Picture this. It’s a pleasant sunny afternoon and you decide to head out for lunch. As you drive out into your neighborhood you come across two new restaurants that you have not tried yet. You’re tempted. But how do you choose between them? Maybe you look at how many people there are inside, or maybe you look for it online to read reviews about it, or maybe you just ask your friends or neighbors for suggestions. You make your decision based on the decisions and opinions of others. This is called social proofing.

Close to 74% of consumers are said to check at least two review sites before making a decision. This is why social proofing is important for any and every business owner.

Understanding Social Proof and Its Impact

In simple terms, social proofing in marketing is when an individual looks to another individual or a group of people for proof or endorsement of a certain product or service. It is rooted in the psychological concept that people tend to often look at others to determine the correct behavior in any given situation. It takes many forms such as,

• Reviews
• Ratings
• Testimonials
• Endorsements
• Social media mentions

A survey conducted by TINT reveals that 72% of consumers find customer-submitted reviews and testimonials more trustworthy than brands discussing their own products. And this clearly explains why customers are a lot more likely to trust others’ opinions over traditional advertising. One reason for this could also be because today’s customers are spoilt for choice. They have many options and selecting between them is like taking a gamble. Why not go with the safest option? The one with the most positive reviews and recommendations?

The Power of Video Testimonials

Testimonials differ from reviews in that they are usually more detailed, always positive, and address how the product or service helped address a certain concern. They mostly come from clients and are meant to be featured on websites, emails, and other promotional materials for a company.

Testimonials come in different formats too. Audio, video, and textual. The one with the most impact however, is video. A video testimonial is a recording or a clip of a client or customer talking about their experience with a brand’s product or service, why they chose it, why they recommend it to others, and how it improved their lives. Due to this they are considered to be the most authentic and powerful format of testimonials.

Some benefits of video testimonials include:

• Higher Engagement: Videos don’t require a viewer to put in the effort of reading to understand. It’s like watching a movie and hence consistently ranks higher in engagement.
• Authenticity: There is a real person behind the camera both recording and talking about their experience. This automatically makes it more authentic.
• Emotional Connection: Watching someone talk about their experience, explain how it affected them, and how their problems were ultimately solved can create an emotional connection for the viewer. In some cases it might even be relatable.

Video testimonials also help brands stand out from their competitors who don’t feature them. It shows that there are real customers and clients backing a product and willing to take time out to endorse it.

Implementing Social Proof in Business Strategies

There are so many ways to use social proof. And so many places that you can feature them. Here are some ideas to get you started,

• Website & Landing Pages: Display testimonials and reviews in dedicated sections on your landing, pricing, and even features pages. Especially on landing pages it can help make a great first impression. Some businesses even have entire webpages dedicated just to the testimonials they've gotten.
• Social Media: You can repurpose the content you have in your testimonials for social platforms and posts. You could even try having a "Testimonial Tuesdays" series where you feature testimonials from your customers every Tuesday.
• Demo & Sales Calls: Show off the testimonials you've gotten by highlighting specific pain points that a customer had and how you solved it. When someone has already booked a demo, they've shown interest in your product.
• Webinars: The end goal of most webinars is to receive sign ups or leads for a specific product or service. Showing off the good words your existing customers have said about you might just be the push needed for webinar attendees to become leads.
• Ad Campaigns: Start running ad campaigns with testimonials in them. f you've collected video testimonials even better because they can hook in anyone viewing the ad.

A survey by BrightLocal found that 91% of consumers between the ages of 18-34 trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. And 57% of consumers will only buy or use a business if it has at least a 4-star rating.

Considering these statistics, it is crucial that you also start collecting any and every mention of your business online. Whether good or bad, negative or positive, they can all be used to learn more about your business, the products you offer, and what your customers think of you. The best part is that all of this research can be accessed and collected for next to nothing. Just investment of some time and energy from your end.

How Video Testimonials Improve Brand Trust

We've already discussed what video testimonials are. But why do they have the impact they do?

Videos are a lot more engaging. Period. They grab the attention of an audience a lot quicker than a block of text. Additionally, they create an intimate bond with the viewer. How many times have you watched an ad, a movie, or even a short video and connected with the actors in it? Similarly, with good storytelling, video testimonials can be used to create a connection with potential customers. Video testimonials will also feature people's faces in them. This gives a buyer confidence that there are real people who have used the product. And can influence their own decision to make a purchase when they see that others had their problems solved.

Best Practices for Using Social Proof in Your Marketing

By now you've probably understood what video testimonials are and why they are important for marketing. But now let us understand how to collect them.

The obvious way to collect testimonials is to just ask your customers. But you need to know how to ask for it and what tools to use to collect them.

• The most popular method for collecting testimonials seems to be either over email or Google Forms. However, this has it's limitations. One of the biggest issues lies in media sharing. Your testimonial giver will have to record, attach, and then send the video over to you. And on your end you will have to once again download or convert the video testimonial for it to be of any use to you.
• Luckily, there is an easy way to avoid going through this hassle. Just get yourself a video testimonial software. They can help you set up a collection form, help you with how and what to ask your customers, and even provide you with a central workspace where you can manage all content you receive.

Measuring the Impact of Social Proof on Your Business

You've now set up a tool to collect testimonials from your customers. You've also managed to request and build a whole collection of testimonials. And you've even started using them in your marketing efforts!

But how effective have they been? To know this you need to now start tracking the effectiveness of testimonials on your conversion rates. Here are some of the things you should be tracking,

• Website Visits: Track how many people visit your website through links in your testimonial-based marketing campaigns.
• Views: If you have a view count meter on your testimonials' video player you can analyze and understand which ones of your testimonials are performing better.
• Engagement: Watch for basic engagement statistics like the amount of time people spend on your website, how they navigate it, and which sections they focus on.
• Sign-ups: If the goal of showing off social proof was to get sign-ups for say a newsletter or your app—you can measure how many came after watching or reading your testimonials.
• Sales: Of course, sales being the primary objective. You can collect insights from a customer after a purchase to know what influenced their decision to choose you.

Conclusion

Testimonials aren’t just for showing off all the love you are getting. When video is present on a landing page, conversion has been found to increase by 80% to 300%. And according to Wyzowl, 60% of video marketers have created testimonial videos which makes it the third most popular use case for videos in marketing—only behind explainer and social media videos. Clearly, it is high time every marketer starts putting their efforts into building social proof with video testimonials. You too can start collecting them today, and in just a few weeks, have a library of video testimonials to use to boost trust, engagement, and conversions!