Setting up your website for your business is an effective strategy for reaching customers. This website is like your own physical store; only there are no rental fees. The only capital you need is creativity and planning a great user experience. In a physical store, you do not want a lame design that will send customers away. You make your shop attractive, and your staff is engaging with people. The same should be your perspective for an online shop. Your website should give a whole new user experience. It can be achieved through social proof notifications.
Social proof notifications stem from the concept of social proof. It is a phenomenon that influences the purchasing decision of a customer. When a potential customer sees that millions of people say that a particular product is effective, that person will be converted from potential to a guaranteed customer.
What are Social Proof Notifications, and How Does it Affect User Experience?
Social proof comes in different forms in different situations. It can be a review, testimony, case study, rating, celebrity endorsement, and many more that proves a product’s quality.
In a concrete situation, if you are to choose a place to eat, you will go to a restaurant with many people. You would not think about how long the line is to get inside. The priority is to wait in line until it is your turn. Since the longer the line, the better the food.
If you are shopping online, before you add something to your cart, checking the product reviews is necessary. Unconsciously, you are seeking other people’s advice on whether or not to get the same product. If the review is not great, you turn to a different product. You sometimes search for a different supplier depending on the comments. On the other hand, if you see a five-star rating and a long authentic review, clicking the cart icon will be your next move.
A person who is in an online store has a 50-50 chance of buying a product. Using social proof notifications increases this percentage in favor of the purchasing portion. But. There is a way to improve these numbers more. Instead of just putting a social proof on your website, why not make social proof notifications?
Yes, these two things are different. They have the same purpose of increasing the reliability of the product and the brand. However, they differ in how they appear on a website. While social proof is on a landing page or a testimony page or at the bottom of each product, a social proof notification is like a regular notification. It means that instead of finding it on a page, the social proof pops up every time you visit the page. Customers will see alerts and pop up icons on the webpage that includes social proof.
Social proof notifications improve user experience because the page becomes more interactive. As a message pops up, you are reminded as a customer that other customers are using the website at the same time as you are. You may also be notified whenever another customer purchased the product you are eyeing. Alerts may also include the “best-seller” badge for the product to tell customers which are in demand. These techniques aim to persuade customers. It makes them trust other people’s purchases and make their own.
Benefits of Social Proof Notifications
Pop-ups and ads are the least favorite things of people on a webpage. Often, these are the reasons a person closes a page. Due to that fact, many business owners are not thrilled about using social proof notifications. They fear that the pop-up alerts are going to piss off their current customers and visitors. This argument is not wrong, and it makes sense. However, they will miss out on something if a business does not use social proof notifications. Just like these benefits:
Product Advertisement
Social proof notifications may contain reviews and ratings from real people. This kind of proof is a form of free advertisement for your product. It may not be as prominent as using a celebrity endorser, but it definitely will convince other people to buy your product. The best thing about this ad is it’s free. The only thing you need to have is a review from a real customer. And their consent to post their statement. Happy customers like in the example will help you boost your SEO. Once a specific product is mentioned in their review and uses that said review, many people will easily find you by searching Google.
Establishing Authority
The most difficult challenge for a start-up business is to establish authority in the market. It is not easy to convince people that your company is trustworthy. Nor is it easy to make people believe that your business is legitimate. Luckily, with social proof notifications, you can start your small business with minimal struggles in this area. Once customers see that you are equipped with tools like these alerts, they will believe you are already an experienced businessman. Customers are convinced of your reliability as an owner. Thus, making your brand and products reliable as well.
Decision Validation
Many customers go to an online store with a product in mind. However, they still are skeptical about buying such products due to many factors. It is often that they seek validation before purchasing this product in mind. Social proof notifications are the validation they need, which you can provide. If they are notified that other people are buying the same product simultaneously as they are considering it, it is the only validation the customer needs to checkout. The reviews and ratings are the back-ups they need to make the final decision. As the owner, you have the power in your hands to give skeptical customers the validation they need. Using it wisely is the key to make things successful.
Tips on Social Proof Notifications
If you think that social proof notifications may be the source of customer irritation, you have the power to undo such. As the website owner, there are things you can consider to make things more useful for you. In order to appear less irritating to customers. This way, you will not be compromising the benefits you can get. Following these tips might be a big help:
Customize your notifications
Part of authority is establishing an alert of your own. Notifications naturally stand out in a website because that is why they are made. They are supposed to alert people of things. To make it an even more effective notification, you can customize the pop-ups according to your brand. Clashing color schemes and irrelevant icons are the last things a customer wants to see on your website. If there is no consistency in your design and plan, it might take much convincing before you establish authority.
Choose the perfect timing
Notifications are not just accessories on the website. They serve a great purpose. It holds the thin line between a purchase and the close button. Therefore, timing is a necessary part of the design. If the last thing you want is to irritate customers with pop-ups, having notifications as soon as they open the website is not ideal. You can customize the timing of pop-ups. It is less irritating if they will see the notification after they clicked on a product. This way, you can give them a notification with a review or a rating.
Moreover, this strategy increases the probability of purchase on the part of the customer. Another way to time the notifications is right before they exit on a page. It will encourage them to stay on the page for a little more time. Maybe then, more notifications can pop up and convince them to checkout.
Language Flexibility
Internationalizing your social proof notification is possible. You can use multiple languages in your notifications. Translating the notification according to the location of the customer is an effective technique. Through this, they will understand your promos or reviews even more. This tip applies to businesses that operated globally. If you aim to bring your business to different countries, this tip is highly recommended.
Mobile Optimization
Fewer and fewer people are using computers and laptops in their daily transactions. The number one reason is that smartphones are “smart” nowadays. When planning a social proof notification, better keep in mind that customers might use their mobile phones when they visit your website. With this in mind, make sure to optimize your website. Display notifications that goes well with mobile use. If this is not done, it will be difficult for customers to navigate through your website. This situation increases the irritation level as much as irrelevant ads.
Better Marketing with SocialPOP
Social proof notifications are the newest and most sought after marketing strategy today. Consequently, there are many companies offering services related to this strategy. One of the many is SocialPOP. If you are looking for a great company that can help your business, however small or big, you can count on SocialPOP for your social proof notification needs.
