Imagine shopping for a new couch and finding two options that look perfect in the pictures. They seem to be the right material and color that you’re looking for and you’re trying to decide which one to get. The first one has several reviews and customer photos that show what the couch really looks like, while the other one has a couple of vague reviews. So which one do you go with?
Of course, you’ll feel more inclined to go with the option that has the customer photos. This is due to a little psychological phenomenon that we call social proof. In this post, we take a closer look at what this phenomenon entails, and we also provide you with a few important social proof statistics that will boost your brand. Let’s dive in.
- Types of Social Proof
- Social Proof Statistics on Reviews and Testimonials
- Social Proof Statistics on Building Trust
- eCommerce Social Proof: Statistics on Purchase Decisions
- Social Proof Statistics about Influencer Marketing
- Social Proof Statistics for User-Generated Content
- Emerging Trends And The Future of Social Proof
- What Social Proof Statistics Reveal
- Frequently Asked Questions
Types of Social Proof
Social proof is essentially anything that proves your business is real, reputable, and trustworthy. There are various types of social proof, and we've explained some of them below.
Customer Reviews and Testimonials
Customer reviews are the most common type of social proof. They are written by satisfied customers who have used your product or service and want to share their positive experiences with others.
You can show these reviews and testimonials on your website, social media, Google, or third-party review sites. For example, SmartSites, a digital marketing agency, displays customer testimonials on its website. You can also find reviews on their social media accounts.
SmartSites customer reviews
Influencer and Celebrity Endorsements
The content a social media influencer or celebrity creates for your brand can act as social proof. It can be as simple as tagging your brand in a story or creating a whole blog post or video about your product. Since these people are already influential among their audiences, a good word from them can boost your credibility in front of your target audience.
For example, Anna Sitar, a beauty and lifestyle influencer, partnered with Dior to create a video showcasing their new perfume. The video, which she posted on her Instagram account, is social proof for the luxury brand.
User-Generated Content
Unlike influencer content or celebrity endorsements that brands typically have to pay for, user-generated content is free. It includes any content created by your customers, such as photos, videos, or posts about your brand or product. For example, if a customer posts a picture of them wearing a necklace from your jewelry store, that's user-generated content.
An example is the pictures @TheClassyAcademic has posted of herself in an Anthropologie outfit.
She has used #anthropologie in her post caption and tagged the brand in the pictures. The brand can choose to repost these pictures to show social proof and appreciation for their customers' loyalty.
Expert Opinions and Accreditations
Besides influencers and customers, industry experts and professionals can also act as social proof for your brand. For example, if a skincare brand receives a seal of approval from the American Academy of Dermatology, it adds credibility to its products.
Similarly, an industry expert praising your product or service is also social proof. You can post their review or quotes on your online platforms to show your customers that experts (who know what they're talking about) approve of your brand.
For example, when Vcita, a SaaS company targeting SMEs, won the award for the Best SaaS Product for SMEs at The Cloud Awards, they posted about it on their LinkedIn account to show existing and potential customers that their product is top-notch and recognized by industry experts.
Social Media Shares and Mentions
Customers, industry professionals, celebrities, or influencers don't necessarily have to create content for your brand for it to be social proof. Even a simple share, mention, or tag on social media can be powerful social proof.
For example, if a celebrity tweets about loving your product, it can influence their followers to try it out. The same applies to a satisfied customer. An example is this tweet from a customer about the recent meals they've cooked with the help of Hello Fresh.
We've been using Hello Fresh for a few weeks to try new stuff and to eat better in general and I'm very pleased with what we cooked during that time. pic.twitter.com/Mn463MXasM
— Danel (@Speckmantelmade) September 2, 2024
However, since they haven't tagged the brand, Hello Fresh would need a social media listening tool to find such mentions.
Social Proof Statistics on Reviews and Testimonials
Reviews and testimonials from existing customers are the most common form of social proof. Now with the internet making them more accessible, people are increasingly relying on them to make decisions about a brand and what to purchase. With that said, let’s take a look at some of the vital social proof statistics related to reviews and testimonials.
1. Reviews are popularly used by consumers to make decisions about businesses. 91% of consumers read online reviews to learn about local businesses, and 42% do this regularly.
2. For most consumers, reviews and testimonials can give them a better idea of whether to buy products. As such, it’s become a norm to read them before making a purchase. In fact, 75% of consumers search for reviews and testimonials before buying something.
3. With reviews helping people learn more about what to expect from a business, consumers try to read several of them before they make a decision. Consumers typically read 3-5 reviews when they know the brand but read 5-10 reviews when they don’t know the brand.
4. The use of online reviews isn’t just limited to online transactions. 82% of consumers use their phones to read online reviews while shopping in-store.
5. Moreover, the number of reviews you get also plays a role in how people feel about making a purchase. 90% of consumers expect to see 50-500 reviews per product.
6. In fact, seeing a large number of reviews can effectively boost your conversions. 50+ reviews per product can result in a conversion rate increase of 4.6%.
7. Fortunately for brands, shoppers are starting to leave even more reviews than before, with an 11% year-over-year increase. When shoppers engage with reviews, there’s a 144% increase in conversion rate. These shoppers also tend to spend more money, with a revenue lift of 162% and an order value 13% higher than average.
8. What’s even better is that 38% of consumers only leave positive reviews, thus improving your chances of getting more positive reviews. Meanwhile, 10% only leave negative reviews while 4% would never leave a review at all.
9. And it’s not just the positive reviews that matter to consumers. 32% of shoppers always look for negative reviews before buying something. This is because negative reviews help to add authenticity to the positive ones, giving people more reasons to trust what others are saying.
10. Of course, positive reviews still matter as they help to leave a good impression on potential customers. 69% of consumers will feel positive about a business if the review describes a positive experience.
11. Your responsiveness to reviews is another factor that consumers will look at before deciding to buy from your business. 88% of consumers will likely choose a business if they respond to all their reviews regardless of whether they’re positive or negative.
12. Make sure you’re not taking too long to respond to reviews because 34% of consumers expect brands to respond to reviews in 2 to 3 days. Meanwhile, 11% want brands to respond to reviews the same day as they are posted.
How soon customers want brands to respond to reviews
13. Reviews and testimonials aren’t just for your website or for a third-party review platform. In fact, they can be valuable tools to boost the impact of your advertising efforts. Review-based ads result in a 4X higher click-through rate and a 50% reduction in both cost per acquisition and cost per click.
14. So considering everything that we’ve seen so far, it’s no wonder that marketers will see the value of reviews and testimonials. In fact, 70% of marketers believe that ratings and reviews are important for their organization.
Social Proof Statistics on Building Trust
Social proof helps consumers learn more about other people’s experiences. As such, it’s the perfect way to gauge the credibility of a business and the authenticity of its claims. In other words, social proof holds the key to earning the trust of consumers. Let’s take a look at some important social proof statistics related to building trust.
15. While reviews on your site may work great, people are still going to trust third-party sources more. Among review platforms, Google is the most trusted across all industries with 81% of consumers using it to evaluate local businesses.
16. However, only having Google reviews won’t suffice because most consumers read reviews on multiple sites. The majority (36%) read business reviews on at least 2 review sites or platforms, followed by 25% of consumers who read reviews on 3 platforms.
17. Social proof works because consumers trust the people they know personally over the brand that’s selling them something. 69% of consumers trust the advice of their friends and family over advice coming from a business.
18. Similarly, 72% of consumers consider customer reviews and testimonials more credible than when a brand talks about its own products.
19. While reviews may come from strangers, consumers are still highly likely to trust them because they come from real people. In fact, 50% of consumers trust online reviews as much as they trust recommendations that come from friends and family.
20. In some cases, these reviews may also be considered as trustworthy as a recommendation from an influencer they look up to. 35% of consumers trust online reviews as much as they trust recommendations from the social media personalities they follow.
21. Positive social proof is bound to increase trust in your brand because consumers can see that other customers have had good experiences. 72% of consumers trust a business more as a result of positive reviews and testimonials.
22. While written reviews work great, visual proof could further add an extra layer of trust in said reviews. After all, it’s much more difficult to fake a photo or video than it is to fake a written review. In fact, 66% of consumers trust product reviews more when there are photos or videos included.
23. This also extends to the B2B space where testimonials are used frequently to tell client stories. You can imagine that people are much more likely to trust testimonials that feature a real client. As such, 63% of consumers consider visual testimonials to be more credible than written testimonials.
24. On top of this, 72% of consumers find images shared by customers to be more trustworthy than stock images.
eCommerce Social Proof: Statistics on Purchase Decisions
Social proof gives consumers peace of mind to make informed purchase decisions. Reviews, testimonials, and other types of social proof help to showcase whether the product or service lived up to customers’ expectations. This makes it easier for consumers to assess how to make buying decisions based on that information. Let’s look at the following social proof statistics to understand its impact on purchase decisions.
25. While the presence of reviews undoubtedly helps people to make a purchase, it’s only natural that the absence of it would have the opposite effect. In fact, 40% of consumers would avoid buying an item if it has no reviews.
26. It’s also important to note that it’s not just having reviews that matter; it’s having reviews that are recent enough to be relevant to your customers. Review recency is a factor that affects the purchase decisions of 58% of consumers, with 45% expecting to see reviews that are no older than a month.
