Can Social Proof Help You Boost Sales? (Part 2)

In Part 1 of this three-part post, we looked at why social proof is important for your website and how customer testimonials can help boost sales. Now, let’s consider some of the other ways you can use social proof to drive your business:

 Case Studies

Case studies are basically studies done on products or services to show how well a product works or how effective a service is. Conclusions are then drawn depending on the results of the studies, which would be of great benefit to potential consumers. To make these case studies even more potent, you can include testimonials from some of your past customers who were satisfied with their experience of doing business with you.

Using case studies as social proof is effective because people like to know that the product they are going to buy works or that the service they wish to engage with is effective, helping them to make their final decision. When people are deciding what they want to purchase, nothing helps them more than knowing that their money will be well spent!

 Trust Seals

Adding a trust seal to your website enhances its credibility in the eyes of consumers. This can instantly make them more confident in your site, thereby increasing your sales. There are a number of companies that issue trust seals, and many customers have preferences as to which trust seals make them feel more confident when shopping on a website, so make sure you explore all the different options before you add one to your page.

In a 2013 study conducted by the Baymard Institute on 2,510 customers who shop online, 1,286 of the respondents said that Norton led the way with 35.6% followed by McAfee with 22.9%, TRUSTe and BBB (Better Business Bureau) with 13.2% each, Thawte with 6.0%, Trustwave with 3.2%, GeoTrust with 3.1%, and Comodo with 2.8%. The remaining respondents stated that they did not know which seal they trusted more or had no particular preference, but one thing is for sure – having a trust seal on your website will help to boost your sales significantly!

Number of Followers or Shares/Likes

We’re sure that you’ve seen websites displaying their Facebook follow/like or Twitter share statistics using sidebar or other widgets. Those figures give you an indication of how engaged their followers or customers are with their Brand. However, at times it can be difficult to get a lot of shares and follows, especially if your brand is new. This is where you might want to consider investing in paid services offered by these social networking sites. To get more Facebook follows and likes, for instance, you can use the “boost post” feature.

Targeting people who are interested in your niche ensures that those who matter see your posts and like them. The same holds true for Twitter. You are likely to get more shares from people who are interested in items from your niche than those who are not, hence the importance of audience targeting. Once you’ve got the ball rolling, make sure that you place your Facebook and Twitter statistics in a prominent area of your website for all to see when they pay you a visit.

Statistics That Matter

If you sell downloadable products, include the number of downloads for each product on their respective pages. This shows potential customers how popular the products are and whether or not they should try them. If your product or software prevents spam, for example, make sure to include the amount of spam it has blocked from websites since you started selling it.

For instance, Akismet shows how much spam it has blocked on a blog since being installed on it. This helps to boost their customers’ confidence in the plugin and their Brand name gets recognized on a larger scale. You could do the same with a few simple tools that allow you to share or post statistics on the page.

If you missed out on the first part of this post, click here to read it now, and make sure you check out the third part for more!

If you are interested in finding out more about how Power To Be Found can help you, visit our website or schedule a meeting at the link below!

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