Peer Pressure and Social Proof

The relationship between Peer pressure and Social Proof, has many examples, from the number of Facebook ‘Likes’, Twitter and Google+ ‘Followers’,  YouTube ‘Views’ and ‘Likes’ to reviews and so on, on one end, and the popularity and reach of successful brands, on the other end.

Shoppers are more likely to select a product or service that has a larger number of followers  and endorsers. That’s why these numbers are often displayed on their web assets, from their website to blogs and social media pages & fan pages.

Picture this, two restaurants, side-by-side, one is full, the other empty, which will you more likely check-out first? Most dinners will check out the full one first.

-This is Peer Pressure in action, building up Social Proof in our minds.

Online behavior is no different, peer pressure influences shopper’s selections.

Here are a couple of examples:

1. You are looking for an app, at the Apple app store. There are two apps that seem to be a fit, one with 10,000 reviews and the other with 10.
   Which one are you most likely to check out first?
2. You are shopping for a hotel in some city you never visited before. There are two hotels that seem to match your budget & desired proximity to the beach. One has 1,500 likes & followers, the other none.
   Which one are you most likely to check out first?

You must have noticed I used “Which one are you most likely to check out first?”

-The reason for this is that, you guessed right, some shoppers will continue to check out the 2nd, 3rd options, however, these will only be those shoppers that their first option failed to convert/ sell them. In other words, those companies that are 2nd, 3rd options in this example were lucky, option 1 did not do a good job…

Now that we see there is a correlation between peer pressure and social proof, and that we cannot afford to rely on luck alone. What is your company doing to leverage that?

Social Proof Strategy and Solution

SeatID’s Technology enables Social Proof by leveraging easy opt-in of future clients on your website (Social Login) AND visibility into whom of their friends and social circles have previously purchased from your company. Rolling out your Social Proof with SeatID will remove obstacles standing between your brand and future clients, leading to improved engagement, conversions and more sales.

Implementation is easy and takes only a few hours.

> Click here to learn more

Photo by: Liam Quinn

Online Word-of-Mouth and Familiarity Tactics- A Winning Social Proof Strategy

Social proof has long been a leading marketing strategy, founded on the understanding that we don't like feeling alone in our endeavors. Knowing that someone we know, a friend, a relative, someone from our social or professional circles was where we stand today and even went beyond, makes us feel safe and not alone.

Word-of-Mouth Marketing Tactic

Showing future consumers others have purchased before works so well, because it functions as word-of-mouth recommendation. In fact, we know word of mouth marketing works as a social proof tactic for both consumers and businesses:

From the consumer point of view, 92% of consumers trust word of mouth more than any other kind of advertisement.

As for the businesses point of view, 82% of small businesses say word-of-mouth marketing is the best way to earn new customers.

Familiarity Marketing Tactic

Showing future consumers which of their friends and colleagues has purchased before, adds to social proof because the same as we are more likely to trust word of mouth from people we know, we are more likely to trust a brand if we see that one of our friends bought from this brand. Obviously it’s much more helpful than generic supporting information and figures that businesses show us on their websites.

How do we use all this as a leverage in our business’ online social proof marketing strategy?

We combine word-of-mouth and familiarity tactics, by showing potential customers that many people have been buying our products and services, some of which are people they actually know.

Combining word-of-mouth marketing with a personal and familiar touch makes a winning online social proof marketing strategy.

In SeatID we do exactly that. SeatID’s Technology enables Social Proof by leveraging easy opt-in of future clients on your website (Social Login) AND visibility into which of their friends and social circles have previously purchased from your company. Rolling out your Social proof with SeatID will remove obstacles standing between your brand and future clients, leading to improved engagement, conversions and more sales.

Implementation is easy and takes only a few hours.

Click for more info

Image by See-ming Lee-License

Social Login, AKA Social Sign-In, is a no brainer

Most marketers know by now that Social Login reduces the barriers to register and login to your website, It’s proven to increase registration rates by as much as 90% and provides permission-based access to rich, first-party user data.

It’s Convenient and Secure

Social login eliminates the need to create and store passwords.

Build your company’s Rich Prospect and Customer Profile Database

Collect permission-based demographic and psychographic information at login, including a verified email address, full name, location, birth date, gender, interests, hobbies, political and religious views, friends lists and so much more.

Keep the Data Updated

Since people tend to keep their social network profiles up to date, social login ensures you always have the most accurate data. The Prospect and Customer Profile Database is updated regularly on our platform, assuring it is current, automatically.

