Social Proofs: Why Have them and How

To state it in a matter of fact manner, social proofs are a label that testify how many shares and likes your post or web page has got on social media networks. Social proofs are simply buttons with the social media logo and the number of shares or likes that online readers have hit on that particular post. In other words, if a post has 100 shares, it means it has been shared a hundred times on Facebook or Twitter, as the case is.

Now the question begging to be asked is why bother mentioning how many people have read that post. The answer lies in the simple advertising philosophy: a large number of people bring in more people! To explain it, consider a restaurant that you find crowded every time you walk down that part of the town. You will conclude, more often than not, that the food served at the restaurant is of good quality, otherwise so many people would not have queued up. The next time you eat out, you will prefer this particular restaurant!

In the same way, when online readers find that a particular web page or blog post has been shared on social media platforms extensively, they are more inclined to read the entire page with greater focus and attention. It also attunes them to appreciate the page as opposed to reading it with an open mind. After all, when so many people have liked that page, it must be something good! Who knows, the reader might hit a share or like after reading it, just to be part of a group of like-minded individuals!

Make use of this consumer psychology: get the social proof indicator right on the top of the page. That is where it is most effective. You must keep in minds that if the number of shares or like is below 100, do not bother with the social proof tag: the inverse is true as well! If people find a post with low shares, they automatically conclude that the content on it is not worth their time. To add to the social proof factor, you can get real people to talk about your brand in the form of text or videos. this will make your page more credible and believable to online users.