5 Reasons for Social Proof on Landing Pages

December 24, 2014

Social proof is the positive influence that is created when people find out that other people are doing something. This means that you’re more likely to watch a popular YouTube channel that your co-workers discuss every day at lunch than one that doesn’t have any followers.

When a user arrives at your landing page, they have no idea whether or not the offer is any good. Adding social proof to the page lets people know that there are others who have positive things to say about it. The social proof makes them more likely to complete the form on the page and convert to a lead. The following details just five simple yet effective ways to add social proof on your landing pages.

Customer testimonials

As many as 90 percent of consumers read online reviews or other information about products before making a purchase. If customers are thinking about buying a product that can have a significant impact on their personal or professional lives, they don’t want to read a long list of statistics. Making a purchase is an emotional decision. As such, it’s much more powerful to hear opinions and insights from real people who understand and can relate to other customers.

Testimonials from already satisfied customers give your products an unbiased advantage that turns prospects into paying customers. These reviews and comments make a sales pitch that doesn’t sound overly promotional, showcase a wide range of benefits, and create credibility for prospective customers. Make sure to include a name, company, and/or job title along with a quote from a customer.

Case studies

Case studies are a great way to take testimonials one step further. Select short quotes from case studies and link them on a landing page. These quotes give customers the meat of the studies in just a few sentences. From there, they may choose to read the full case study, but it won’t bog down the landing page.

Embedded social media posts

You can embed posts from a range of social media channels including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Google+, SlideShare, and Tumblr. An embedded post is better than a screenshot because users can interact with it. Why just show the post when you can have users share or “favourite” it right from the landing page?

Number of shares

If you’ve spent any time browsing online, you’ve most likely come across social sharing buttons for Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and other social media networks that display the number of shares for that particular page. As most companies are already using social sharing buttons, it’s easy to make the transition to using buttons with statistics. Many businesses limit social sharing buttons to certain types of content, such as blog posts. There is no reason why you can’t add them to landing pages.

Number of users/downloads

Are users filling out a landing page form so that they can download content? Posting statistics about the content offers validation. You may want to wait to add these statistics until you have an impressive number. Telling users that 50 people have downloaded an ebook may actually deter them from filling out the form.

There are two notable ways that you can make all of the previously mentioned tactics even more effective. The first way is to display social proof above the fold. Above the fold refers to the content that users can see on a page before they scroll down. There are lots of plugins and scripts that make it simple to add social counts to each page, including landing pages. Seeing those statistics right at the top of the page often results in more people sharing the page.

The second way is to include photos. One of the easiest ways to make testimonials and reviews more believable is to put a face with the words. People are more likely to trust a review if it is accompanied by a picture of the person who wrote the review. Any time you’re going to use a quote from a customer as social proof, make sure to get a photo of them.

But what if you don’t have any social proof? It takes time and patience to establish a company and have viable social proof that you can share with potential and existing customers. Until you have this social proof, resist the temptation to post false testimonials or statistics. It’s better to have one great customer review than to face the consequences that come with customers who find out that the two dozen product reviews on your site are all fake.