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Regardless of how long you’ve been in business, you have heard or read about the importance of getting reviews from your customers. Though reviews have been around the longest, there are other ways you can generate social proof in addition to reviews and that includes user generated content and influencer marketing.
All three strategies can be game-changing for your business. Let’s break these social proof-generating marketing strategies down with a list of how to implement each one in your marketing plan.
There are a number of places to accumulate reviews including Google, Facebook, Yelp and your website. While having reviews in all of those places is great, most people will only choose one place to leave a review, so choose the place that is most important for your business to promote to your customers. Are people searching for you on Google, Facebook or Yelp most often?
Once you’ve decided where you want customers to leave reviews, create a QR code linking to it. Print this QR code on brochures, business cards and on signs in your location. Create a bit.ly link that also links to this page, and post it on social media, link in your email marketing and your signature.
Don’t forget to reach out to your customers and ask for reviews, either. Make it a practice to regularly tell your customers how important a review would be for you.
Once you’ve accumulated some really great reviews, use quotes from reviews that you’ve received in social media posts, list on your website and in other marketing materials as applicable.
Monitoring follower growth over time and comparing it to competitors can help you determine the success of your brand's social media presence and marketing campaigns. Rapid follower growth may indicate that your content resonates with your target audience, whilst slow growth may necessitate a rethinking of your strategy.
User Generated Content is unpaid social posts that people share when they’re using or talking about a product or service. This type of social proof takes a little bit more effort. Businesses that have a brick and mortar location can encourage customers to post on social media about their experience or products through signage in the building. For example, a boutique could have a sign above a mirror encouraging customers to take a selfie in their new outfit and post it on social media. A coffee shop asking customers to post on social media about their favorite drink is another example.
When customers do post, pay close attention to your social channels so you see when they tag your business. You can then re-share the post onto your social media channels.
User generated content doesn’t always have to be about your specific products or service, either. If other accounts are posting content that falls in-line with your values or the culture of your company and its followers, then share that content onto your channels. This helps break up the number of “sales” posts on your feed with other content that your followers may be interested in.
Before sharing content, always make sure to reach out to the person who made the post and get permission to share to your company’s page.
Working with social media influencers is similar to posting user generated content, but also a little bit different. There is usually an agreement or contract involved in this relationship to ensure that both the company and the influencer understand what is expected of them. Usually influencers are paid to share content about a product or service. Other times, they will post for free products or services. Once an agreement is signed, the social media influencer will share their thoughts on the business’s product(s) or service(s).
The effectiveness of this type of campaign can easily be tracked by providing the influencer with a coupon code, or if the product or service is purchased at the business location, the influencer will tell their followers to mention their name for the promotion.
This type of social proof marketing needs to be managed well in order for it to be successful.
The social proof-generating marketing strategies listed above are highly effective in generating sales and brand awareness. They can also come at a low cost as well. If you are interested in working with us to implement any or all of these strategies, fill out our contact form to get the conversation started.