Target, Segment and Engage your most captive prospects

Easily target, segment and engage your most captive prospects based on their profiles to enable true personalized marketing. Engage your prospects on your website, re-targeting on social networks and email campaigns, all with relevant, personalized offers and content.

What are you waiting for?

With SeatID’s Social Login, your company will meet the benefits listed above, adding also Social Proofing by leveraging providing your website prospects visibility into whom of their friends and social circles have previously purchased from your company.

Social Proof Strategy and Solution

SeatID’s Technology enables Social Proof by leveraging easy opt-in of future clients on your website (Social Login) AND visibility into whom of their friends and social circles have previously purchased from your company. Rolling out your Social proof with SeatID will remove obstacles standing between your brand and future clients, leading to improved engagement, conversions and more sales.

Implementation is easy and takes only a few hours.

> Click here to learn more

The What, Why and How of Social Proof for your company’s website

Social Proof, AKA Social Proofing are terms we all heard over the years; questions that come to mind are,

1. What is Social Proof exactly?!

In essence, Social Proof proves that someone else previously went through a specific process and survived, therefore, you should be fine as well.

This process, after someone else has already survived it, has practically, earned social proof.

After evaluating and educating ourselves, we ultimately order and buy products and services from brands. Some of these brands are new to us, in other words, we are considering buying from these brands for the first time.

Social proof supports our selection process, helping us choose the brand that would meet our needs while limiting the risk of the unknown.

2. Why Social Proof helps business?

One of the most important factors in reaching Social Proof is knowing someone we know, or at least someone from our social circles, has already made a purchase from this brand. This knowledge, acting as our personal risk gauge, provides us with an elevated sense of comfort and removes or significantly reduces the risks associated with dealing with a brand we have never dealt with; No one wants to be the first to try a product/ service, or in other words: a guinea pig, right?!

Now picture this, your company is one of a number of brands in consideration by a future client. If you can eliminate the risks associated with her/ him buying from you for the first time, by providing social proofing, how would that impact your bottom line? By simply informing this future client while on your website:

• Whom of her/ his friends already bought from you?

• Whom of her/ his friends already trusts your brand?

you effectively removed the risk associated with buying from you for the first time.

3. How can my business start using Social Proof?

SeatID has made this part easy for businesses. It has developed an out-of-the-box platform that enables Social Proof, live on any website, in as much as a couple of hours.

Social Proof Strategy and Solution

SeatID’s Technology enables Social Proof by leveraging easy opt-in of future clients on your website (Social Login) AND visibility into whom of their friends and social circles have previously purchased from your company. Rolling out your Social Proof with SeatID will remove obstacles standing between your brand and future clients, leading to improved engagement, conversions and more sales.

Implementation is easy and takes only a few hours.

> Click here to learn more

Photo by: Kitty Terwolbeck

Why Social Proof matters? Because it works!

The terms Social Proof and Social Proofing have been around for a long time in one form or another. I wanted to discuss it briefly in this blogpost in-connection with the daily challenge Marketers and Sales Reps face, when tasked with removing obstacles standing between their brand and future clients.

What is Social Proof?

Social proof is a type of conformity. When a person is in a situation where they are unsure of the correct way to behave, they will often look to others for cues concerning the correct behavior. When “we conform because we believe that other’s interpretation of an ambiguous situation is more accurate than ours and will help us choose an appropriate course of action,” it is informational social influence. This is contrasted with normative social influence wherein a person conforms to be liked or accepted by others (Wikipedia)

What is Social Proof online?

Smart marketers know that social proof is the marketing tactic for easing the minds of worried customers. In 2013 and beyond, social proof will gain in importance because customers are becoming more informed all the time. With the power of the internet at their fingertips, customers can know an immense amount of information about your business before ever speaking with a salesperson. Check out these two statistics revealed by consumer research around American consumers:

Over 70% of Americans say they look at product reviews before making a purchase.

Nearly 63% of consumers indicate they are more likely to purchase from a site if it has product ratings and reviews. Needless to say, it’s in your best interest to effectively utilize social proof.(Kissmetrics)

Social Proof Strategy and Solution

SeatID’s Technology enables Social Proof by leveraging easy opt-in of future clients on your website (Social Login) AND visibility into whom of their friends and social circles have previously purchased from your company. Rolling out your Social proof with SeatID will remove obstacles standing between your brand and future clients, leading to improved engagement, conversions and more sales.

Implementation is easy and takes only a few hours.

Photo by: Anders Sandberg