“Man is a social being; it’s not surprising we love social proofs; it sells brands fast”
Bernard Kelvin Clive
Social proof is incredibly valuable when it comes to your marketing strategy.
Social proof describes a concept which says people will follow the actions of others. The idea revolves around the notion that if other people behave in a certain way, it must be the correct behaviour. This idea is powerful when used in marketing and is one which brands can often utilise to their advantage. Below we will explore using social proof to tempt your audience to act…
The value of testimonials as social proof
As you know, word of mouth is incredibly powerful. How many times have you been told about a product and service and gone to investigate it or try it for yourself? It happens all the time with shows on Netflix, just look at the huge success of Bridgerton! Testimonials are a form of social proof. Reviews and testimonials are great for gaining new leads and creating conversions.
By using reviews and testimonials in email marketing, you communicate (via another’s words) the value of your products or services. Of course a business will brag about their products, but testimonials are social proof that they are, indeed, great!
How to include these in your email marketing campaigns
When you feature a product or service in your email newsletter, you can then place a segment underneath that says, “Here’s what our customers already think of this product” … and include a few influential feature testimonials. This helps to create a narrative in your newsletter.
Another good option is statistics placed throughout your content. Think 99% of users were satisfied with our services (don’t forget to source these stats – e.g. stats taken from Facebook feedback).
How to encourage more engagement and feedback via your newsletters
It’s all well and good seeing the value of testimonials in your email marketing campaign, but you need to have the reviews as social proof in the first place. This can be the hard part.
Many businesses feel reluctant to ask for feedback, but leaving it to be given of the audience’s own accord rarely happens. Customers don’t have this at the forefront of their mind! Often they need a little nudge to leave a testimonial, but if the experience has been good – many are very keen to accommodate. If the feedback isn’t so good, it can still be valuable for your business to grow and evolve.
Thankfully, there are some subtle and effective ways to encourage engagement and feedback via email newsletters. Here are some starting ideas:
- As mentioned, in our previous blog post, ‘Call to Actions’ are incredibly powerful. You can add a CTA button asking your readers to leave a review. Make this button a big bold beauty so it can’t be missed.
- Offer a reward. Include a section that stands out - ‘Tell us your experience to receive a 5% voucher’.
- Encourage user generated content – encourage social engagement, encourage your audience onto your social media accounts. ‘Share a picture of our goods on your social media accounts to receive a 5% voucher’.
- Create a survey or poll - add a link to it within your newsletter. Often your audience isn’t sure how to give feedback, or where, so this steers them in the right direction.
- Include videos - nothing captures attention more than a video as social proof. Your audience then gets to see the face of your product or service user. As well as being captivating, videos provide nice diverse content into your newsletter, making it more creative and engaging.
- Try case studies - You can share what your customer’s pain points were, what you did to help resolve them and include a quote from your customer. Case studies help audiences put themselves in the shoes of a real-life customer, it helps them picture your product or service in practice.
It’s time to give our tips a test drive, gain that powerful social proof from your audience and then use this to your advantage to create a buzz about your brand. We guarantee it’ll build confidence in your customer base and help encourage even more conversions via your email marketing campaigns. Let us know how you get on!
If you would like further help or advice on email marketing, please get in touch with transpond today.