What is the first thing that you consider when making a buying decision? It could be one of the many variables that impact an individual’s buying decision. One of the key variables that has a direct relationship with buying decisions is social proof.
Social proof has the power to influence your target audience to take action, convert, and eventually become a customer. No, it isn’t a myth rather it is a scientifically proven and data-driven phenomenon that works exceptionally well. With little testing and experimentation, you can grow your business exponentially with social proof.
This article covers social proof statistics 2021 that will help you better understand the power of using social proof and why you should use it in your marketing and advertising strategies. The stats cover both social proof types and how it can help you increase conversions, sales, and revenue.
But first…
What is Social Proof?
It is a social phenomenon that people tend to follow others assuming that the behavior of the masses is correct. It is under social situations when people don’t know the appropriate behavior. People follow group behavior for two mains reasons:
- They don’t want to appear alien in a social situation by doing something different
- They assume that others are well informed about the correct behavior in the current situation.
Customer reviews are one of the best social proof examples. If you have to buy a shampoo from Amazon, you are most likely to order a shampoo with the highest rating.
Why?
Because you believe that others who have used the shampoo are well-informed and know about the shampoo more than you.
Social proof isn’t just limited to online purchases rather it is used everywhere. There are several types of social proof that are used extensively in marketing including:
- Customer reviews and testimonials
- Expert recommendation
- Trust symbols
- Certifications and awards
- Celebrity endorsement
- Influencer marketing.
Social Proof Statistics: Reviews and Testimonials
One of the key reasons why marketers and advertisers love social proof is that it influences buying decisions. The following statistics explains how and why:
- 31% of consumers reported that they read more online reviews in 2020 than ever due to Covid-19. (BrightLocal)
- 67% of consumers say that they’ll not buy from a business if reviews say that it doesn’t follow Covid-19 safety SOPs. (BrightLocal)
- 80% of Americans seek recommendations from family and friends before making a purchase. (Business2Community)
- 87% of consumers read online reviews to find local businesses in 2020. (BrightLocal)
- 97% of consumers say that online reviews impact their buying decisions. (Podium)
- 8% of consumers trust online reviews as personal recommendations. (BrightLocal)
- Testimonials can increase sales page conversions by 34%. (VWO)
- 57% of consumers prefer buying from a business that has at least a 4-star rating. (HubSpot)
- 40% of people say that they have purchased a product because it was used by an influencer. (AdWeek)
- 49% of people rely on recommendations from influencers on Twitter. (AdWeek)
- After seeing promotional content from influencers, Twitter users are 5.2x likely to purchase the product. (AdWeek)
- Images and photos used in reviews and testimonials increase credibility and truthiness. (PubMed)
- It requires an average of 40 reviews before a potential buyer can trust a business’s review and star rating to be accurate and authentic. (BrightLocal)
- Consumers expect to see an average of 112 reviews per product when they’re searching online for a product or service. (Retail Touchpoints)
- 85% of consumers are of the view that online reviews older than 3 months are irrelevant. (BrightLocal)
Social Proof Statistics: Traffic, Sales, and Revenue
The best thing about social proof is that it helps you improve traffic, conversions, sales, and revenue. The following statistics show how powerful marketing technique it is:
- 50% of consumers visit a company’s website after reading a positive review. (HubSpot)
- A one-star increase in Yelp review increases revenue by 5-9%. (HBS)
- Customer testimonials placed alongside expensive products increases conversion rate by 380%. (Power Reviews)
- Businesses earn $6.50 for every $1 spent on influencer marketing. (Tomoson)
- 31% of customers are willing to spend more on a business with excellent reviews. (Invesp)
- 35% of consumers say that they buy an expensive product if it has better reviews. (Salsify)
- Adding logos on a landing page can increase conversions by 400%. (Conversion Rate Experts)
- Websites that use testimonials receive 45% more traffic than websites that don’t. (Yotpo)
- Having 10+ reviews on a website increases its traffic by 15-20% on Google Business listings. (Big Commerce)
- Having 50+ reviews per product on an ecommerce store increases the conversion rate by 4.6%. (Big Commerce)
- Improving star ratings from 3 to 5 increase organic clicks in Google by 25%. (BrightLocal)
- Using customer testimonials generate 62% more revenue. (Strategic Factory)
- Consumers who interact with a review spend 3% more per order. (Big Commerce)
- Wikijob increased its conversion rate by 34% by using testimonials on its landing page. (Crowdy)
- The purchase likelihood for a product with 5 reviews is 270% higher than the purchase likelihood of a product without any reviews. (Spiegel Research Center)
- Reviews placed with low-priced products increase the conversion rate by 190% and for high-priced products, the conversion rate increases by 380%. (Spiegel Research Center)
- Purchase likelihood is maximum between 4-4.7 star rating across all product categories and it then decreases as star-rating approaches 5. (Spiegel Research Center)
- Verified buyer badges increase review credibility and improves the probability of purchase by 15%. (Spiegel Research Center)
Conclusion
Social proof is a highly effective phenomenon for marketers and businesses. You can use social proof in several ways ranging from customer reviews to influencer marketing to trust badges and more. Social proof isn’t a quick fix and must not be used as such. You’ll need to test what social proof type works best for your audience. It requires A/B testing and regular tweaks to make it work for your business.
Social proof works and there isn’t any second opinion about it and must not be considered a quick fix rather it is a long-term marketing technique that you must not go without.