Have you heard a lot about social proof, but you’re not sure exactly how to use it for your eCommerce store?

Testimonials are a great way to showcase how happy your current customers are with your product or service. Promote your customer leaving social proof reviews on your website or on a social review site. When a new one shows up display it on your website homepage or somewhere central to your users so they can see what a great job you are doing. Positive reviews can be used for social proof in your marketing materials as well. If you have a five-star rating on a major review site, include it on your website or landing pages like the restaurant Agliolio does on their homepage. Adding reviews can also be very effective social proof. If I had to choose a single factor that is crucial to an online store’s success, it would be social proof. The term is often misunderstood. It doesn’t have much to do with a company’s presence and reputation on social media networks — though that plays a role.

Social proof is a powerful marketing and sales tool that can drastically boost profits. And yet, many online merchants aren’t using social proof to its full potential.

Or worse, they aren’t using it at all.

That’s why, today, we’re going to teach you all about social proof and how you can use it to grow your business.

And since this is one of the most comprehensive guides to social proof online, we’ve created the following table of contents:

That way you can navigate to the section you need the most help with. Otherwise, let’s dive in!

What Is Social Proof?

Social proof marketing is a technique that suggests consumers are more likely to take a positive action toward your business when they see that other consumers have already done the same.

While there are loads of social proof definitions online, there’s no need to overcomplicate it. Social proof in the marketing world boils down to the same core concept it did in kindergarten:

Monkey see, monkey do.

And it really is as simple as that.

When consumers are on the fence about making a decision, they have the tendency to look around their environment for direction. If we see lots of people taking action, we’re even more inclined to do the same.

And the idea of social proof isn’t some “get-rich” technique developed by an online marketing guru, either. It’s a clinically proven phenomenon in psychology.

In other words, using social proof is very effective at getting you better leads and more profits.

Let’s take a quick look at how it works.

How Social Proof Improves Conversions

Often times, we make decisions based on social proof without even realizing it. But how powerful of a tool is social proof for businesses?

Though we’ve already written a comprehensive guide on social proof statistics, here’s a quick glance at some of the most shocking findings:

83% of people trust reviews over advertising
More than half of consumers won’t use a business if it has less than a 4-star rating
97% of consumers look at reviews before purchasing
Testimonials can increase conversion rates on sales pages by 34%
Fear of missing out (FOMO)can boost your conversions by 40%-200%

The fact is that every statistic on social proof leads to one conclusion: if you’re not leveraging this scientifically-proven marketing technique in some way, you’re leaving lots of money on the table.

And one of the most interesting aspects of social proof for consumers is that it works like a fly-wheel: it takes a lot of effort to get started, but the more social proof you have, the easier it is to get even more.

This is what a lot of people in marketing refer to as “creating a buzz” around a product or idea. As people start talking about it, more people feel the need to join the conversation.

Fortunately for you, there’s a lot of different types of social proof you can start using today. Let’s turn our attention to 8 types of social proof that are the most common in eCommerce.

8 Examples of Social Proof for eCommerce

There are 8 types of social proof a website can have:

Testimonials
Reviews
Social media signals
Displays of current customers
Active counters for participants
Case studies
Word-of-mouth
Positive action notifications

Let’s look at each one a little more closely.

1. Testimonials

Most of us are already familiar with testimonials. These are a small quote from a past or current customer that puts your brand in a positive light. In other words, this is when someone vouches for your company.

Even though most of your site’s visitors won’t know the person giving the testimonial, it doesn’t matter. 91% of Millennials trust reviews as much as recommendations from friends and family.

However, to really boost conversions, add a small photo of the person giving the testimonial. This makes their recommendation feel more personal and lends it more credibility.

Here is an excellent example of a testimonial for SEMrush:

There is a photo of the speaker, a great testimonial, and the added benefit of a recognizable company name.

Want to add some testimonials to your site? Check out this resource on 9 customer testimonial examples you can use.

2. Reviews

These are super important for all businesses, but particularly for restaurants, brick-and-mortar shops, or businesses selling through 3rd party sites like Amazon. When it comes to reviews, there are two types that can work in your favor: influencer reviews and customer reviews.

Celebrity and influencer reviews are incredibly powerful. In fact, if you get a popular review from someone with a large audience, you likely want to turn that into a testimonial or perhaps even a case study (which we’ll talk about below).

Customer reviews can be just as powerful, but you need more of them to be effective. The average consumer reads up to 10 reviews before making a decision to purchase a product.

Reviews typically have two parts to them: a 5-start rating system followed by some text describing the product. Here’s an example of a review from Transferwise’s homepage:

5-star scales give readers a quick glance at the overall review, but written content provides more detail as to what specifically made the product good or bad. When you have both the quick glimpse (5-star rating) and detailed information about the product, you’ve got a killer review on your hands.

And chances are people will read it.

Research shows that 83% of people prefer reviews over advertising, which makes sense. You can speak highly about your product until you’re blue in the face, but considering your connection to the business, people take your words with a grain of salt.

Seeing a client take the time to write either a positive or negative review about your company inspires other consumers to take a positive or negative action. Again, social proof is still powerful, even if the reviews are from total strangers.

3. Social Media Signals

When it comes to using social media to boost your social proof, there are three factors to take into consideration:

Number of followers: The more follows you have, the more likely you are to gain more:

Number of likes: Posts with more likes are typically shared more and boost engagement:

Overall interaction: If you’ve struck up a conversation or post online and many people are taking the time to reply, that can encourage more people to throw in their 2 cents on the subject:

Out of those three, which are the most important? None, because they should all work together.

More and more, marketers are realizing that the number of followers isn’t more powerful than the overall interaction taking place. An Instagram influencer, for example, may have 4 million followers, but if none are really engaged with the brand or replying to comments, the brand’s social proof is still pretty weak.

If you want to use social media for social proof, you should really be trying to increase followers, likes, and interactions instead of focusing on only one.

4. Current Customers

You’ve likely seen this on websites before. Many online companies will list any high-profile clients they are currently working with (or have in the past).

Showing that many well-known brands have worked with you in the past isn’t bragging. It’s simply leveraging the power of social proof in your favor. By displaying established and trusted brands that have worked with you, your own brand can borrow some of their

Why Social Proof Is The Key To Your Site's Success