The term social proof describes marketing measures that show users that it is worthwhile to purchase a product or service. Social proofing is used to positively influence purchasing decisions.
The concept of social proof originates from psychology, where it has been proven that most people base their behavior on other people.
There are many ways to use social proofing, for example by including references on the website:
- Number of purchases or downloads: XY people have already bought the product.
- Number of visitors
- Seals of approval: Seals of approval act as a confidence-building measure.
- Case studies: Specific application examples including figures to show the improvement.
- User recommendations or ratings
- Social Share Buttons: including display of how many users have already shared an article, for example.
- Expert opinions and testimonials: Experts, celebrities or similar relevant persons recommend the product.
- and much more
Social Proof can motivate indecisive users by confirming to other users that their purchase is the right decision. The basis for this is trust and the actions of others.
Social Proof can help to improve the conversion rate and therefore sales. Which measure and which placement of the social proof is most suitable and has the greatest conversion leverage effect can be verified with the help of an A/B- or multivariate tests.
In practice, measures in certain industries have already proven to be largely effective. For example, showing how many people view and purchase an offer works particularly well in the travel sector, where offers are known to quickly become unavailable.