Running a successful business is no easy task. In today’s age, it seems like there are new obstacles to overcome every day — from finding the right person for your workforce to keeping up with technological advances that can either help or hurt your company.

Then there’s the seemingly never-ending struggle of earning and retaining customer loyalty. But what if I told you one thing that could change all of this? What if I said that one strategy could turn things around so much, so quickly — even in just a matter of weeks — that it would be as though everything else was irrelevant?

That’s exactly what I’m going to tell you now: social proofing is the answer! 

This article will talk about what social proof is, why it works so well, and how you can implement it effectively within your Wix website.

What Is Social Proof?

Social proof is a psychological phenomenon in which people who are uncertain about their decision look to others for guidance. 

This works so well because we, as humans, like to think that the majority knows best and will therefore make better choices than we would on our own (which isn’t always the case).

This is why, for example, restaurant patrons will usually look around to see how crowded the establishment is before having an opinion on whether it’s worth their time.

How Can Social Proofing Help Your Wix Store?

If you’re just getting started with your Wix business, then implementing social proofing might be one of the best choices you’ll ever make for your business.

This is because you’re still starting and building trust with your customer base — and social proofing will help them see that you already have a healthy customer base to build their trust in you even more.

You can accomplish this in a variety of ways:

1. Customer Testimonials.

A customer testimonial is one of the best forms of social proofing you can use to build trust with your audience.

If you take nothing else away from this article, remember this point. If customers haven’t had a good experience with your business, then they won’t be inclined to talk about it or recommend that others try your services out for themselves.

This means that you need to take every step necessary to ensure that this doesn’t happen.

But why isn’t having happy customers enough? The truth is, it’s not easy for strangers to trust a business they’ve never heard of before — even if their friends have had success with the same company.

People are naturally wary of new things. After all, you never know what kind of hidden risks might come with trying something different from what you’re used to.

This is where the power of testimonials comes in. Testimonials work so well because they connect people with other people who have had success before them. It’s almost like social proofing on steroids because it carries a little extra credibility that’s hard to find elsewhere.

It would be best to collect your testimonials the same way you collected other information from customers: ask for them after they’ve had a great experience with your business and have become customers.

2. Use Multiple Social Media Channels.

Another great way to build trust with your customers is by using the multiple social media platforms available to you.

Sure, when you first start, it might be a lot easier to focus all of your attention on one or two websites like Facebook and Instagram, but this isn’t necessarily going to be the best choice in the long run.

Why? Because the majority of your customers are likely to be on multiple social media sites, so it would be a huge mistake to block yourself off from these platforms.

One way to accomplish this is through cross-posting: posting identical content across both Facebook and Instagram simultaneously (usually within an hour or two of each other).

3. Create a Mailing List.

Sometimes social media isn’t enough, especially when you’re just starting with your Wix store.

However, there are many benefits of using the mailing list over these other platforms because it allows you to target a much smaller group of people who are already interested in your business.

This means that you’re going to have a much easier time building trust because their attention will be focused entirely on your store and what it has to offer.

Another great thing about the mailing list is its long-term benefits: you can use it to promote your products and services throughout all stages of the customer journey.

4. Don’t Overwhelm Your Audience.

When it comes down to it, remember that when you’re social proofing your Wix website, you don’t want to overwhelm your audience with too much information at once.

When people are confronted with too many changes or updates, it can be easy to get lost and become uninterested in the process.

For example, if you start by creating a mailing list and then try to force social media posts on them afterwards, they might not be inclined to do either of these things because their interest was already captured by the first choice you presented them with.

5. Increase Your Website Visitors with SEO.

It would help if you focused on boosting the number of website visitors coming to your store.

The more people you get visiting your Wix store, the easier it will be for them to become familiar with what you have to offer and ultimately become loyal customers.

This is why SEO is so important: because it can give you an almost unlimited number of website visitors for very little money.

All it takes is putting some focused effort into getting search engine traffic, and you’ll get the results you are looking for eventually.

6. Do Proper Marketing Campaigns.

To make the most out of selling your products and services, you need to do proper marketing campaigns.

