With Gen Z being the primary target audience for small brands and huge corporations alike, catering to their interests and aligning oneself with their values is of utmost importance to business owners.
If there’s one thing that Gen Z strongly advocates for and believes in, it’s transparency. Gen Z actively seek transparency in all their transactions including shopping online.
This often makes it difficult to gain the trust of this generation, but once you succeed in doing so, it’s fully worth it. According to eMarketer, 64% of Gen Z will pay more to shop at brands they’re loyal to.
So, if you’re hoping to attract a new horde of Gen Z customers to your e-commerce website, transparency is your new best friend. And what’s the best way to be transparent about your offerings? Social proof.
What Exactly is Social Proof?
Since ancient times, word-of-mouth has always been the most reliable method of proving the trustworthiness or commendability of something. Paid ads, celebrity endorsements and elaborate marketing campaigns – oftentimes, word-of-mouth trumps all of these to prove how good or bad a certain product is.
With 86% of Gen Z shoppers saying that social media heavily influences their shopping decisions, what better way is there to gain their trust than social proof?
This proof comes in various forms, from verified purchases to customer reviews and testimonials and influencer recommendations.
Let’s look at how you can leverage various kinds of social proof to increase customer engagement on your e-commerce website.
Let Them Hear It From The Experts Themselves
Gen Z may have a hard time believing something that you’re saying about your own brand without having adequate proof to back up your claims. This is where expert opinions come into the picture.
Suppose you’re selling organic supplements that help lose weight in a safe and healthy manner. Having an experienced nutritionist vouch for your products can help customers have an easier time trusting your brand’s words.
Hearing something from someone who is an authority on the matter can give them the peace of mind they need when purchasing your product.
Get Influencers Onboard
According to research, around 44% of Gen Z has admitted to making a purchasing decision based on an influencer recommendation.
In an era where social media has a huge influence on what people choose to buy, influencers can be seen as the celebrities of social media.
From household names like Kylie Jenner to micro-influencers that specialize in specific niches, influencers can be seen as trusted authorities in the social media space.
Their followers readily tune in to these influencers to try out and review new products so that they can share with their audience whether the products are worth purchasing or not.
Let Your Customers Speak For You
There’s nothing more trustworthy than letting your potential customers hear what your existing or past customers have to say about your products. And what better way to achieve this than with the help of customer reviews?
Customer reviews and testimonials can help your business establish a new domain of authority.
By reading the reviews of a specific product, your customers feel assured that they will receive bang for their buck instead of getting a substandard product, or worse – getting scammed.
Get a Shiny Certification Stamp
Consumers naturally gravitate towards products that they can trust and nothing screams trustworthy more than a certification stamp on your website.
Gen Z customers especially, are very particular about what they’re buying and will often choose to pay more for something that is sustainable or aligns with their values better.
Certifying your product from a reputable organization can give your customers the confidence they require before hitting the ‘purchase’ button.
Leveraging Social Proof for Maximum Benefit
Social proof, albeit improving the reliability of your brand, needs to be leveraged well to help unlock its maximum potential for your e-commerce business.
Instead of implementing everything at once, go step-by-step and see how your customers are responding to it.
Start by including a user review section on your website allowing your customers to leave their honest feedback on the products they received. Analyze the impact it has on your website. Does it help bring more visitors and conversions?
Follow this up with getting a professional certification from a reputable organization or an expert on board to vouch for your product. A great example of a website that is utilizing various forms of social proof can be viewed here.
Apart from that, consider diversifying your placement of social proof. Don’t limit your efforts just to your website. Consider adding customer testimonials, videos, etc across your marketing channels to maximize impact.
Social proof can work wonders when it comes to increasing customer engagement and conversions rates, especially if you’re hoping to attract Gen Z. Make the most out of it to improve your brand credibility and create a solid brand image while growing your revenue.
