Social Proof for SaaS: How to use Psychology to your advantage?
It has never been more difficult for a SaaS Brand to differentiate from competitors, expand its consumer base, and increase its market share than it is now.
However, how are you going to do it?
Social Proof!
When it comes to SaaS and B2B brands, using the right social proof strategy can have a huge impact. It can boost your brand's visibility and, consequently, its credibility. In turn, these two features can increase people's readiness to sign up for services.
No purchase, no matter how trivial, will be done unless trust is established. Individuals place their trust in other people, not in self-promotional material or advertising.
Your product will be more appealing to customers if they can see how it has made other people's lives easier. Provide them with success stories. You've gained a conversion if your prospect can relate with the stories.
Believe me, but don't believe me.
In "The Pursuit of Dreams," Dragos Bratasanu writes, "the dominant social force that drives our thinking and actions is the unconscious search and need for social proof."
What does this mean for a B2B SaaS brand?
Prospects, irrespective of how pleased they are with your service, typically always look to the preferences of others to shape their judgments.
People will seek approval before proceeding with a transaction (from friends, family, industry influencers).
In other words, showing prospects how your product (or service) solved their problem increases their likelihood of choosing you over your competitors.
Do you remember the last time you bought something based on the recommendations and ratings of friends or family?
Good.
That was social proof.
Consider the possibilities of having that same compelling energy woven into your entire content marketing strategy.
Utilizing cognitive biases, such as social proof, enables marketers to gain a better understanding of how consumers think and to utilise that knowledge to steer prospects through the buyer journey.
Let's take a deep dive into the social proof bias and see how it manifests itself in real-world situations.
As Aristotle said, "man is by nature social." From Cialdini to social media, it seems we proved him right. Humans enjoy conforming. We look to others for guidance. We are constantly comparing. We move by the popular opinion.
Yes, that means we feel annoyed when our step count doesn't match that of our peers. It also means that we'll feel compelled to look up whenever a group of people is doing so, even if we have no particular need to do so.
Restaurants with long queues? Good. A corporation that has received a lot of positive feedback? That's fantastic. A "Bestseller" T-shirt?
I'll take it, thanks!
Social Proof is the basis of how we interact with others. Humans have evolved to exist in tribes, groups, and by adhering to the 'in-group.'
So, what exactly is this idea? Why is it a marketer's most powerful psychological tool?
93% consumers think that online reviews influence their shopping decisions. Before making an online purchase,
83% of people check out customer reviews. We want to hear what our peers think about a product or service, compare proof, and decide how to act.
A great example of Social Proof in eCommerce is customer reviews, which have a significant impact on purchasing decisions.
A study was done by Goldstein, Cialdini, and Griskevicius to see whether social proof may boost customer adherence with a towel reuse scheme. They compared two methods. The first method was the industry norm, a statement emphasising the need of environmental conservation. The second message transmitted the descriptive norm, notifying guests that the majority of other guests (75%) partake in the activity.
Visitors who were informed that the majority of other guests reused their towels were 26% more inclined to do so than those who received the standard message.
Guests who were informed that the majority of other guests in their particular room reused their towels were 33 percent more inclined to do so than those who saw the standard message.
All of this is accomplished by modifying the message to contain a Social Proof bias.
Can you see where I'm heading with this?
Social Proof is your product's lifeline. Without it, your company is dead.
It demonstrates to prospects that real individuals have used your product and found it to be suitable and worthy of recommendation. Your “initial” trust is earned.
Consider the following SaaS brands that leverage social proof:
Mailchimp's landing page includes testimonials. The organisation bolsters the effectiveness of the strategy by including photographs of customers.
Twilio's landing page features some of the company's largest clients. If these brands find it acceptable, it must be great for us.
Zoom devotes an entire page to client success stories and testimonials. Customers can filter the page by business. This enables prospective users to identify existing customers who are comparable to them. The effect of social proof is amplified by relevance.
Basecamp's approach is unique. Its landing page indicates the number of users who have joined since their inception. This is an excellent technique to forecast your growth.
Ahrefs generates social proof by reporting the number of new users in the last seven days.
Still unsure?
Here are six statistics that show why social proof is so important for SaaS and B2B brands:
According to Voices.com, placing customers' logos on a company's website can drive sales by 400%.
An average consumer reads 10 reviews online, to validate their purchase choice.
57% of consumers will only purchase or utilise a company service if it has a rating of at least 4 stars.
51% of marketers feel influencer marketing improves customer acquisition.
