Incorporating social proof into your website design

You can rave all day about your spectacular products, your unparalleled customer service, and your unwavering technical support.

At the end of the day, however, consumers trust objective third parties more than they trust people with skin in the game.

In other words, they want to know the opinions of people who have nothing to gain when they recommend a business's products or services.How do you leverage this powerful marketing strategy? You use social proof to provide empirical evidence of your business's superiority.

Incorporating social proof into your business website design will help prospective customers feel more confident as they browse your pages and (with any luck) click the buy button. Following are some ways to add social proof to your site, and some of the benefits of doing so.

Influencer marketing helps boost brand awareness

Increase brand awareness and loyalty through influencer marketing - a form of social proof.

Influencer marketers are bloggers, journalists, and other trusted voices who spread the word about a business, product, or service. In blogging, influencer marketing is often called "sponsored content" or "sponsored posts" when the business pays the blogger for his or her contributions to the campaign.

The influencer gives an honest review of the product or service on a blog, social media platform, or other public space. When his or her followers and fans see the content, they draw positive associations with the brand.

Influencers have greater market reach, which means they increase your brand's visibility. If you incorporate snippets of their reviews or comments into your business website design, visitors will see the recommendations and feel more confident in making a purchase from you.

User stories help spread the word

Since most influencer marketing campaigns involve compensating the influencer for his or her time, it's not always as effective as user-generated content. When people give positive reviews of your business with no incentive to do so, their opinions become far more trustworthy.

Think about the last time your best friend recommended a movie or a dish at a restaurant. Did you feel more inclined to give it a try because you trust your friend's judgment? This is how social proof works with user stories.

While you might not pay customers to share their opinions, you can solicit independent reviews from your patrons. Invite them to tell you what they think on social media, for instance.

Collect examples of user stories and create a place for them on your website. Not only will the user's social and professional circle see what your customers have written, but so will the people who visit your business's home on the web.

Collect statistics - then make use of them

Large groups of people can have a bigger impact than individuals on your business marketing campaign.

User stories and influencer content work in much the same way: They tell individual consumers' stories in an intimate and personal medium. However, social proof doesn't always boil down to individual people. You can also use statistics to garner interest in your business's products or services.

How many people have bought your top-selling product in the last 12 months? How many people have subscribed to your newsletter? How many five-star reviews have you received on Amazon?

Tech Crunch offers up fast-food giant McDonald's as a prime example of this form of social proof in action: a sign advertising that the chain had served over one billion people. Statistics communicate to your audience that other people love you, too. It's a form of peer pressure that works just as well on adult consumers as it does on impressionable teenagers.

If you're looking for a way to give your business a boost, consider incorporating social proof into your business website design. You'll gain valuable traction in the market if you show consumers that other people are enjoying your products or services.

If you'd like to learn more about how our agile and data-driven web design strategy can give your organization the website you need, download our growth-driven design eBook.

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