Marketing

Proven Ways to Use Social Proof to Boost eCommerce Conversions

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Social Proof to Boost eCommerce Conversions
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Nowadays, it’s no longer just about providing customers with exceptional quality products that will guarantee the success of your eCommerce business. The fact of the matter is that the online market has become overwhelmingly crowded and competitive to the point where consumers can find good products almost anywhere.

Therefore, it all comes down to using digital marketing to convince consumers to shop at your store instead of somewhere else. That’s easier said than done, unfortunately. However, eCommerce stores use various marketing tactics to make it possible.

One such tactic is called social proof. More of a psychological effect than an actual marketing tactic, social proof has proven to be more than able to drive eCommerce conversions. For eCommerce businesses, conversions mean sales in most cases. With that in mind, here are a few proven ways to use social proof to boost your eCommerce conversions.

What exactly is social proof?

Social proof

Social proof by definition means a psychological and social phenomenon where people tend to copy the actions of others in order to undertake behavior in a given situation. In other words, people tend to copy the behavior of others and take the same actions in a specific situation.

The main reason is that humans are social beings that still have a need to fit in and belong to a group they identify with. Therefore, they’ll mimic others in order to blend in. In today’s digital age, such a phenomenon can mostly be seen on social media platforms, of course.

Marketers are well aware of such behaviors and they will not hesitate to take advantage of it. In this particular case, we’ll talk about how to leverage this consumer interaction to give a boost to eCommerce sales. Let’s get to it, shall we?

The collective wisdom of the crowd

The eCommerce industry is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. The main reason is that consumers prefer to shop online. They find it easy and convenient to browse through eCommerce stores and make purchases whenever they feel like it.

However, we all know that consumers also tend to be indecisive when it comes to making purchases online. Consumers will do research, compare prices and look for reviews before making their decision. You can use social proof to ease the uncertainty consumers are having and encourage them to convert by giving them what they’re looking for.

As a matter of fact, 91% of online consumers prefer to read product reviews. In addition, 84% of these consumers trust reviews as much as personal recommendations. Positive reviews can influence other consumers and eliminate their indecisiveness. After all, if previous consumers had a good experience at your store and liked the products, the same will happen to the rest.

A sense of urgency

A sense of urgency

Just as much as people want to belong to a certain group, they also fear not being a part of that group any longer. Even though nobody will cast them out for missing out on an opportunity, human psyche makes them believe otherwise.

Although it sounds cruel, you can leverage this type of social proof to boost your eCommerce sales. This behavior is called the fear of missing out (FOMO). Consumers will feel a sense of urgency if the product everyone else in the group has bought is about to run out.

If they don’t buy it then they’ll no longer belong, and that cannot be allowed to happen. You can create this sense of urgency and leverage an efficient conversion rate optimization tool to monitor how social proof in this context is driving conversion at your eCommerce store. You’ll probably have more sales than ever. Here are a few things you can do.

  • Limit the number of products in stock.
  • Limit the time to buy.
  • Offer a discount or an incentive to encourage conversions.
  • Create a promotion for the product with the message that the sale is ending soon.

A welcomed endorsement

As mentioned before, social proof can most commonly be seen on social media platforms. Every group of consumers or target audience, if you prefer, tends to flock to a specific individual with the most influence. These individuals are known as influencers on social media.

They can be popular bloggers, vloggers, celebrities and other famous individuals. Such people can influence the behavior of their followers, hence the name “influencers”. Partnering up with influencers is known as influencer marketing and it’s one of the best ways to use social proof to your advantage.

For example, this type of endorsements can influence up to 50% of purchases. 49% of Twitter users rely on recommendations from influencers and 40% of them stated that a tweet from an influencer encouraged them to make a purchase.

Therefore, an endorsement from an influencer is a welcomed endorsement, indeed. By leveraging influencer marketing you can use social proof to greatly boost your eCommerce conversion rates and it only takes one individual to drive the rest of the crowd.

Social proof can be used to influence consumer behavior to your advantage. After all, marketers constantly try to predict how consumers will behave and how certain trends will influence their purchasing decisions so that they can adjust their strategies. Social proof is, therefore, a certain bet if you want to boost your eCommerce conversions.

About Author:-

Keith Coppersmith is a business and marketing expert who has experienced both the rise and fall of many businesses. As a regular contributor at BizzmarkBlog, he enjoys writing and providing insight of the marketing industry based on both practice and theory.

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