Videos are becoming an increasingly important part of online marketing. According to HubSpot, 86% of businesses use video as a marketing tool, and 92% of marketers who use video say that it's an important part of their marketing strategy.
As such, it's more important than ever to find ways to make your videos stand out. And one of the best ways to do that is by using social proof.
In this article, we'll explore what social proof is and how you can use it to increase viewership for your videos. We'll also look at some of the benefits of using social proof in your video marketing strategy.
What is Social Proof?
In marketing, social proof is a psychological phenomenon that occurs when people are uncertain about a particular choice, then look to the actions of others to help them make a decision. In other words, social proof is a way of determining the right thing to do by looking at what other people are doing and saying.
One of the most widely recognized types of social proof is the customer review. Customers rely on reviews to get an idea of what type of experience they might have by making a purchase, and they tend to trust other customers over the statement of companies.
Insider Intelligence reported that 80.1% of consumers trust companies that have a lot of customer reviews. Other studies have indicated that a significant number of consumers read reviews before purchasing a product or service.
Social proof is any evidence from trustworthy sources outside your company that indicates your product or service is worth buying. There are several different types of social proof, many of which can be used as part of your video marketing strategy:
- Expert endorsements: These types of endorsements create social proof because people trust the opinions of experts outside of your company.
- User testimonials: Testimonials from real users are seen as more credible than marketing claims from the company itself. This is because people are more likely to believe what other people have to say about a product or service than what the company says.
- Social media partnerships: The number of shares a piece of content has on social media can be seen as an indicator of its quality and can create social proof for potential viewers. Partnering with influencers is a great way to generate shares and legitimacy.
- Earned media: If your product or service has been featured in a publication, this can add legitimacy to your content and earn people's trust in your offering.
- Usage and customer statistics: The fact you have a vast base of loyal customers can be used as social proof to demonstrate the value of your offering.
These are just a few examples. You may be able to think of other forms of social proof to use in your video marketing strategy.
How to Use Social Proof in Video Marketing
There are two key ways you can use social proof as part of your video strategy. You can:
- Increase trust in your product or service within your videos
- Increase the viewership and legitimacy of your videos
For example, you can use expert endorsements within your videos to increase the trust of your viewing audience. If you have partnerships with other companies, you can co-create webinars, how-to videos, or even webcasts to show that your company is trusted within the industry.
This will help to legitimize your video and give it more credibility, but it will also lend credibility to your product or service.
In our videos, Aptitude 8 sometimes partners with leaders from other companies to explore topics that are important to our customers. In the video below, we partnered with thought leaders from Stripe and HubSpot to explain how subscription data empowers companies' go-to-market teams:
Similarly, you can feature customer testimonials in your videos. This is a great way to enhance your lower-funnel, sales-centered videos, as it shows potential viewers that your product or service is worth their time. Often, testimonials from real customers will be more effective than any statements you make about the value and effectiveness of your offering.
Finally, you can also use social media to promote your videos, and you can partner with influencers and well-known figures to expand your reach. This will help to create a buzz around your videos and encourage people to watch them.
By using these different techniques, you can increase viewership for your videos and improve their effectiveness as part of your video marketing strategy.
Start Using Social Proof in Your Video Marketing
Social proof is one of the most powerful tools you have to get people to watch your videos, but it can also make the videos themselves more compelling. By leveraging the power of social proof, you can increase viewership for your videos and improve your conversion rate.
To learn more about how you can leverage social proof and launch a comprehensive video marketing strategy, contact us today.
