What is Good Social Proof and How do You Get It?

So you’ve heard that social proof is important in building a consumer’s trust if you want to convert a site visitor into a customer, but what is good social proof?

You may have endorsements from media or well-known people, or you may have won awards, but how much stock does the average consumer actually put into those things?

If you’ve ever tried researching a product or business online, you know that the best form of social proof is customer reviews.

Showing customer reviews give your website visitors an honest, personal look into the experiences that other consumers have had with your product or company.

You want to make sure that you are getting great social proof and adding that to your website to make more sales or win more customers. When you are looking to add social proof to your website, keep this in mind.

Good Social Proof Is...

Honest
Relevant
Recent
Provided by Real Users

Glowing customer reviews that encompass all those points will give consumers confidence in the quality of the product or service your company provides.

How Do You Get Good Social Proof?

You need to first provide your customers with excellent service and excellent products. You need to give them reasons to want to leave a good review.

Once you’ve left your customers with a positive experience you can ask them to write about it! How do you go about getting those customer reviews?

You have to ask!

Asking for reviews from your customers can seem awkward and uncomfortable, but generally, people are happy to share their opinions and experiences. You just need to let them know that the opportunity is there.

So let’s go over a few ideas on how to generate more reviews.

1. Ask for a review in person

The easiest and most effective way of getting a customer review is to ask for it in person. Here are several scenarios where this option works. If you are approached by a customer who wants to take the time to let you know how happy they are, encourage them to also share that information in a review.

Saying something like, “You know, those kinds of comments help prospective customers feel more confident in choosing us. If you don’t mind writing out your experience in a quick review on (your review platform), that would be helpful.”

As the above scenario is typically rare, you will usually need to strike up a conversation with your customer to provide the opportunity to ask. This is particularly effective in industries where the requester has been able to spend time with the customer, connecting on a more personal level.

At the end of the sale, there is no better person positioned to ask for the review. They can further explain how helpful reviews are to other customers who are researching.

Another good thing about asking for reviews in person is that it allows you to pre-screen. If you try and strike up a conversation, but the person is providing you with short answers, or if you know the customer is unhappy, then you know that you shouldn’t ask them for a review.

On the other hand, if a customer is chatty and happy, you know they are more likely to give you positive feedback.

2. Request reviews by email

For businesses that do most or all of their business online, asking for feedback by email can be a great way to solicit reviews.

For example, you can send customers a link to a short survey. If the customer has had a positive experience, you can ask them for a review.

If possible, try to

have the email come from a person the customer has been in contact with
include the customer’s name in the subject line
put links to review site(s) in the email
have a very clear call-to-action link/button – just as with good conversion rate optimization
have a singular goal of users clicking the review button
test different subject lines and different email copies to see what performs the best.
keep e-mail correspondence short and sweet.

Remember, people are busy, and you’re already asking them to take the time to write a review, so don’t make them read a 2-page letter about it!

3. Ask for reviews via a thank you page

Businesses can utilize thank you pages to collect customer reviews as well. Once a customer has made a purchase, you can include something like, “Thank you for your purchase! If you enjoyed your shopping experience, tell us (and others) about it!”

4. Involve your employees

Your employees must be on-board with the need to get customer reviews as well. You can accomplish this by training employees on how to ask for reviews. Stress the importance of reviews throughout your organization.

Offer bonuses or incentives to the employees who have the highest number of positive reviews.

5. Respond to your reviewers

While getting reviews is essential, it is also important to respond to and thank customers who have taken the time to leave a review.

Have one person dedicated to spending time every day searching out reviews and responding to them in a personal and professional way. Don’t just insert a form letter type of response.

Instead, respond to the customer by name and emphasize something positive about your business from their review. Thank them for their business and feedback, and then encourage them to come back again.

How to use reviews as social proof for your Shopify store

Online reviews (like Shopify reviews) are important for your business because they allow new customers to have a point of reference and trust with your business. They can see how others feel about your business and what kind of experience they had with your business and your brand.

Reviews are like personal recommendations and many many people trust them.

Therefore, Shopify reviews can be a major driver of eCommerce purchases and even increase your ‘click-through rate’ (CTR).

Beautiful, simple reviews for your site

Easily collect, show & grow customer reviews, photos & videos for your business.

Harnessing the power of reviews

Social proof is no use to your businesses if you can't use it to generate additional sales! If you find that you have a lot of reviews, you should display them on your website.

The best place to display testimonials is on your product page and at checkout. The reason you want to display social proof in these places is to help customers see that your product is worth trying. This will lead to two things: