Social acceptance is important, even vital, to many people. Many of us want to fit in with the rest of the crowd, which affects our lives in a variety of ways, including our purchasing behavior.
Ask yourself, have you ever purchased a product based on a recommendation? If you have, you've been influenced by social proof, and you've shown why it can be an excellent marketing tactic for businesses. Positive social proof helped sway you to make the purchase, scaffolding other marketing efforts.
It was a real person who recommended that product to you, and that’s why it's so persuasive: it's genuine.
Clever brands and entrepreneurs have realized that social proof offers a huge potential for growth, so they use various social proof tactics to influence purchasing behavior.
This article explains social proof as a concept, and provides you with actionable advice so you can begin using it to grow your own business and nail social proof marketing.
What is Social Proof?
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of using social proof to grow your business, it's essential that we first explain social proof as a concept.
Social proof, also known as informational social influence, refers to people (in your case, potential customers) assuming that the actions of others are correct, based on the frequency that they see said actions.
Let's cover a real-life situation to demonstrate how social proof works:
You're walking down a street in a new city and you stumble across a restaurant that’s filled with people. You'll likely think that the restaurant serves high-quality food. Why else would so many people be eating there?
This scenario demonstrates social proof in action. You saw other consumers who were engaging with a product which is popular, so you too saw that product as attractive.
Why Social Proof Matters
Whether you realize it or not, this psychological principle has likely shaped many of your decisions throughout life. From small everyday choices to major purchases, we naturally look to others for guidance on what's worth our attention and money.
Think about why you might stop scrolling through social media when you see a post with thousands of likes and comments. Or why you might give an unfamiliar brand a chance after reading glowing testimonials.
For businesses, understanding this principle is crucial. When shoppers encounter your brand for the first time, they're naturally skeptical. But when they see evidence that others have purchased from you and had positive experiences, trust replaces that skepticism.
The impact on purchasing decisions is substantial. Research shows that the majority of shoppers actively seek out what others think before committing to a purchase. They want reassurance that they're making a smart choice, and they find that reassurance in the experiences of fellow consumers.
Principles of Social Proof
There are four principles of social proof that can affect the way we act.
- Uncertainty: This principle highlights how we refer to how other people are reacting to a situation when we are uncertain about it.
- Similarity: If you are experiencing something unfamiliar with a large group of people, you are more inclined to follow the reaction of those who you consider similar to you.
- Expertise: Students are more likely to look to their teachers for signals of how to react in uncertain circumstances. This is the expertise principle in social proof where those with more knowledge about a situation can lead the reaction of the rest.
- Number: The herd mentality summarizes the number principle best. Where a group of people experience something uncertain together, the actions of the majority will be seen as correct and valid.
Types of Social Proof
Social proof comes in many different forms, and understanding these variations can help you choose the right approach for your business. Each type carries its own unique weight and appeals to customers in different ways.
The Wisdom of the Crowd
When large numbers of people engage with your brand, it sends a powerful message. Think about follower counts on social media, the number of products sold, or how many times content has been shared. These quantifiable metrics tell potential customers that many others have already chosen you.
A Facebook page with over 100,000 followers naturally appears more established than one with just a few hundred. Similarly, showing that thousands of customers have purchased a particular item can motivate others to do the same.
User Reviews and Ratings
Perhaps the most trusted form of validation comes from fellow shoppers. When real customers share their honest experiences, it carries weight with potential buyers. These peer-driven testimonials often prove more convincing than any marketing message.
Reviews can appear on your website, through specialized apps, or on third-party platforms. Both individual product feedback and overall company ratings help build credibility.
Celebrity and Influencer Endorsements
When well-known personalities publicly support your products, their audiences take notice. While paid partnerships may not always feel as organic as peer reviews, they can still be highly effective when done authentically.
Micro-influencers within your niche often have dedicated followings that trust their recommendations. The key is ensuring any endorsement feels genuine rather than forced.
Trust in Friends
When friends follow your business on social media or share content featuring your products, it provides a personal recommendation that resonates deeply.
Content created by satisfied customers and shared on their personal accounts falls into this category. These authentic posts often feel more trustworthy than sponsored content.
Certification and Verification
Official recognition from authoritative sources adds legitimacy to your brand. This could include verified badges on social platforms, industry certifications, or quality seals from recognized organizations.
These marks of approval signal to customers that your business has been vetted and approved by trusted authorities.
Expert Endorsement
When industry specialists recommend your offerings, it carries significant weight. Expert validation might come through public recommendations, guest appearances, or professional associations with your brand.
This type of validation is particularly powerful in specialized niches where expertise matters greatly to customers.
How to Use Social Proof for Your Business
Social proof can positively influence the purchasing behavior of potential customers. Now, it's time to explain how you can use social proof to grow your own business and generate more sales. One common theme stands out: customer feedback is critical for building social proof.
Use Reviews from Happy Customers
Many online shoppers read reviews before making purchases, and making customer reviews visible helps boost your legitimacy and service quality.
Customer reviews, regardless of their sentiment, will indicate to potential customers that you've not only made sales in the past but that you're also a legitimate business. Sometimes, especially if it's a new business, you may need this social proof to help you secure sales.
The sentiment of your reviews will help potential customers to gain an understanding about the quality of your products, the timeliness of your shipping, the likeness to your product photos, and a host of other useful information.
As an entrepreneur who is looking to build social proof for their business, customer reviews are a simple solution which can generate long-term benefits for your brand. Thankfully, there are various tools which you can use to leverage customer reviews, and build the social proof for your ecommerce store.
If you're running your ecommerce store on Shopify, we highly recommend that you install the Yotpo Reviews app. It's a free product review tool which you can integrate directly into your existing ecommerce store, and it will enable your customers to easily leave reviews about your products.
To increase the product review count for your store, you can send emails to your customers once they've received their order and ask them to leave a review. If they're totally satisfied with their product it's likely that they'll leave a review. You can also incentivize reviews from your customers by creating an exclusive discount code.
To take your customer reviews to the next level, you can ask your customers to post a picture of their product, or a picture of them using the product. These reviews will resonate with your audience, show legitimacy for your products, and provide you with great user-generated content that you can use for other social proof marketing material.
Create a Blog to Gain Social Proof
Another great tactic for gaining social proof for your brand is to establish yourself as a thought leader in your niche. Content marketing, and blogging, in particular, is a great tool that is used by businesses to provide potential customers with insightful, actionable content which ties in with their products. The end goal of creating a blog for your ecommerce business is to draw high volumes of qualified traffic to your store which will lead to more sales.
It's important to note that thought leadership from blogging will also help you to increase the social proof of your brand. For example, if you're running a cooking utensils store, you can create blog content for your audience that includes recipes, cooking tips, or product reviews, which will help to build the authority of your brand.
Blog content will indicate to your customers that you're a brand which actually cares about the development of its customers. Having a positive brand image like this will help you to secure repeat customers, increase traffic to your store, and ultimately increase your brand's social proof.
If you want to start using blogging and social proof marketing to grow your ecommerce business, you can follow this simple Shopify guide to adding a blog to your online store.
Optimize Your Blog For Social Proof
There are many ways you can optimize your blog to ensure that you gain more social proof.
One way is to add social share buttons and counters to your blog. This will help you not only to encourage your blog audience to share your content, but it'll also indicate that numerous other people have enjoyed the content, and shared it.
If you want to add social media buttons to your ecommerce blog, we recommend that you install an app like Social Sharing Buttons from the app store. As you'll be trying to establish your brand as a thought leader in your niche, adding this small feature can go a long way.
It's also a great idea to add a mailing list button onto your blog. This will allow you to grow the audience of your blog whilst obtaining the email addresses of engaged users. You can produce regular newsletters which will help you to retain your users, and provide them with even more useful content.
Leverage Influencer Prestige
Influencers hold the power to positively influence the opinions of their audience. For entrepreneurs, influencers can be used to grow your brand's reach, increase your social proof, and ultimately help you to generate more sales.
You can use social proof marketing tactics like influencer marketing to utilize the power of social influence for your brand. To succeed with influencer marketing, you'll first need to use platforms like Traackr to locate and contact influencers who are relevant to your brand's niche.
Once you've found relevant influencers for your campaigns, you'll need to pitch your deal to them. There are two main types of deals which influencers work with: paid and affiliate promotions. If you decide to offer a paid promotion deal, you'll simply pay for a post (or multiple posts) on the influencers given platform, which will promote your brand and products. If you offer an affiliate promotion deal, you'll pay the influencer a set percentage of all the revenue which they bring to your store.
To measure the success of your influencer marketing campaigns, we recommend that you create a unique Shopify discount code for each influencer. If you offer this code to the influencer, they can provide it to their followers, which will also help them to convert their followers into paying customers. At the end of the campaign, you'll be able to see the number of purchases which were linked to that discount code and pay the influencers based on the number of sales which they helped you to generate.
Partnering with the right voices in your industry can open doors to engaged audiences who trust their recommendations.
Engage with Mentions Online
Customers who love your products like to talk about them online. They are vocal about their love for your business and sometimes they will mention your handle in their posts about you on social media. This love for your brand speaks volumes and adds some serious positive social proof for those looking to buy from you. Replicate the language your customers use in their mentions to make the interaction more personal and always thank them for their kind words.
