Improve Website Leads: Social Proof — What it is and how to use it
Leads, conversion rates, sales pipelines, funnels, whatever you want to focus on, your website and your company sales are intrinsically linked. It’s one of the many places where marketing and user experience must intersect to reach company goals. One often overlooked way to improve conversion rates on any website (or social media account) is to strategically leverage social proof throughout the user’s journey to conversion. In this blog, we’ll explore what social proof is, explore examples of social proof that you can include on your website, and provide implementable tips and tricks for those of you working in the health ecosystem (healthcare, fitness, wellness, and related technologies), specifically.
What is social proof?
Simply put, social proof is borrowed credibility. In other words, you’re “borrowing” credibility from previous customers, accredited organizations, or thorough research to bolster your own credibility and notoriety as a company or solution. This “borrowed credibility” is powerful because it also offers a social indicator that others have endorsed your company, products, or services. Social proof has a longstanding history in marketing and psychology, and generally refers to the tendency of humans to follow the behavioral cues of other humans. If you surround your company/solution in social proof, you’re effectively creating and leveraging word-of-mouth without needing a middleman to actually spread the word on how great you are.
Some real-life examples of social proof are:
Testimonials (if you can attach a real face to the testimonial, then even better!)
We’re a big fan of a testimonial on a website — love ‘em. But when it comes to testimonials, the shorter the better. Give people something they can remember and walk away with. If a potential customer was going to get a recommendation for your company from a friend, how would that friend say it? They’re not going to relay an entire paragraph, they’ll keep it short and sweet. If you can attach a photo to the testimonial then bonus points are coming your way because, as people, we like to see and relate to other people. Even a stock image will help a potential customer see more authenticity in a written testimonial than just the words alone.
Client logos if you’re a B2B organization or featured happy customers if you’re a B2C organization
Logo wall, logo reel, whatever works for your website design — but make sure you have proof of the organizations and clients that you work with. If you’re just starting out you might not have many, but make sure to really promote the ones you do have, or stock up on other examples of social proof until you have logos to share. If you’re B2C, you could apply the same strategy with featured happy customers or “success stories.”
Accreditations or group memberships with clout
For those of you in the health industry, this is especially important. If you’re a part of any organizations or associations, get their logos up on your website if you’re permitted to do so. Highlight your membership to exclusive and credible groups as much as you can and you’ll borrow their exclusivity and credibility on your website.
Endorsements from trusted sources or individuals
Maybe you can’t feature a past customer or current client (this tends to be an issue in healthcare & wellness industries specifically, because of patient privacy regulations), but can you get a trusted individual from your network to endorse your company or solution?
Team expertise with accredited sources
Don’t forget to borrow some of your team’s credibility and awesomeness too! Do all of your team members have X years in the industry? Did your CEO attend a prestigious program or work on a recognized campaign? Give them a shoutout! It supports them and your company credibility.
Media promotions from trusted sources
See if you can get a media source to promote or spotlight your company or solution! Even local publications can carry some weight, so be sure to highlight these opportunities on your website with links back to the original articles or videos.
Statistics of all kinds — this could be as simple as a percentage of 5-star reviews or a full-blown research project to quantify your product’s value
Numbers = good. If you can attach an honest number to the relative success of your solution, you’ll build trust and credibility with your potential customer. Reviews, research, number of repeat clients, number of clients served, years in business… whatever else you can think of. Be honest and don’t stretch the truth (or your social proof will have the reverse effect), but leverage quantitative data as much as possible.
Where & how you can integrate social proof on your website (+ example site):
Here are our best tips for integrating social proof into your website:
First and foremost, be authentic
Don’t stretch the truth or over-inflate your success — no one likes an ego, especially not people you’re asking to take a chance on your business. If it doesn’t feel “like you,” it shouldn’t be on your website. Period.
EnticEdge rule of thumb: Aim for at least 2 instances of social proof per page, or 1 every 3rd section per page
This isn’t a hard and fast rule, just a starting point so you don’t forget to include social proof throughout. While it can be done, it’s cumbersome to have to go back through your site and pepper in testimonials, statistics, etc. Take a look at the example website our design team mocked up below. For every statement, you should think about providing “proof” of what you said, which is why the “every 3rd section” rule tends to work out. As demonstrated below, these instances don’t have to be huge or overwhelm the content of the page, just noticeable enough that they back up your statements.
EnticEdge rule of thumb: Always include a call to action shortly after your social proof
We really recommend following this one, and this is where user journey and marketing really start to interact. In the example above, we provide information on the services and team, substantiate those statements with a testimonial, and then give the user an opportunity to book a call (our website’s primary goal) in the subsequent section. It’s not an “in your face” call to action, but it’s there in case our user is convinced. If not, we go through the process again: specialties, proof of our claims, call to action.
Leveraging your website’s footer
You may have also noticed the footer on the example website above, and that it included a brief note on partners & accreditations with accompanying logos below. Again, it’s subtle, but these nods to trustworthy external organizations validate your company’s value and messaging. Oh, and did you notice that it’s proximal to the “book” button in the footer?
We hope we convinced you of the value of social proof on your website and in marketing in general (if we didn’t, maybe we should’ve used more social proof in this blog…). If this is your first blog with us, let us introduce ourselves: We’re EnticEdge and we help healthcare and wellness companies find their authentic edge and share it with the world. We specialize in strategic advising and digital marketing, and work with innovators, disrupters, makers, and industry-shakers in healthcare & wellness to advance their mission-driven growth and drive greater impact.
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