5 types of social proof and how to use them in your ads

What is social proof?

You might be wondering what exactly social proof is? Wikipedia describes social proof as ‘A psychological phenomenon where people assume the actions of others in an attempt to reflect correct behaviour for a given situation.’ Essentially, people assume other people know best!

Parents in particular have limited time and headspace and so often use other parents experiences/results/views as a short cut to making a good decision. In fact in a recent survey 93% of responders said they’d check reviews before being buying a product. 93%!! So if you aren’t using social proof, you need to think about incorporating it.

Small businesses generally have 5 types of social proof:

1) Customer testimonials/reviews

The one question potential clients are probably asking themselves before they buy from you is ‘will it work?’. Whatever problem you solve, they want to know you have successfully solved it for other people and that you can for them too. Customer testimonials/reviews are a great way to reassure people that you can in fact solve their problem. I’d highly recommend getting a system in place to collect reviews so that a) they are visible to potential clients e.g. on your website, Google My Business or Facebook Page and b) you can use them in your marketing.

2) Social ‘word of mouth’

This type of social proof is when people see their friends have used/promoted your services. For example if they share your social media posts and endorse you in the comments, or if they tag a friend under one of yous posts. Another online ‘word of mouth’ way of building social proof is when someone asks a group (e.g. a mums group on Facebook) a questions like ‘I’m looking for X, can anyone recommend one that has worked for you/you’ve loved?’ and your customers tag your business.

3) Awards

Getting an award by industry specific experts or brands is a great way of getting social proof from people that are trusted because of their expertise. Often parents want the ‘best’ for their children and awards can help set up apart as the ‘best’ in a specific category. The Junior Design Awards are a great example of awards that really impact parents choices and can elevate the brands that get awarded gold/silver/bronze.

4) Press

Any features in the Press, including getting featured in gift guides at key points in the year (I’m looking at you Christmas!) can also create trust with your audience, especially if the journalist or publication is highly trusted by your target audience.

5) Influencers

Unsurprisingly, influencer social proof is when a influencer publicly endorses your products. The impact can be high is the person has an audience that is highly engaged and trusts them.

How do you use social proof in Ad’s?

1) Copy

Client testimonials can be brilliant for the opening line of an Ad, especially if it’s being shown to people who are already in your world (on your list, follow you on social or have been on your website - aka your ‘warm audience’). Used alongside the ⭐ emoji can be particularly effective. You can also use a short one line testimonial as your Headline or Description.

Won an award? You are now an Award winning product/service! Or if you’ve won more than one award? ‘Multi award winning’. Here’s an example from Birth-ed

Been featured in the press? You could include a line that says ‘As featured in: The Times, Style and Baby Magazine’.

2) Creative

Using a testimonial as the image for an Ad can work particularly well if you have a product and you can combine the product image with a short quote.

You can include the ‘badge’ of awards you’ve won on your image as well which can be a great subtle way to promote trust without being explicit, especially if the award is well known, e.g. Junior Design Awards.

Set your Ad’s up to collect social proof

Ever seen an Ad with SO many comments from customers saying how much they love the product or tagging their friends? One way of achieving this is to run an Ad using the Engagement Objective first. Collecting all the social proof and then using the same Ad with the Conversion Objective to get sales.

What next?

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