Social Media mentions are not always positive. Sometimes a loyal fan will post publicly about something that makes them unhappy about your product. It is important to engage with these followers also as they can give you valuable insight into the work that needs to be done with your product. Engaging with them helps your social proof also as prospective customers will be happy with the support.
Onboard Brand Ambassadors
Brand ambassadors can humanize your products and brand for prospective customers. These ambassadors can spread social proof on social media, their own websites and within their circle of friends. The awareness that comes from brand ambassadors has helped many brands move the needle with their audience. Brand ambassadors have rebuilt products that failed in the months before, making them twice as popular.
Create a brand ambassador project and onboard people who are loyal to your brand to spread positive social proof to more people worldwide.
Produce User Generated Content
User generated content (UGC) is any form of content produced and shared by your customers and fans, rather than your brand. It can come in many forms, from photos and videos to reviews. This type of content is a great resource for curious buyers as they can get unbiased information about a product before they buy. It builds your trust and authenticity and brings a sense of community to your brand.
Place Testimonials on Your Website
Testimonials are a great way to showcase how happy your current customers are with your product or service. Promote your customer leaving social proof reviews on your website or on a social review site. When a new one shows up, display it on your website homepage or somewhere central to your users so they can see what a great job you are doing.
Shoppers are heavily influenced by testimonials they read online, with positive feedback affecting their buying decisions. Social proof is getting more important every day. This is due to the fact that more and more companies are selling similar things. With this influx of competitors, customers are bombarded with choices and need some proof of the quality of a product before they invest money.
Highlight Bestselling Products
Showcasing which items are flying off your virtual shelves provides powerful validation for uncertain shoppers. When visitors see that a particular product is labeled as a bestseller or trending item, it creates confidence in their purchasing decision.
Consider featuring these popular products prominently on category pages or collection pages. Combine this with star ratings displayed beneath product images to give shoppers multiple signals that others have chosen and loved these items.
This approach taps into the wisdom of the crowd, showing customers that many others have already made this choice successfully.
Add Verified Buyer Labels
In an era where shoppers are increasingly wary of inauthentic feedback, verified buyer labels provide crucial reassurance. These indicators confirm that reviews come from actual customers who purchased the product.
Adding a simple checkmark or badge next to reviews signals authenticity and builds trust. When potential customers see this verification, they can feel confident that the feedback they're reading is genuine and reliable.
This small addition can make a significant difference in conversion rates, particularly for new visitors who are still evaluating whether to trust your brand.
Showcase Customer Testimonials in Paid Ads
Your advertising campaigns become significantly more effective when they feature real customer experiences. Rather than relying solely on promotional messaging, incorporate genuine testimonials into your paid advertisements.
This strategy works particularly well on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, where you have space to include detailed descriptions. Feature the testimonial text prominently and pair it with images or videos of the products being discussed.
As these ads accumulate likes, comments, and shares over time, they create a snowball effect. The visible engagement becomes additional validation, making new viewers more likely to pay attention and take action.
Show Reviews in Email Marketing
Your email subscribers are already warm leads, making them prime candidates for conversion through social proof. Incorporating customer reviews into your email campaigns can be highly effective.
Try including enthusiastic customer feedback about specific products alongside product images. If you have permission, include the customer's name to add authenticity. You might even use subject lines that highlight customer voices to boost open rates.
For maximum impact, create automated email sequences for your top products that incorporate reviews. Send these to users who viewed products but didn't purchase, or to those who abandoned their shopping carts.
Get Verified on Social Media
That coveted verification badge on social platforms serves as instant credibility. It confirms to potential customers that your account is authentic and officially recognized by the platform.
Verified accounts typically enjoy higher engagement rates and appear more trustworthy than unverified ones. The badge signals legitimacy and can help distinguish your brand from imitators or competitors.
While verification requirements vary by platform, pursuing this status is worthwhile for the credibility boost it provides to your social presence.
Create a Branded Social Media Hashtag
A unique hashtag tied to your business creates a central gathering place for customer content. When potential buyers click on your branded hashtag, they discover a feed filled with real people using and enjoying your products.
This approach works exceptionally well for demonstrating the wisdom of the crowd. Seeing hundreds or thousands of posts from actual customers provides powerful validation that your products deliver on their promises.
Promote your hashtag across your social profiles and encourage customers to use it when sharing their experiences. This creates an ever-growing library of authentic content that serves as ongoing social proof.
Show Proof of Demand
Demonstrating that customers are actively buying from you creates momentum. High sales volumes signal demand, which in turn generates more demand as new customers want what others are getting.