This means that you should create an ad campaign on Facebook where people can buy directly from the website without having to leave the platform — which makes it easier for them to complete their purchase.

7. Increase Brand Awareness.

Increasing brand awareness can be done in two ways.

The first is using the mailing list to create targeted content that’s relevant to your audience and informative enough that they will want to share it with their friends and family members. This helps you build trust through third party social validation, which is extremely powerful.

The second way is by participating in industry events and conferences.

By creating a presence for yourself at these events, you can make it easier for people to find you when they are looking for the services you are offering.

8. Create an Optimized Product Page.

Making sure your product pages are optimized is crucial to your success, so you should focus on making these as compelling and informative as possible.

Ensure that you’re using all of the available tools like videos, ratings and reviews (and even pay-per-click advertising) to get people interested in what you have to sell.

When you create compelling product pages, visitors are more likely to share them with their friends and family members, leading to increased sales over time.

9. Create a Blog for Your Website.

You should create a blog where you post interesting content related to your industry at least twice per week (and not just text, but also videos, images and other resources).

This will attract the attention of your website visitors and give you a chance to start conversations with them. Over time, these discussions can increase their trust in your website until they decide that they are ready to purchase from you directly.

10. Take Advantage of Reviews.

Getting more reviews is easily done if you focus on engaging with your customers in a way that makes them feel like they received the best service possible.

For example, giving discounts or other rewards for leaving reviews should get you more feedback because it says, “Thank you for adding social proof to our business!”

By taking this route, not only are you getting more reviews, but you are also ensuring that the reviews that are left are positive ones.

11. Respond to Negative Reviews Quickly.

If you receive a negative review, the best thing to do is respond as quickly as possible because speed allows you to build up trust much more quickly than if you were to take your time in responding.

The faster you respond, the easier it is for people to see that you are serious about putting out a quality product or service.

12. Be Transparent About Your Policies.

Have clear policies in place to make sure your customers know exactly how transactions will be conducted before they start buying from you.

This way, you can prevent any potential miscommunication that could lead to negative reviews, which can damage your reputation over time.

13. Advertise in the Right Places.

You should start advertising in local publications and on ads in Google SERPs (since this is where most people look for information about businesses like yours) when you are just starting to attract customers close to your location.

When you successfully build up a client base, you can expand your advertising efforts to other publications and online sites like Facebook Ads, which can help you get the word out about your business to people who might be interested in what you have to offer.

The tone of voice is important here — think ‘friendly local business’ rather than ‘big global brand’.

You want to be seen as approachable, knowledgeable and trustworthy. Your audience needs to know that they can feel comfortable doing business with you.

Use personal pronouns like ‘I’, ‘we’ and ‘you’. This helps your audience connect with you, so it’s easier for them to trust you.

Your writing should be clear, concise and conversational. This helps establish a connection between you and your audience for the reasons mentioned above and makes it easier to read.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best way to make sure my website visitors trust me?

It all starts with your product and service. If they don’t like what you’re selling, they won’t trust you as a business owner.

Please provide as much information as possible on your website about each product or service you offer so people can get a good idea of whether it meets their needs.

Also, make sure your About/Bio page is full of valuable information about you or your business so they can get to know you better and feel like they are connecting with someone real.

What is the importance of earning trust?

People won’t buy anything from you if they don’t trust you. If they don’t feel comfortable buying from you, the chances of them coming back to purchase again are slim to none.

What are some things that can damage the trust my website visitors have in me?

There are numerous ways to lose your website visitor’s trust, but here are a few of the most common ones. Not delivering on promises — if they buy from you, don’t deliver their order on time, or provide poor service/customer support, they won’t trust you.

Having bad reviews online — if other customers are complaining about your business or products, it will not make the people visiting your website feel confident in purchasing from you.

Not being transparent with policies and guarantees — nobody likes surprises when it comes to financials, so always have clear policies and guarantees in place to make sure your customers know exactly what they are receiving when they make a purchase.

Last Thoughts

We hope that this article has helped you understand the importance of social proofing your store. Whether through reviews, testimonials or customer case studies, there are many ways to show potential customers how much other people trust and love your products.

So think about what might work best for your business and start implementing these strategies today!