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How you can use social proof and get an edge over your competitors

Business TalkNovember 27, 201974 Comments01.5k

The previous post explained what social proof is in its various forms and how it matters to businesses both online and offline. In this post we’re going to look at how you can use social proof to work for your business to give you an edge over your competitors and how to publish it so that you can make it visible to the widest possible audience of your choice.

Which means you need to publish your proof in a variety of online and offline media places to strengthen your sales presentations and customer offers with the aim to validate and process your customer’s purchasing decision.

Here are some types of social proof you can prominently display online and on your website, social media posts and also offline such as PR articles, brochures and appropriate industry publications.

Get a professional seal of approval. Display your qualifications, memberships and affiliations that are relevant to your product and service offers for your customers. These will build relationships as they show that you’re official and that you have credibility and are accepted in your market.
Use ‘trust badges’ to put your prospective customers at ease. These are the certificates you get through online privacy and security services which show that you take your customers’ data and confidentially very seriously …and portrays that you’re legit. A very good place to highlight these is in your product descriptions and again at the point of purchase. If you have received any relevant personal or business awards, accolades, or mentions with important people and influencers in your industry, display these prominently in pictures, videos or graphics. These work really well at the initial stage of the sales process when prospects are just beginning to get to know you and like and trust your business.
Display your accreditation and certification badges. These also work well at the initial stages of your connections. For example, if you sell organic products, prominently display organic certification or in the case of a manufacture product, display that you are ISO certified such as ISO 9001 quality management or ISO 1400 environmental standards. This will put your customers’ minds at ease.
Create a Press Release (PR) section on your website and keep it updated with the latest news and PR information. This shows that you’re active in the media and permits you to show off any good press you get.
Reviews and testimonials. Encourage reviews by putting a link to your ‘Yelp’ or ‘Google My Business Page’ on your website. Also ask your social media followers for reviews, and by adding a rating scale to your website or allow people to post reviews of products there. Add case study testimonials to your product descriptions and blogs by showing an image or video of your customers… When you put a human face on your social proof, it’s even more powerful and authentic. Just make sure you have your customer’s permission before you add these.
Put a gallery that shows visual illustrates of the work you do on your site. This isn’t exactly social proof, but like all of the rest of your social proof, it will bestow you with trust and credibility by showing the real results of your work.
Add customer rankings, ratings, comments and Tweet the results of new surveys or statistics that have been provided by a user
And make sure that you add social proof continuously to all of your content and not just your website. For example, you can add social sharing buttons and social media widgets to every page of your website.