27. The number of reviews also plays an important role because clearly, consumers want the reassurance that a lot of people are speaking positively about the brand and its product. In fact, 13% of shoppers are most likely to be influenced by seeing a high number of reviews when making a purchase decision.
28. It’s not just reviews and testimonials that are influencing people’s purchase decisions. Social media also plays an important role. 34% of social media users find the perfect product from seeing a friend’s social media post.
29. Of course, it’s only natural for consumers to trust the people they know i.e., their friends to provide them with relevant and trustworthy recommendations. So these recommendations have a huge influence on their purchasing decisions. Recommendations from friends are the top reasons why consumers purchase on social.
30. Moreover, it’s not just the social media posts from friends that are influencing those purchases. Seeing what other consumers are saying about a brand or product is an important factor in making a buying decision. Comments or product reviews are the second biggest reason consumers buy on social.
31. Posts from other social media users and content creators also play a role, making it more important than ever for brands to leverage user-generated content. According to 78% of consumers, when they interact with a brand’s online community, it makes the brand stay on top of their mind during shopping.
32. It’s also important for brands to listen to their customers online. In fact, 97% of customers said they purchase more often from a brand that listens to their feedback.
Social Proof Statistics about Influencer Marketing
In an age where certain social media personalities have established influence over consumers, influencer marketing can also be a valuable source of social proof. However, with a growing distrust of influencers, brands must be careful to work with the right content creators.
These would essentially be influencers who are authentic and command a significant influence over the right audience. Let’s find out some social proof statistics related to influencer marketing to better understand how to leverage it.
33. Although people are most likely to trust recommendations from people they know, influencer content doesn’t fall too far behind. 71% of consumers still trust product placements, opinions, and advertisements from influencers.
Marketing channels and consumer trust
34. Moreover, 37% of consumers have a deeper trust in social media influencers than they do in brands. This trend is more apparent among Gen Z and Millennial populations, which are twice as likely as Boomers to trust influencers.
35. As such, influencer ads can also be an effective way for brands to connect with a relevant target audience. In fact, influencer ads resulted in a 9-point increase in brand affinity and purchase intent when compared to consumers who did not see the influencer ads.
36. Influencers help to drive product discovery, making them a great way for new brands and startups to launch themselves. 28% of consumers find out about new brands and products through influencers.
Social Proof Statistics for User-Generated Content
User-generated content has emerged as a powerful tool for online marketing, considering people trust other shoppers and social media creators more than brands. UGC could be anything that brings credibility to your brand, such as blogs, videos, social media posts, images, and podcast mentions. The authenticity of UGC is the driving force behind its success and impact on conversion rates.
37. Both marketers and users are not on the same page when it comes to seeing user-generated content as authentic. Customers are 2.4x more likely to believe UGC to be more authentic than brand-created content compared to marketers, who are 2.1x more likely to believe the reverse to be true.
38. It seems like user-generated content is even more effective than influencer-generated content, as 79% of consumers say UGC impacts their purchasing decisions. Only 8% say their purchasing decisions are swayed by influencer content, while 13% say the same about branded content.
39. Not all UGC has the same impact, though. 56% of consumers want to see more photos and videos from brands, likely due to the visual appeal of these types of content.
40. The good news is that not only do consumers want to see more UGC, but they are also willing to create more of it. 89% of consumers say that they would post about a positive experience at a travel destination, while 85% are willing to do the same for a restaurant dining experience. Similarly, 65% say that they will post content about a positive beauty and health experience.
41. Even better, customers actually want brands to tell them what kind of content to create. In fact, 60% of consumers would like to hear from brands about what type of UGC they should share. Additionally, 64% of customers are likely to share UGC if the brand re-shares customer content.
42. While marketers may not be on the same page, they can definitely see the higher engagement of UGC. 6 out of 10 marketers feel that UGC gets higher engagement than branded content.
43. A high engagement ultimately leads to more sales, too. According to Salsify, 40% of customers decide to complete a purchase after seeing user-generated content. Customers deem UGC, such as photos and videos, to be ''extremely'' or ''very'' important in purchase decisions.
What product content drives purchase decisions
44. Just like the presence of UGC prompts purchase decisions, its absence can deter them. In fact, 13% of consumers say that they are less likely to make a purchase from a brand if they cannot find any user-generated content for the product they plan to buy.
45. While all shoppers are somewhat encouraged to complete a purchase due to the presence of UGC, Gen Z shoppers are the most easily influenced. Among all generations, Gen Z is the most influenced (12%) by UGC, followed by millennials, 11%, and then Gen X, 9%.
46. As for industries, eCommerce brands prefer user-generated pictures from real customers over influencers or hand-picked models to show diversity. eCommerce marketers are also 2x more likely to say that UGC generates more consumer trust than AI-generated visuals.
