Dec 1, 2015 : Is Social Proof Really Important?

📅 December 1, 2015 - When you run a blog and have very few “likes,” comments, or shares on social media, you don't have much of a “social proof” of your work. This means that you aren't being shared on social media and it will reflect in lower traffic, deterring future visitors, and even deterring future customers. People want to work with those who are popular and as people are social by nature, it's difficult to want to purchase something or read it if no one else wants to.

Having social proof means that you can show you have a social nature on your blog or website in which social influence is actively affecting the behavior of others. If someone visits a blog in which the content has been shared repeatedly, newbies will trust the site and consider sharing it as well. Social proof is incredibly important if you want to attract customers to your business or get viewers to your blog. Here is a look at how to get social proof going forward.

Engage with your readers

You need to get in touch with your readers even if your readership is rather low. All it takes is a few people outside of your family to start developing a readership. Whoever reads your blog, email the readers directly and ask them to leave comments, tweet about it, or share your blog on Facebook.

If people start getting the word out on social media, their friends and family will look at them as a trusted source when it comes to what are sharing and they will read what was shared. If you can start capturing the attention of all of their friends and family, it may help to build your readership, gain some more comments, and offer you more Facebook “likes.”

Along with emailing your readers asking for comments, tweets, and mentions on social media of how great the blog was, it will hopefully motivate them to start participating more in your comments section. Then, get on your social media accounts and ask a question that you can embed the responses to into your future blog post on the topic.

Ask for social proof


As discussed, sometimes you have to ask your readers for social proof. End your future posts with “if you liked what you read, please comment and share with your friends and colleagues.” Sometimes people forget to share a great read and need a reminder that the free content could continue coming if you support the author through social media.

Remind them to share their thoughts on what you had to say and to click the “share” button to get the word out to everyone they know. A call to action is always a great way to get social proof, whether that's ending it with a questions or inviting readers to share and leave feedback.

Remove the “share” bar


Sometimes having a lack of social proof is even more apparent to readers when they see the “share” bar showing 0 shares. They will feel less likely to get behind your blog when they see that no one else is. If you have a bigger following in the future, then bring back the bar. For now, hide it rather than drawing attention to your lack of a following.

Lastly, be sure to share any media appearances or gust blogging posts you've done to show you are an authority on a topic and have been trusted to share your thoughts with other relevant blogs. Any tricks to make you look knowledgeable and to make your blog or website look popular is the way to gain social proof and build your following.