How Social Proof can increase your profits in 2024
As a business, it’s likely you’ve come across the term ‘social proof’.
If you have, you may be wondering what (exactly), it is, and how it can grow your business where it counts.
Today, we’re going to teach you about the two main profit impacts social proof can have on a business: profit margins, and profit volume.
But firstly…
What is social proof?
Social proof is a marketing and sales tool that works with the psychology of human influence on customer purchase habits. Used to its full potential, social proof can grow and sustain a business exponentially.
Put simply, ‘social proof’ is the concept of imitation. If consumers are buying and enjoying your product, others who can see this will follow suit.
If 97% of consumers look at reviews before purchasing (Zhou, 2022), and 83% of consumers trust user reviews over advertising, you can see how social proof can work in favour of your business.
Social proof, therefore, is about ensuring the positive experiences consumers are having with your brand, don’t stay hidden.
Profits can be positively impacted using social proof across two key areas.
Successful SEO means your website will appear highly ranked (i.e., near the top) when a consumer is looking for a product or service matching yours via search engine queries on Google or Bing.
The obvious benefits to improving the quality and quantity of traffic flow include:
Volumes
Keeping your brand top of mind in the marketplace increases traffic
Positive reviews on Google increases SEO visibility
- Superior star ratings mean less chance of a pre-purchase discard
- Heightened desire means less shopping cart abandonment on e-commerce sites
- Locals trust locals. More proof from your local audiences means profit volume growth
- Displaying dominant social proof in your competitive set, you’re positioning your business to capture traffic from competitor advertising
Margins
- Sell on trust and reputation instead of price point alone
- Relevant social proof helps you convert more online traffic which can lead to lower lead acquisition costs
- Educated consumers who purchase on quality and value haggle less
- Sales teams who sell on trust, reputation and demonstrated value discount less
- Social proof at point of sale (POS) assists sales staff in building more personal connections
- Customers are less likely to haggle with businesses they trust, respect and like
If you’re growing your business, consider how social proof can be utilised to boost profit volume and margins. Often, it will only require a fraction of a marketing budget and yield far better returns for the dollars you’re already investing.
Interact was developed to provide fully integrated, holistic social-proof solutions to help business reach their full potential. Put your business’s greatest asset – your customers – at the front line today and see your profit margins and sales volume increase.
Zhou, L. (2022, October 21). Online Review Statistics: The Definitive List (2024 Data). Luisa Zhou; Luisa Zhou. https://www.luisazhou.com/blog/online-review-statistics/
Read the latest from the interact team