47. UGC doesn’t only help improve customer trust but also reduces marketing costs. As per 85% of marketers, UGC decreases costs compared to influencer content or professional photography.
48. When it comes to the best platform for collecting UGC, 28% of eCommerce marketers say that Instagram generates highly engaging UGC compared to other platforms. Facebook is in second place, selected by 23% of marketers, followed by TikTok, which is deemed as the platform with the most engaging UGC by 19% of marketers.
Emerging Trends And The Future of Social Proof
Just like every other aspect of branding and marketing, social proof is also evolving. AI is in the picture now, consumer preferences have changed quite a lot, the need for authenticity is higher than ever, and there's some research that has brought new insights to marketers.
49. Going forward, reviews alone won't be enough. Brands will also have to build communities that can vouch for their products and services. 77% of consumers wish their favorite brands had communities, and 69% of marketers plan to prioritize bringing this wish to life in the next 2 years.
50. AI will also become imperative in social proof generation and review management. In a blind test, 58% of consumers selected an AI-written response to a review to be better than a human-written one, which was selected by 42% of consumers.
Customer response to AI-written reviews
51. However, that's not to say you should start relying on AI to write reviews for your business, as consumers are now more suspicious than ever of AI content. The biggest giveaway for most (37%) of consumers is a review being over-the-top positive. Similarly, 33% of people doubt a review to be AI-written if it shares content with other reviews.
52. Investing in user-generated content will yield positive results for brands. In fact, 67% of retailers have already planned to increase their investments in this vertical to capitalize on the trust consumers place in content generated by their peers.
53. As for internal efforts that brands can make to collect more social proof, customer service is the most popular way. Customers are quick to walk away from a brand that offers them a poor experience. However, if you provide them with stellar customer service, 59% of customers are likely to recommend you to a friend or family member.
What Social Proof Statistics Reveal
Based on what you’ve seen so far, social proof is here to stay. And if you know how to leverage it, it could be the perfect tool for your brand to build trust and boost conversions. Be sure to take advantage of visual social proof and influencer marketing campaigns to take your efforts even further.
Social proof doesn't only show your credibility to potential customers but also builds a sense of community and connection with your audience. You can show social proof through customer testimonials, reviews, ratings, and even user-generated content. The key is to make it easily accessible for your audience to see and engage with.
Besides external sources, you can also create internal social proof by showing the number of customers or followers you have, and any awards or recognition your brand has received. These are all indicators of your brand's trustworthiness and success, which can help sway potential customers to choose your products or services.
Frequently Asked Questions
How effective is social proof?
Social proof is an extremely effective tool in influencing consumer behavior. Studies have shown that people are more likely to trust and purchase a product or service if they see others doing the same. As social proof provides a sense of validation and credibility, it encourages purchase decisions. It also shows that a product or service is popular and well-received, making it more attractive to interested prospects.
How do you measure social proof?
You can measure social proof by tracking metrics such as likes, comments, shares, retweets, followers, positive reviews, customer testimonials, user-generated content, and frequency of branded hashtag use. Since collecting this data manually can be difficult, use social monitoring tools to simplify the process. Many of these tools have analytics dashboards, where you can see the volume and impact of your brand's social proof.
How do different demographics respond to social proof?
While all demographics are somewhat affected by social proof, Gen Z and millennials are more likely to base their purchase decisions on it. This may be due to the oversaturation of product options and advertisements, leading these age groups to seek out the opinions and experiences of others before making a decision. However, older generations are also influenced by social proof as it adds a sense of security and trust in their purchase.
How does social proof impact conversion rates in e-commerce?
Social proof helps improve conversion rates in e-commerce since it eliminates the "risk" factor in purchasing online. According to Bigcommerce, a product with more than 50 reviews has a 4.6% higher conversion rate. More so, shoppers who engage with customer reviews tend to have a 144% higher conversion rate, and their order value is also 13% higher than average.
What role do influencers play in providing social proof for e-commerce brands?
Influencers, being readily trusted by their followers, can provide social proof for e-commerce brands by creating content around their products. They may promote a brand's product through social media mentions, reports, content, or reviews. Influencers can also show their audiences how an e-commerce product works or can be integrated into their daily lives, effectively demonstrating its value and legitimacy.
How can social proof help build a brand's reputation?
In a time where customers are skeptical of branded advertisements and put more trust in social proof, reviews and user-generated content can help a brand build its reputation. Positive reviews, testimonials, influencer content, UGC, and social media mentions create a positive image of the brand.
Social proof shows prospective buyers that other people have already used and benefited from the product or services they are interested in, so they can expect to have the same positive experience.
Similarly, social proof in the form of accreditations and industry expert endorsements can further strengthen a brand's reputation and credibility.
