The Power of Testimonials in a Social Media Driven Ecommerce World.

We are living in a social media driven ecommerce world! The power that social media holds on the decision making and buying acumen of the Millenials is just staggering.

We look at what people are saying about a place to eat, we check out reviews of hotels, we search the comment section for recommedations of a travel agency. Social media has become integral in our decisions where to eat, travel, to buy clothes, and find work.

If you are running a Prestashop-thirtybees store, and you don’t have social media or a fan page, you are missing a really good chunk of the internet market that could potentially bring your ecommerce business on to a new level.

Ask these questions to yourself?

Why do BIG brands spend so much time and effort courting millennials on social media?

Because social media has now become a major influencer when it comes to the purchasing decisions of millennials. THEY KNOW! In fact, 72% of them report buying fashion and beauty products based on Instagram and facebook posts. And the further role of social media influencers goes way beyond this one network.

You don’t have to take my word for it. Just do a simple search on Facebook and Instagram, or twitter perhaps. Hundreds upon hundreds of entrepreneurs have made a home in Facebook alone for their marketing strategy.

Yes, digital marketing is a big undertaking, it can be expensive, and there’s lots of competition. Still, companies seem to be committed to engaging on social media.

The simple reason? I really works!

Peer recommendations carry a lot of weight with millennials.

As mentioned above, recommendations from peers can reap a lot of customer conversions. Heck, I am not even a millenial, but I always check out the reviews and recommendations from people who used and bought the product before buying it online! Check the information below from Hubspot Data.

According to Hubspot data ,  71% of people are more likely to make a purchase online if the product or service comes recommended by others. This may be driven by millennials inherent distrust of brands and traditional advertising. They simply tend to believe what their peers say, seek their opinions and often validation.

While testimonials has been here for at least 2000 years. It was not this powerful 20 years ago, with regards to ecommerce business.

According to Gartner research, 84% of customers, are likely to be influenced to make a purchase based upon user generated content that is created by strangers.

Many brands are already using user generated content(e,g. comments, testimonials, reviews) to increase their followers and further branding, this can act as additional motivation to encourage followers to share content such as reviews, images, and stories.

“Seeing a product in  use or simply reading personal stories from other consumers clearly has a big influence on this consumer group,” they further added.

More than 86% of all online retailers and businesses in the US alone have a facebook fan page account! They understood that this is a social media drive ecommerce economy.

Resources: 

Word-of-mouth and customer reviews are changing the ecommerce marketing landscape in a hurry for 2019 and beyond.

Businesses cannot survive without testimonials and reviews from social media fans

We now shop, order airline tickets, make reservations and negotiate sales over the Internet – on a daily basis. Stores have become obsolete, in many cases. I’m not sharing this (as funny as it is) just to walk down memory lane. I have a point to make for companies today. The world has been undergoing a business transformation just as momentous as the advent of the Internet. Its promise is almost as limitless. Especially with facebook creating its own payment system in Libra that will open up possibilities for all people across the globe to transact business as easy as can be.

People Trust What Other People Says in social media driven ecommerce

Customer Testimonial is a huge insurance booster for customers. People who do not know you yet while weighting their decision to buy on your website. Humans often trust other humans – it’s  what is called, “social proof” syndrome. Social proofs has been proven to drive up sales! Many merchants have positive feedback from their customers, but they do not show it to the world to see – that’s a pity! An opportunity to solidify reputation lost!

Social media and testimonials is a killer in driving up sales!

Check this out from theDrum!

With 60% of consumers looking at online reviews at least weekly, a recent survey by Podium suggests that 93% say online reviews do impact their purchasing decisions. The way consumer engagement with B2B and B2C business has evolved illustrates that 82% of consumers do read reviews before making a purchase decision, and 60% look at reviews on a weekly basis. Further, the study suggests that two-thirds of consumers (68%) are willing to pay up to 15% more for the same product or service if they are assured they will have a better experience.

That is the power of testimonials and social media reviews and user generated contents like comments!

In fact Facebook is still the social network par excellence, because almost everyone has a Facebook account, and therefore already a registered name & surname, as well as a profile photo. It is the best way to get the pulse of people that matters to your ecommerce website.

Collecting the testimonials and hardening your credibility!

  • Getting you fan page setup for testimonials is great, but it must be filled with information relevant to your target audience.
  • Get your best foot forward!
  • Do a mass mailing on your database or contact them separately via Facebook to invite them to leave a message on the page. It is clear that in some areas people do not want to post a message (especially if you sell for adult) your customers do not necessarily want to have their identity publicly disclosed
  • Moderate the comments! Be available to your fans as much as possible!

What if there is a negative feedback?

That is a really good problem. A lot of merchants do not support negative feedback, but this one I know, negative feedbacks are sometimes the best elements that will make your testimonial page credible. In comparison to YouTUBE, even a very good videos have about 10% negative feedback! So a page of only positive testimonials can also confuse your visitors and a little suspect! The secret and simplest method is certainly to answer every testimony and review in the page, it will affirm your presence and increase the level of your credibility.

In conclusion:

Social Media testimonial and reviews have now become an integral part of doing business online. There is just no going around it. Ours is a social media driven ecommerce world! Either you swim with it or sink! Use it to drive your ecommerce business credibiity further up and in so doing increases your revenue and expand your business!

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