Online Marketing Secret Number Nineteen:

Never underestimate the power of social proof.

In a previous post here, I gave you a very little known marketing secret about using testimonials.

Here’s a hint: If you want to know why testimonials work, study social proof.

“Social proof is a psychological phenomenon in which people see others behaving in a certain way, and therefore assume that that behavior is an appropriate mode of behavior; or when they see people they esteem approve of something, they themselves will approve of it. “

Why does social proof work so well?

Firstly, it’s because we’re conditioned to accept it. Think of celebrity endorsements. But if you think that’s all there is to it, and you’re tempted to fake your testimonials, you’re in for a rude awakening – to understand why, look to the other reasons that social proof works.

Reason two: we want what the people we look up to have, and we slowly learn that if we do what they do, we’ll have what they have. Third, we mentally hold the experts we trust responsible for the recommendations they make to us – and they know this!

Particularly online, smart experts are no longer willing to toy with their reputations to make a fast buck. They rely on repeat business, which will tank if they suggest the wrong thing to their audiences – even if they mean well.

Use the leverage of social proof to sell an affiliate product, or one of your own.