Why Social Proof Reigns Supreme in Marketing

Last week we reviewed the power of using truth in your marketing
—even when your gut is screaming at you to hide it.

This week we’ll cover social proof.

Several days ago my fiancée and I sat down to discuss our wedding plans
for next year. We had spoken to a travel agent and had all of her
recommendations, packages, and so on in hand for three Caribbean
destination weddings.

It was now time to make a choice. Where were we going to go? All three
locations offered top-notch services, lots of variety in local cuisine, tons of
activities, beautiful hotels and all for similar prices.

Based on the information we had in hand, we should have been able to pick one and feel comfortable that we’d made a good choice.

Did we?

No.

Why?

Something just wasn’t right. We just couldn’t be certain and since we only planned on doing this once, we wanted to be just that— certain.

So what did we do?

We went out and got social proof.

Why?

Because the travel agent and resorts didn’t provide it. Oops.

We talked to family, friends, co-workers, even strangers to accumulate enough information for a general consensus. We wanted testimonials so badly we went in search of them.

How many of you do the very same thing before you buy a car, decide on a new hair style, choose a different physician, renovate your home, book a vacation, even when buying a book or CD?

Now, if I do it, you do it, and one assumes that we are both reasonably intelligent people, wouldn’t it stand to reason that our prospects do it too?

The next question then is how effective are you being with this critical marketing tool?

Are you using testimonials as social proof on your website, in your sales letters, in your TV/radio commercials, in your brochures, in every marketing medium you can think of?

Why not?

Wouldn’t you rather give your prospects the testimonials they’re hungry for than send them packing with your price lists , only to have their friends recommend your competition???

And yes, it’s true that some of your prospects won’t believe the testimonials you collect. But then again, maybe that’s where last week’s discussion of “truth” comes in…

Tip:

Get more testimonials faster from your clients by offering them an incentive. Offer them free access to your next teleseminar, a free copy of your book, free admission to a paid event, an hour of free consulting, a plug in your next newsletter, free advertising space for a week, or trade testimonials. Yes, it sounds alarmingly like a bribe, but the fact is, your clients won’t want to risk their reputations (since you must absolutely use their names!) on a product or service they don’t believe is good or worthwhile.

An incentive is just the tiny nudge your clients need to transition from telling you how great you are, to TESTIFYING to how great you are.

Resources:

Use these resources to add more sizzle to your website testimonials. Seeing a face and hearing a voice personalizes testimonials in a way a simple quote never could.

www.AudioGenerator.com
www.InstantVideoGenerator.com

Committed to your marketing success,
Lina Penalosa
May 31, 2005