92% of B2B buyers are more likely to make a purchase after reading a credible online review.
85% of consumers trust testimonials as much as recommendations from friends and family.
As a founder or marketing executive, you should consider enhancing your marketing efforts with the use of the appropriate Social Proof Strategy.
It will increase conversion rates, decrease bounce rates, and streamline your funnels.
Now, let us examine.
What is the most effective social proof strategy for B2B SaaS brands?
Incorporate positive, personalised testimonials onto your landing page and sales copy
Testimonials are an effective social proof marketing tactic for SaaS and B2B businesses. You may leverage testimonials to increase sales by displaying them on your landing and sales pages. But they don't always work.
If you want your customers to believe you're not just chasing their money, you must make user reviews relevant and genuine. Reviews should be specific to your Target Persona and not generic. Engaged readers dig it.
So, how can you make user testimonials credible?
Here are a few pointers:
Instead of employing a large number of testimonials or random reviews, choose one or two that have real, data-driven results that are meaningful to your target persona.
To put it another way:
Assemble all of the relevant (but non-obvious) information about your Target Persona in one place. Put a face to the name — use a high-quality photograph.
What's the big deal about this?
Testimonials are more credible when they can see the person who wrote them. Images do, in fact, boost trust, as evidenced by studies on increasing "truthiness." Please, no random photos.
Make use of high-resolution photographs, particularly with a smile on the person's face. It helps to make your landing page more attractive and welcoming.
Let's take a look at MailChimp:
MailChimp not only includes images, names, titles, and organisations (with a specific testimonial), but they also provide numbers so that prospects can see how far users have progressed since signing up.
That's refreshing to me.
Quick Tip: Combine a CTA with Social Proof. The button copy should encourage the reader to participate in a similar activity.
Make use of rating platforms
The numbers speak for themselves.
If you've got it, don't be afraid to show it out.
Like Ahrefs, you may display the number of trial users each week. Or customers that sign up for a monthly subscription model such as Calendly.
Adding ratings from third-party platforms such as Capterra and Trustpilot to your homepage can also help you attract new subscribers. It's more likely to convert a lead that comes from Capterra because the visitor has already expressed an interest in buying.
When in Doubt, Rely on Experts
Influencer can be someone who has established their-self as a powerful voice of authority in their sector - for example, industry experts.
Celebs and thought leaders, for example, may be considered leaders outside of your sector.
People appreciate their thoughts and listen to what they say. Perhaps you're curious as to why this occurs. The Halo effect is what it's called.
Psychologists noticed that we tend to appraise the quality of an individual's viewpoint depending on our overall image of that individual.
It is more likely that their followers will pay attention to your product or service if it is endorsed by one of these well-known figures.
A person like Landingi, who is well-known in your field, can serve as a good example:
Alternatively, name noteworthy individuals or corporations who have confidence and faith in your product or service. Similarly to Trello:
Quick Tip: This can be used on landing pages, the homepage, the sign-up page, and the pricing/features page.
Make use of popular selections to create default options
Procrastination is the largest challenge you encounter when trying to get someone to sign up for a free trial. Typically, this is due to the time and effort required to select from a variety of alternatives (your free trial, one of your other services, a paid plan, or a competitor).
The paradox of choice states that the more options you have, the more hard it is to make a decision. To minimise your visitors' decision-making and enhance your SaaS product sign-ups, you can make certain choices the default option.
Typically, a high majority of SaaS sign-ups originate from the pricing page of the website.
In some cases, the pairing of a free trial with price levels that each have their own CTA can be difficult to understand and navigate.
By emphasising the "most popular" approach, you can alleviate most of this confusion and keep new leads on track. Making a decision can be difficult for some people, especially if they are unsure of the best alternative to meet their requirements.
It's similar to the Paradox of Choice, in which having more than one choices makes settling on one difficult. As a result, they delay and leave the process, with some never returning. It goes without saying that this will have an effect on your conversion numbers as well as your monthly recurring revenue(MRR).
Providing visitors with an easy experience might be beneficial in preventing this. You might begin by highlighting the advantages of each choice, noting which ones are standard and which ones are only available with a specific plan.
You can also promote “the most popular” strategy to avoid confusing and losing prospects. This is standard pricing for SaaS products.
Conclusion: Invest in Customer Growth
Social Proof is a powerful SaaS marketing tool that can help you boost conversion rates at every stage of the customer lifecycle. You can enhance lead generation, increase free-to-paid conversions, and reduce churn by adopting these SaaS Social Proof tactics into your branding, UI, and customer relationship management.
