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What is social proof?
Social proof is a psychological phenomenon This explains how “people often make decisions about what they think and do based on the thoughts and actions of others.” It is one of the six key principles underlying the science of persuasion from the perspective of social psychology.
Why should you use social proof in email marketing?
In a world where subscribers are inundated with advertising messages (the average person sees approx 10,000 ads per day), using social proof in your emails is a way to demonstrate your brand's approval among the customers themselves.
To put it simply: people trust people. By incorporating social proof into your emails – be it through testimonials, a list of likes, or user-generated content (UGC) – you will not only increase the trust of your subscribers, but also add much-needed confidence to your email campaigns human touch. These efforts come at a time when Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming more and more important.
Are you curious about the success our customers have had with social proof? Check out ours Guide to live polls and social proof via email to see the winning results. →
3 Ways to Use Social Proof in Email Marketing Campaigns
Here are three ways to incorporate social proof into your email campaigns Personalize Litmus:
1. Interest signals
Interest signals show the total number of live clicks for specific email elements such as a product or service. By showing this engagement, you not only add real social proof to your emails, but you also encourage more readers to click, making it easy for subscribers to see the value and appeal of each product.
How it works
Interest signals are generated by clicks. Every time a subscriber clicks, the number is recorded and updated when opened. You can display these clicks as “Likes” or “Loves” – whatever you see fit!
Example: DFS
DFS displayed the number of people who “love” each product with a purple banner above the product image showing the exact number of clicks (or “loves” in the case of this email) each product receives. This provides subscribers with a browsing experience that is supported and validated by their peers.
source: Litmus' guide to live polls and social proof in emails
Example: TM Lewin
TM Lewin asked subscribers to choose their favorite look for each day of the week. Once each look had more than 100 clicks, a message titled “Trending Outfit” appeared next to the live number of clicks, updating each time it was opened. The live poll received over 20,000 clicks, with the second highest number of clicks at last look – a testament to how engaging content attracts subscribers Keep scrolling.
source: Litmus' guide to live polls and social proof in emails
Furthermore, TM Lewin went one step further and used the data from this email to launch one Care campaign. Tailored follow-up emails were sent to each voter, showcasing products of their favorite look and encouraging them to purchase the collection.
Example: cougar
Here Puma presented the live engagement (number of clicks) for each product. The number of likes for each shoe was displayed along with a heart icon, making it clear what resonated most with subscribers.
source: Litmus' guide to live polls and social proof in emails
Example: New look
New Look used social signals in the form of banners that indicated “almost gone” when the inventory of a product fell below a certain level – set up by New Look Shopping feed.
source: Litmus' guide to live polls and social proof in emails
Example: litmus 👋
You may be wondering: Can a B2B brand use interest signals? The answer is absolutely! Believe us: Whenever we publish a new resource at Litmus, we include interest signals in our announcement emails, like this:
Every time a subscriber clicks, the number of interested email geeks increases.
The same applies to invitations to virtual events! Every time a subscriber clicks a link pointing to the event landing page, the number of “interested email geeks” increases.
Remember: the way you position interest rate signals is entirely up to you! In this case, clicks were counted as “views”:
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