media for purchasing advice
• 92% of people trust recommendations from friends and family above all other forms of advertising

The modern-day consumer is pressed for time. What’s more, the majority of your potential customers don’t have the opportunity to study a product’s characteristics or contrast and compare it with alternatives.

They opt for trusting other people’s experiences.

Online reputation management is key to leveraging social proof. (Image: Rawpixel) (Image: Rawpixel)

How to leverage social proof in digital marketing

Ready to put social proof into action with your digital marketing campaigns? Here’s how to do it.

1. Use testimonials and reviews

Many consumers are willing to share the customer experience with others, but they may need prompting, reminding, or an incentive.

“We use testimonial ads heavily for an annuity client, where we provide first-hand experience from their past customers,” says Myers.

“Selling annuities can make clients feel like they are being taken on a ride, or will be scammed by financial planners, so to build trust and credibility among potential clients, we use the first-hand experience of their clients who have annuities through them, and express what the process of finding the right annuity for them looked like.”

This way, she adds, people who feel a personal connection to the story are more likely to convert when they’re deciding which financial partner is more likely to find the right annuity for them, rather than sell them something just to boost their bottom line.

As a brand, you can use emails, social media posts, and things like gift card giveaways to motivate people to pen reviews. (Just make sure you’re not bribing customers or asking for only positive reviews, which is both unethical and can seriously hinder your brand’s credibility.)

Once you get these quotes, you can then post them on places like your website and social media profiles.

Further reading: Conversion Rates Explained: What’s a Good One? (+ How to Improve It)

2. Explore influencer partnerships

Influencer marketing is a form of social proof that can be a highly effective way to leverage social proof. These online personalities generally have a large, dedicated following of people who engage with and trust their opinions.

Not only do micro-influencers (generally, those with 10,000 to 100,000 followers) usually charge less than those with counts in the millions, but they often have a higher engagement rate.

3. Celebrate milestones

On social media or product pages, don’t hesitate to emphasize milestones that beef up the social proof. For example:

• We now have 1,000 followers on Instagram!
• 100 people bought this product in the past month.
• 10 buyers gave our latest addition 5-star reviews.
• 50 people shared this post (read this blog, visited this page).

This online shopping example of social proof from Old Navy shows a fire emoji with the number of shoppers who have purchased the item that day alone. (This can also play into the scarcity mindset, another one of the principles of persuasion.)

(Image: Old Navy website screenshot)

These milestones are a way to “show” rather than “tell” when it comes to your offering, and they’re an excellent display of the social proof phenomenon.

4. Reply to reviews

Online reputation management is key to leveraging social proof.

Once a buyer leaves a review, a customer testimonial, or a comment, try to reply in a timely manner, even if it’s just to briefly say thanks.

This doesn’t just make the consumer feel appreciated and heard, but it also shows others that you care about their experience and are paying attention as well.

5. Use numbers in CTAs

When putting a call to action (CTA) on your ads or web pages, use numbers as your proof.

Here’s how bedding company Brooklinen leverages numbers and product reviews on their homepage:

(Image: Brooklinen website screenshot)

Here are a few more examples that feature stats like the number of customers and reviews:

• 5,000 people have already signed up for this newsletter. Join them!
• Come see why we have more than 2,000 5-star reviews (and counting).
• 500 people are already using this product. Try it today.

6. Take full advantage of UGC

User-generated content (UGC) is one of the most popular ways to leverage social proof in marketing today.

It’s similar to an influencer endorsement, but it offers you more control and usage of the content.

With UGC, you hire a creator to come up with a video or imagery about your product, following your specific parameters.

From there, the creator delivers the content directly to you, you post it where you like, and you retain rights to reuse it how you see fit.

With influencer marketing, you partner with the influencer, they decide how the content turns out, and they post it on their own account.

Similar to reviews or testimonials (which are also part of UGC), you can use this content on your landing pages or social profiles.

Retail brand Aerie leverages UGC on its social media, product pages, and elsewhere on its website. (Image: Aerie screenshot)

This type of social proof is so popular that a startup raised more than $4 million with the aim of making it easier for ecommerce sites to embed UGC like TikTok videos directly onto product pages.

7. Make your content easily shareable online

There’s a reason why Facebook, blogs, and YouTube videos make the number of shares or views publicly visible. It’s social proof, and it can have a snowball effect on good content, even potentially helping it go viral.

If your goal is to expand your market reach and brand awareness, make sure you allow your audience to share your content easily.

3 social proof missteps to avoid

Of course, overloading your website with all manner of social proof may not be the right solution for every business.

The social proof strategy you deploy should take into account factors like your industry, company size, and product or service. Here’s what Myers suggests avoiding.

1. Selling your company rather than a story

“Avoid selling your company, and instead focus on selling the story,” suggests Myers. “Social proof content tends to work best at the bottom of your marketing funnel, where users know what their pain point is, what the fix needed is, but need to decide who is right for them.”

2. Telling vs. showing

Focus on providing content that speaks to your target audience’s emotions rather than simply a glowing testimonial about how great your company is.

Here’s one of Myers’s success stories:

“I was recently reviewing creative for a fertility clinic’s quarterly creative audit — some of the best content we found was videos of couples receiving the news that their transfer was successful,” she says.

“It didn’t show the doctor making the call, or share who did it or how long the experience was — it was just the phone call from the perspective of the couple and the emotions that come from hearing the news.”

This type of messaging and storytelling, she adds, is always more impactful because it shows how a customer or client will feel after working with your company, rather than telling them through a testimonial quote alone.

3. Not having a system in place to receive reviews and testimonials

A satisfied customer with nowhere to express their experience is like a tree falling in the woods: if no one is around to hear it, it doesn’t make a sound.

“For ecommerce companies, when a customer receives the package they ordered, remind them to provide a review or tag your business in whatever they post on social media for us to reshare (and if it’s quality content, reuse it),” says Myers.

“For B2B businesses that provide a service rather than a product, send out follow-up emails after initial appointments or upon completion of requests to get feedback from your current customer base for reviews with links to your pages where you receive reviews.”

Even just sending an automated follow-up email with a link to your Google Business Profile or a similar platform can get the reviews rolling in.

Further reading: Expert Google Business Profile Optimization Tips (+ Checklist)

The takeaway

Social proof is a highly useful psychological phenomenon that can help streamline your marketing strategy.

By leveraging the actions and behavior of others, you can increase conversions, generate leads, and grow your audience.

Myers’s final words of wisdom?

“If you have one great customer review or client testimonial, make as many pieces of creative from it as possible,” she says.

“Test the length of how much of the testimonial to include, a graphic versus an animation, or which parts to highlight that get users more emotionally motivated to convert. One great review could be all you need — it’s just the way you deliver it!”

This article has been updated and was originally published in August 2022.