There are many stories of people waiting so long for new products release, movie premieres and concert tickets. People prefer to show up several days earlier to make sure they will get what they want.
Now the question is? do people tend to show up earlier only to secure the next big event? Researchers believe that people stand in line for connections. They want to connect themselves with whatever brand, product, service or event they’re waiting to gain access to, and they also want to connect with other people who have similar interests. Take iPhone releases for example.
For the iPhone 7 release, a publication in the UK reported that fans queue up outside Apple Stores five days ahead of release date and guess what? that’s what Apple wants and events like these are a strong social proof.
What is Social Proof?
It describes a psychological and social phenomenon where people copy the actions of others in an attempt to undertake behavior in a given situation. social proof is the credibility your business can build by being perceived as popular both online and offline.
Unfortunately, for business owners like you, it’s not that easy to build your social proof for your local business, you’ve got to invest time and effort into building up the social proof with your current customers and clients.
But Why? according to research done by Nielsen, 92% of people will trust a recommendation from a peer, and 70% of people will trust a recommendation from someone they don’t even know. In real life, people are turning more and more to their peer networks for recommendations instead of trusting commercials and advertisements.
How to start building up your Social Proof?
1. Watch your online ratings and reviews closely.
You need to manage your online ratings and reviews to build trust with the online community.
Positive reviews are what matter, they will contribute to building your social proof, on the other hand, negative reviews are something you can use to flex your customer service muscles, it will show how transparent you are with your customers and that there is nothing you are shy of which will make them impressed by your level of service.
2. Seek testimonials.
You need to prove to people how good is your product or services, Whether you run a new business or an established one, likely, you have at least a few hardcore fans, the best move to make is to ask them if they’d be willing to provide positive testimonials about your business.
Once they agree you need to encourage them to share their positive testimonial on your social sites and any other relevant review sites. The key here is that the testimonials come from their name, not yours.
Written Testimonials are good but video testimonials are another level! repurpose the testimonial wherever you can, on your website and social media pages, on printed marketing materials or think of any other creative way.
3. Social media followers and fans are important
Here comes the trick, the more popular brand on social media isn’t necessarily the brand with a higher quality service. But since they’re more popular, they’re likely to gain more and more business more quickly. Think about it, people will tend to trust sellers with a larger number of followers and social proof.
In the beginning, it’s much harder to gain the first thousand followers you need to grow little by little and that’s by ensuring you’ve got your business’s pages established and are posting regularly. Then, consider budgeting for social ads to increase the curve of building social proof. Learn More About Ads.
4. Show your certifications and badges
Most professional certifications offer badges showing you took the time and effort to become legit. Append them to your website or business cards, and make them as prominent as possible. People are more likely to trust certified businesses. So if your business is part of any professional or trade organization, there will be happy to place their badges on your website and other materials.
5. Share milestones and keep your statistics updated
Reaching milestones is a great occasion to celebrate and an opportunity to thank the people who have helped you achieve that. Milestones like Reaching X users/customers/downloads of your app and followers on your social media profile
Also by keeping your statistics updated people will know your doing a great job and will be interested in your progress. If your small business has serviced 500 clients in the last month, promote that stat! If your team worked over 1,000 hours last week helping local customers with their biggest problems, share that stat as well! The implication that more people rely on your business than a prospect can increase your social proof dramatically.
