What is Social Proof?
In simple terms, social proof refers to the action of making informed decisions based on the behaviours of others - in other words, listening and reacting to the 'wisdom of the crowd'.
The Science behind Social Proof
The theory of social proof is simple: we are influenced by the actions of others. Psychologist Robert Cialdini first articulated the idea in 1984 that people are likely to do what they see or hear others doing.
On the whole, people trust each other - more than they trust brands. Their purchasing decisions are informed by the actions of others - for example by family and friends; by influencers or by sales assistants.
Authenticity, transparency and honesty is paramount to the success of social proof.
Authenticity, transparency and honesty is paramount to the success of social proof.
The Importance of
Accurate Real-Time Data
Real-time accurate data means that social proof messages can never over claim or mislead.
Taggstar social proof messages are grounded in accurate, real-time data pulled from the retailer's data sources.
Taggstar social proof messages are grounded in accurate, real-time data pulled from the retailer's data sources.
Our own social proof, see what our customers say
Our tests are conclusive; customers who see Taggstar’s messages are more likely to checkout and spend more. Taggstar has been the single-biggest driver of incremental revenues.
It’s very easy to change the Taggstar experience for our different brands. A simple JavaScript allows us to adapt the look and feel of Taggstar messages to suit our different customer segments.
We’ve measured a major increase in eCommerce conversions directly linked to Taggstar.
Following the fantastic reception to social proof messaging from our UK customers, we’ve decided to implement Taggstar for our international sites, hoping to replicate the benefits Taggstar has already brought to our US and European customers.
It was the easiest and smoothest software we've ever integrated.
Using Taggstar has given us impressive online results. We set out to improve the experience for our online customers and it’s rewarding to clearly track uplift in our revenue directly to the use of social proof messaging.
Unlike most integrations, getting Taggstar onto our site was refreshingly easy. I'm delighted with how smoothly onboarding went. Our first test was underway in days, helping us to make the most of our summer sale event.
Our customers are looking for more guidance & product information when choosing from our online wine and Specialbuys ranges. Taggstar acts like an online virtual assistant.
We’re delighted with the results we’ve seen so far and look forward to trialling social proofing in other areas of our customer journey in the near future.
Building on our recent OOH campaigns, we continue to push the boundaries by being the first advertiser to team up with Taggstar to include real-time dynamic product messaging on digital screens.
We were interested in what motivates us to buy as shoppers, and specifically the FOMO factor. We saw how effective the Taggstar social proof messages were, and started using them across our entire product catalogue.
Some customers in our market are often overwhelmed by the amount of choice. Being able to see what other customers are purchasing helps to build a customer’s confidence in a retail decision where there isn’t a salesperson to help.
Since launching social proof, our revenue and conversion has increased sizeably, and we’re also seeing positive engagement metrics and interactions with our organic social platforms.
Taggstar has added millions in revenue uplift.
The Taggstar messages instigate an informed purchase, but we don’t want to drive impulse purchases. Our objective is to drive quality demand.
Improving our online customer journey continues to be a key strategic focus area. We are always on the lookout for tech partners who can help our customers make informed purchase decisions, Taggstar has certainly done that.
Taggstar should be compulsory to any retail site and it's great to see the success and the uplift it consistently brings. Customer for life.
The customer is at the heart of our business, and real-time social proof messages help us to build stronger relationships by building trust and confidence in online shopping.
Taggstar helped us to define the best message combinations, and that’s pushed our results to add another 12 percent to SimplyBe new visitor conversion rates.
Adding Taggstar social proof messaging to our category pages drove over £300k in incremental contribution.
We knew that review data was important to support our online customers. Our existing Taggstar social proof messages give us the channel to surface this information on our product pages, and incremental results have been excellent.
It’s probably the quickest one we’ve ever done. Generally, a new technology partner would take two to three months to get over the line, but it was a joint effort on both sides as we had a tight deadline for our summer sale.
Taggstar has helped us drive conversion and customer engagement by real-time messaging in the product cards.
Taggstar have been great to work with and the team have a really robust approach to measurement and performance tracking, which has given us real confidence in the data and performance we’ve seen.
It’s really clear to see that by providing customers social proof messaging, it has had a positive impact on customer purchasing behaviour. We saw the difference in just 21 days of using the Taggstar solution.
This has driven a strong uplift in conversion rates and sales for our brand and we are confident of further great results as we continue to experiment and optimise the technology for our customers.
The fact that we can leave the management of the solution to the Taggstar CSM team means that we are able to focus on delivering great products at great prices to our customers.
The speed in which Taggstar was able to help us pivot was incredible and the results we achieved from the implementation of social proof messaging were impressive.
The test delivered way beyond our expectations with a conversion rate uplift of more than 10% and nearly 2,300 additional orders. Given this was across seven markets this was an excellent result.
The Impact of Language and Tone of Voice
We steer clear of using phrases like ‘you’re missing out’ or ‘buy now’ that might increase pressure on the customer.
Tell the story straight: if a product is popular, or stock is running low, present that as a real-time factual message. Simply saying ‘125 sold in the last 24 hours’ is factual; it gives shoppers relevant contextual information that can help their decision making.
A Rapid Return on Investment
Social proof messaging can pay for itself very quickly through an uplift in conversion rates (some retailers have reported a conversion rate increase of over 20%) and increased sales. Indeed, Taggstar social proof deployments have consistently delivered 100% ROI and in some instances 1000%+.
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