Increase Sales with Social Proof and Proof Factor

The Importance of Social Proof

Social proof is a psychological phenomenon that describes the influence people can have on our behavior. Can you remember the last time you went to an event without asking your partner what they thought of your outfit? Or how about the thrill of getting the last seats at a trendy new restaurant by walking in without a reservation? It just seems that you were drawn in by its ambiance and the elegance of those dining inside. Whether we seek or avoid it, we are influenced by people’s actions and opinions all the time which affects the choices we make on a daily basis. 

Social proof can be used as an effective marketing tool in several ways.
 

• Number of product users reflects the popularity of a brand and creates a sense of urgency for customers to buy a product.

• Wisdom of the crowd lets the collective opinion of a group influence and practice its authority on the quality and value of a product. Sometimes reading great reviews and recommendations is just what it takes to take the final step of completing a purchase.

• Expert social proof is when an industry leader or influencer approves a product and highlights its strong points on social media, video or a blog post.

• Celebrity testimonials add credibility and glamour while projecting the lifestyle and experience the product brings. Customers end up seeing themselves in the ad and how using the product will let them achieve the same positive emotion and experience.

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The Numbers are In 

The following statistics support the claim that positive social proof is a significant contributing factor to a successful business.
 

• 86% of consumers read reviews before purchasing a product. On average 10 online reviews are read before a customer earns the trust of a business.

• 57% of consumers will only buy from a business that’s rated at least 4 stars.

• 80% of 18-34 year olds have written online reviews, 91% of the same age group trust online reviews the same as recommendations from friends and family
   

What makes Proof Factor special?

It is rather easy to launch an online store within a week and start selling various products. The challenge many eCommerce businesses face in the long run is how to keep their customers engaged and eager to buy more.

Social proof and sales notifications add the element of FOMO and boost potential buyers’ confidence towards purchasing a popular, high-value product. Proof Factor is a Shopify app which uses social proof to stir excitement around your store’s products, and gets customers to sell for you by giving their approval of your brand. 

Go ahead and unleash your creative side with Proof Factor’s gamified email and phone exit intent popups and let store visitors try their luck at a Fortune Wheel spin for a chance to win immediate discounts and product prizes. 

Proof Factor gives you all the tools you need to capture the maximum number of store visitors and convert them into loyal customers using the full power of social influence.
 

• Recent Activity Notifications: Alert store visitors with real-time notifications whenever a customer buys a product

• Live Visitor Count: Displays the number of visitors currently on your store’s site

• Aggregate Visitor Count: Displays the number of visitors on your store’s site within the last hour, day, week or month

• Fortune Wheel: A popup fortune wheel that site visitors can spin to win discounts and product prizes while you collect emails and phone numbers
   

Recent Activity Notifications

Enabling recent activity notifications will display a popup which instantly catches the attention of a visitor that is browsing through your store site. The popup will include the customer’s name, location and product that they purchased in real-time. 
 

Why does it work?

1. Creates a sense of urgency. The live aspect of the popup including the time the product was bought pushes visitors to consider making a purchase as well.

2. Personal tone adds trust. Seeing the customer’s name and location adds a certain degree of closeness and trust. 

3. Converts visitors into customers. Direct your visitor to your sales items page where they can take advantage of your discounts, and items that are running low on stock.
    

Fully customizable 

• Edit the title and subtitle of your popup with different variable tags.

• Customize your popup with an image and set display rules based on the number of conversions. 

• Set an objective which leads store visitors to a specific URL upon clicking the popup.

Live Visitor Count

Configure and launch the live visitor count notification and visitors will be able to see the total number of people currently visiting your site or viewing a certain page. 

Why does it work?

1. Stimulates sales with popularity. When visitors load a product description page with more than 50 people viewing it, the notification becomes a social trigger that creates curiosity and excitement around a particular product.

