Social Proof: Everyone’s Using It

“Man is by nature a social animal.” — Aristotle

You often base your thoughts and actions on other people’s actions, even if you think you don’t.

Has your order at a restaurant ever been influenced by what others ordered?

Or how about picking that restaurant in the first place. Did you choose it because of reviews on Yelp or a friend raving about it?

Social proof is powerful, and master influencers use social proof a lot. It’s so important, Robert Cialdini included it as a core tool in his persuasion bible, Influence.

“Aha! Of course,” you’re thinking, “I certainly know it’s important!”

But do you know how to leverage social proof?

WHAT IS SOCIAL PROOF? WHY DOES IT MATTER?

Social proof says that, in order to determine what is “correct”, you look to the behavior of other people.

In practice, this means that if you can show evidence that others are taking a certain action, you’ll increase the likelihood someone takes that same action.

Social proof works automatically. You don’t think “I better check what everyone else is doing!” Instead, you just unconsciously check their behavior.

HOW SOCIAL PROOF WORKS

Social proof works because there is typically a “wisdom of the crowd” that has been passed down over generations. This “wisdom of the crowds” is usually right, so you can usually default to trusting what others do.

But, of course, this default trust can be used for persuasion purposes.

WHEN SOCIAL PROOF IS MOST EFFECTIVE

• Visible — Social proof should be easily visible (e.g., a testimonial on your landing page).
• Uncertainty — Social proof works best when there is uncertainty. If a person is unsure of their decision, or if a situation is unclear or ambiguous, that person will look to others for guidance.
• Similarity — You’re most susceptible to being influenced by the actions of others if those people are similar to you. This similarity could be based on clothing, interests, personality, or other aspects.
• Show Benefits — Social proof also works best when it involves benefits, rather than features. For example, a testimonial about a restaurant should talk about how it was “a perfect spot for a first date” rather than “they serve X, Y, and Z”.

EXAMPLES OF SOCIAL PROOF

• Phrases of Social Approval — If selling a product, describe your product or business in a way that emphasizes how other people are using it: “fast-growing”, “best-selling”, and “highly rated”.
• Show Traction — Showing evidence that others have taken the action you want will increase the chances others act that way. For example, bartenders often put a few tips in their tip jars at the beginning of the night to increase the odds and amounts that customers tip.
• Counters — Websites often show traction by including a counter that says how many people have downloaded, subscribed, visited, purchased, etc.
• Testimonials, Comments, and Reviews — Testimonials are effective social proof tools. They aren’t just quotes from existing customers, but they can be online comments and reviews.
• Credibility — The more credible the source of a testimonial, the more effective it will be.
• Case Study — An in-depth case study of someone that has engaged in the behavior you want will provide strong social proof.
• Provide Something Useful — The more useful and valuable a product or service is, the more likely people will talk about and give social proof to others.
• Newsletters — You can use newsletters to shape what others see as social evidence.

HOW YOU WILL USE SOCIAL PROOF

Some questions to help you leverage social proof:

• Show Traction — How can you make any traction or past success more visible?
• Social Media Posts — How can you use social proof in social media posts?
• Reviews — How can you incentivize people to write publicly visible reviews?
• Testimonials — What testimonials do you have already? Who can you go to for testimonials? Where can you visibly show them?
• Case Study — Do you know of any case studies you could write or talk about?
• Uncertainty — How can you insert social proof where a person is at a point of indecision or uncertainty? For example, when does a buyer make a decision to buy or not?
• Similarity — How can you promote similarities between the social proof example and whoever you’re trying to influence? Simple phrases like “Joe Smith is weight lifter like you” can work well. But can you get more specific?

How have you leveraged social proof to persuade and influence? Where have you seen it used by others? Share your expertise in the comments.

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