The Importance of Social Proof in Ads
Buyers look to other customers to decide what to do.
Is this “social proof” necessary for ads?
Here’s why it’s useful.
When we make ads, we use what’s called the success framework.
It’s from a book called Made to Stick (by the Heath Brothers).
Their “success” acronym captures what makes an idea stick:
Simple, Unexpected, Credible, Concrete, Emotional, and Stories.
For us, if you can get two of those factors into an ad, it’s generally a success.
And social proof is a very easy way to do two things:
1) Make your ads credible and concrete.
If 2,000 people have used your product and it's worked really well, that's credible.
Even better if you have a concrete, realistic data point to back that up, such as:
Those users increased their average sales by 20%.
2) Provide the emotional story side.
Instead of going for the overall statistic, social proof also helps capture the story.
Ex: "Sal's pizza shop is so happy they saved their business by using company XYZ."
Bonus tip: we find that the best element when it comes to using social proof is…
Be as specific as possible!
What benefit did your target market gain from your product?
Whether from one customer or an average of them, client testimony is really valuable.
---> Do other people influence how you shop?