You can showcase this in several ways: share the total number of orders fulfilled, display how many items have been sold, or show when inventory is running low. Some businesses use apps to automatically display notifications when customers make purchases or when multiple people are viewing the same product.
These real-time indicators create urgency and validate that others are actively choosing your products right now.
Highlight Rewards and Accolades
Your business achievements deserve visibility. Whether you've won industry awards, reached significant milestones, or contributed to important causes, sharing these accomplishments builds credibility.
Feature your achievements prominently on your website, particularly on your homepage or about page. If your business supports charitable causes or has made measurable positive impacts, showcase those statistics.
These accomplishments connect your brand with customers who share similar values and demonstrate that you're a company worth supporting.
Place Media Logos on Your Homepage
Press coverage from recognized publications provides third-party validation of your brand. When visitors see that reputable media outlets have featured your business, it immediately boosts your credibility.
Display logos from publications that have covered your brand on your homepage and about page. Include relevant quotes from these features alongside the logos when possible.
This type of expert and certification social proof shows that industry authorities have taken notice of your business, making new customers more comfortable buying from you.
How Amazon Makes Sales with Social Proof
Now that we've covered some of the social proof marketing tactics that you can use, let's go over a prominent, real-life example of an ecommerce business that’s incorporated them into its sales tactics.
Social Proof Reviews on Amazon
Amazon, one of the biggest ecommerce businesses in the world, made the choice to utilize social proof as a tool to generate more sales, and they do so expertly.
Amazon has incorporated product reviews into every listing on their website, which allows users to provide honest feedback about the suppliers and the products which are being sold. These reviews are from real people, so they can prove to be very persuasive for customers who are undecided about making a purchase.
Social Proof Marketing Apps
Having the right tools can make building social proof much easier. Here are some excellent apps that can help you leverage social proof effectively.
Loox
Loox automates the process of collecting customer reviews by sending follow-up emails after purchases. The app incentivizes photo reviews by offering discounts, then makes it simple to display these reviews in attractive galleries throughout your store. You can feature customer photos and testimonials on your homepage, product pages, or dedicated review sections.
Fera
Fera offers customizable review widgets that integrate seamlessly with your site design. The app can import existing reviews from multiple platforms and automatically requests new reviews from customers. A standout feature is that reviews collected through Fera are optimized for search engines, helping them appear in Google Search and Shopping results.
PressKitBuilder
This tool helps you create professional press materials that make it easy for journalists and bloggers to write about your business. It also provides ways to showcase media mentions on your website, giving press coverage a permanent home where potential customers can see it.
Social Media Icons by Zotabox
This app makes it easy to add social sharing buttons to your pages and products, encouraging visitors to spread the word about your brand. You can also display share counters that show how many times content has been shared, leveraging the wisdom of the crowd to encourage more sharing.
Start Utilizing Social Proof for Your Brand
Social proof works because it builds trust through authenticity. A satisfied customer often sells better than the most polished marketing copy ever could. The more value you deliver to your customers, the more willing they become to share their positive experiences with others.
Test out different tactics when you're trying to grow your social proof, and we're sure that you'll be seeing results in no time. Start by examining what you already have (past customers, achievements, or milestones) and find creative ways to showcase these elements across your marketing and sales channels.
Social Proof FAQ
What Are The Types Of Social Proof?
Social proof comes in many different forms, and each carries its own unique weight and appeals to customers in different ways. These include the wisdom of the crowd, reviews and ratings from customers, influencer and celebrity endorsements, recommendations from friends, official certification and verification, and endorsements from recognized experts,
What’s The Most Important Factor For Social Proof?
There are many ways to influence and boost your social proof, but the most important thing to know is that customer feedback is absolutely critical. Your customers often hold all the answers you need to building sales and marketing touchpoints that address their needs and drive them to talk you up to friends and colleagues, leave reviews, post about you on social channels, and other helpful actions.
What Are The Principles Of Social Proof?
There are four principles of social proof that can affect the way we act: uncertainty, similarity, expertise, and number.
What Are The Best Apps To Improve My Social Proof?
Social proof is all about authenticity and human connection, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t an array of tools and apps available. Loox, Fera, PressKitBuilder, and Social Media Icons are all viable options, with the latter two being available on the Shopify Store.
Does Social Proof Actually Matter?
The short answer is yes, social proof matters a lot. People naturally look to others for guidance on what's worth their attention and money, and when potential shoppers reach your brand, they’re often skeptical. But when they see evidence that other people have purchased from you and had positive experiences, they begin to trust your brand. They want reassurance that they're making a smart choice, and they find that reassurance in the experiences of fellow consumers.