How many times have you heard stories of online purchases that have gone wrong? It’s these customer experiences that can lead to the wrong conclusion about your business, products and services rapidly.
But how can we establish trust in our brand particularly when many of our customers discover us through social media first?
Apart from running a consistent social media strategy, incorporating social proof into your posting plan can help achieve this.
When we see social proof examples on social media whether we are searching (or not) for a particular product or service, we are more inclined to believe that brand because others have shown that they do.
Think about when a customer comes to your social media news feeds for the first time.
If they see customer success stories and case studies, proof of client work and relationships (behind the scene style posts and stories are great for this) and even reposted customer feedback and testimonials, you are already giving them reasons to trust in your brand and your brand’s experience.
Another great way to showcase your products through social proof is to consider user-generated content where your page shares images received from customers using your products. Again, this highlights that you have customers who believe in your products and brands enough to share their experiences online too, and therefore becomes an incredibly effective opportunity to persuade viewers to follow your page and become a customer too.
In Australia, 68 per cent of consumers read online reviews or blogs to find out what others think about products or services of interest (2020 Yellow Social Media Report).
So as a business, it’s important that we provide them with the information that they are looking for easily to help them with their decision-making.
But social proof is more than just a trust-building exercise on social media platforms. It is also an incredibly effective tool for encouraging customer recognition and in turn building customer loyalty.
The more a business can show they appreciate the thoughts and feedback of customers, the more likely they are to see return customers or customers turning into brand ambassadors.
And in a time where followers can be bought and imagery can be staged, it’s these conversion-boosting benefits that highlight just how important social proof is to consider as part of your business’ social media strategy.
Demelza Leonard, digital marketing and social media expert
