Four Ways to Leverage Social Proof for Your Small Business Marketing
Photo by You X Ventures on Unsplash
I am a member of a Facebook group for vegans in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Almost every Saturday this past winter, a ton of members would post pictures of these vegan donuts from a local business called Donut Garden.
As a self-proclaimed donut connoisseur, I was a little skeptical. Most vegan donuts that I had tried in the past were really cakey. However, with all these other vegans saying how amazing these donuts were, I had to visit Donut Garden’s booth at the farmer’s market to try them for myself.
Guess what? The donuts are amazing and I order from them almost every chance that I get! If I hadn’t received so many recommendations from my fellow vegan peers about these donuts, I may not have ever tried them!
This is an example of social proof in action. The term “social proof” was first coined by Robert Cialdini in his 1984 book Influence: the Psychology of Persuasion. The basic premise of social proof is that people will adapt their behavior according to what other people are doing.
This rings true in marketing and business! According to a report by Chatter Matters, 83% of consumers say that a recommendation from a friend or family member would make them more likely to purchase a product or service.
Building Social Proof for Your Small Business
Social proof comes in many different forms, but not all of them are ideal for small businesses. Here are the top four strategies of building social proof that you can implement.
Customer Reviews
When potential customers see positive reviews from your past customers, they will already be more likely to want to check out your products or services.
There are many ways to use customer reviews to build social proof. First, make sure to encourage customers to write a review of your business on Google, Yelp, Facebook, and other platforms if they have had a positive experience with you. More times than not, if you used the angle of helping support a small business, they will happily oblige.
Depending on the type of products or service you sell, you can add this type of social proof to your website. If you sell products, try adding the option for customers to leave reviews on the product level to share their experiences.
If you own a service-based business, ask customers for a testimonial that you can share on your website, social media platforms, or even video content.
Influencer Marketing
Yes, influencer marketing is an example of building social proof. Why? Because that person has the power to influence the decisions of their following by reviewing your product.
Identify micro-influencers in your industry—or really anyone that has a significant following on social media comprised of your target customers—and introduce your product or service to them.
Aside from a product review or unboxing post, you could ask your influencer to do a “social media takeover” for 24 hours. This is when you grant them access to your social media account and allow them to post content to attract more followers.
Expert Reviews
Are there experts in your industry that will endorse your brand in some way? Is there anything you can do to get that stamp of approval?
Additionally, maybe there are opportunities to partner with another business that offers something different to your target audience. Both of you will not only enjoy more traffic, but also added trust in each of your brands.
Once you’ve identified and established a more synergistic partnership with another business, create some content together. You could do social media takeovers of each other’s brands here too!
Earned Media
Earned media is any sort of publicity or content that is created about your brand that you don’t pay for or create yourself.
A more traditional example of earned media is an interview segment with the local news station. How do you land something like this without paying for it? Well, your business needs to do or accomplish something newsworthy.
It’s the same thing with being featured in a news article. Keep your business active with community engagement and making moves in your industry, and you might catch the attention of the local media.
Building social proof can help you reach your small business’ marketing goals, like reaching a wider audience or converting more website visitors to customers. Once you have a better idea of these goals, you can get started with some of these recommendations.
Hi! I’m Jennie.
Thank you for visiting my blog! I write about marketing tips for small businesses and how to succeed as a female professional. I write from experience about the things that I love.