2. Gives visitors confidence. Puts your visitors at ease that they won’t be your first customers.

Edit Message and Display Rules 

• Choose a brand relevant word to refer to the visitors on your site: (i.e. foodies, dancers, fashionistas)

• Set a limit on the minimum number of active visitors before the popup displays

• Decide whether to display total active visitors on your entire site or on a specific page

• Send visitors to a specific URL when they click the popup 

• Enable or disable looped notifications

Aggregate Visitor Count

After launching the aggregate visitor count, site visitors will be able to see the total number of people who have visited your whole site or each page in the last hour, day, week or month.

Why does it work?

1. Builds brand credibility. The more people that have viewed your site, the greater the credibility of your brand.

2. Gives you insight. An easy way to keep track of which pages are working and which aren’t, as well as which products are receiving attention. Why not rearrange the product placement and move some of your less popular items to the top of your collection? 
    

Edit Message and Display Rules 

• Choose to show the site visitors in the last hour, day, week, or month

• Show visitors for your entire store site or each page 

• Set a minimum number of store visitors before the popup displays

• Edit the message text that will appear 

• Choose whether the notifications are looped or not

• Lead visitors who click on the link to a specific URL 

Grow Your Subscribers with SMSBump and Proof Factor 

Fill two needs with one deed. Collect both customers’ emails and phone numbers to double your marketing exposure. Choose to collect one data type from Proof Factor’s Fortune Wheel and the other through the Better Coupon Box Popup. Make sure you space out launching each one so you don’t overwhelm your customers.

From Proof Factor, you can automatically sync your new subscribers into Mailchimp or Klaviyo and then load them into SMSBump to start launching text marketing campaigns and automations!

Fortune Wheel 

Tap into the power of gamification and let your customers spin to win discount codes or products you’ve set up. 
 

Why does it work?

1. Customers love rewards. There’s a higher chance you’ll get repeat purchases if you treat your customers with special deals and rewards. It’s all about making them feel special and valued.

2. Decreases exit rate. When set to be triggered just before a customer tries to leave your store, a free product win is the perfect chance for them to reconsider.
    

Customization Rules

• Slices allow you to edit the components of what the Fortune Wheel will land on. Choose the type (coupon code, or product), title displayed, coupon code generated, and gravity (the likelihood the slice will be hit when wheel is spun).

• Change the appearance of the Fortune Wheel: select from a wide option of themes, add images, a logo, and edit the color scheme of all elements.

• Decide on the data type: phone or email to be collected, and edit the text displayed

• The trigger to display the wheel can be set on exit/leave intent, with a timer (seconds). Set a delay (days) when the wheel will be displayed to the same user, or disable the option for it to be displayed on each page load.

• Write your own custom CSS code for a design feature you have in mind.

• Add Mailchimp, Klaviyo, or Zapier and sync the customer data the wheel collected to your preferred integration service.

• Export all collected subscriber data to your admin email.
  
   

Better Coupon Box Popup 

Create a popup with a coupon customers can't resist, and that will turn them into an SMS subscriber.

Why does it work?

1. Instantly grabs attention. Inactive online shoppers and those that are new to the brand just browsing around, will be stopped in their tracks with a popup offering deals worthy of becoming a subscriber and a loyal customer.   

2. Promotes your brand. Here’s your chance to showcase your brand’s personality and what makes your store unique from all the rest in your niche.
    

Customization Rules

• Create a short and convincing subscription prompt message

• Write the thank you popup message that appears after a customer is successfully subscribed

• Edit the color and size of all popup elements or design new ones with your own CSS

• Choose to display on mobile or desktop devices and when the popup will be triggered (in seconds), whether it will be displayed on exit/leave intent.

• Set a delay (in days) when to show the popup again to the same customer, or disable to show on each page load.

• Integrate with Klaviyo, Mailchimp or Zapier to sync new subscribers directly to your lists. You can also export all collected subscriber data to your personal email.
   

Get Started with Social Proof 

With Black Friday just around the corner, there has never been a better time than now to leverage the strength of social proof and grow your eCommerce business with Proof Factor! Take the opportunity to combine different social proof tools and sales notifications together, and see your sales skyrocket.