Photo by: Janek Mann
Ever heard of the saying, “No man is an island”? As it turns out, we can’t and don’t want to be an island because, you see, most of us possess something called “The Herd Mentality“.
As humans, you and I tend to agree with the opinion of the majority. We flock together to form a tribe, a society, a country. And we all strive to to be accepted into a group.
Just as I’m sure you’ve been peer pressured to doing something you regret later on.
In fact, the need to conform to group norms is so great that people tend to adopt a whole different set of thinking and moral values when they are in a group. They do things they don’t normally do individually. They wear things to “fit in” and talk they way the group talk.
Mark Joyner’s Ingenious Experiment
Mark Joyner, founder of simpleology and one of the most successful internet entrepreneurs once showed this concept very powerfully in one of this seminars.
Before talking about conformity to group norms, he asked the audience what is the capital of an imaginary country - “Shakobryam”. Now, the first 3 or 4 audiences who answered were his employees. And they were all asked to answer an imaginary name - “Shambola”.
When he asked the 5th audience (who obviously don’t know the answer) the same questions, he also answered “Shambola”. And it continued that way down for a number of audiences. They all lied and acted smart just to fit in to the group.
Now, Mark Joyner is hardly the only one who proven this. Back in 1926, Muzafer Sherif, one of the founders of psychology, did a scientific experiment (which I’m going into the details of) that proved this point.
So What’s In It For You?
The lesson in this post is to create a group opinion - or at least a perception of it - so as to influence prospects to buy your product.
And that’s why every well-written sales copy is peppered with testimonials. Because including testimonials and case studies is a great to “social proof” you product. To create a group opinion that is favorable to your product so that it’s difficult for prospects to disagree with them.
It’s that easy. Including testimonials, the more the better, increases conversions by more than 50% in my own personal tests.
But what good would it be if nobody saw your testimonials right? So it’s vital that you also display testimonials prominently in your sales copy, putting it in a box with a different background is a great way of highlighting them.
And what if you’re new and you don’t have testimonials to work with? Well, you can start with something I like to call “general testimonials”. General testimonials are testimonials that isn’t necessarily for you. Here’s an example:
Let’s say you sell spirulina, a health supplement. Now, your “testimonial” can be a quote of a famous doctor that claims the benefits of spirulina. It doesn’t necessarily praise your brand, but it does help sell it. Makes sense?
So the next time you are watching an ad or reading a sales copy, look out for these social proffing tactics. There are a lot more of them than just testimonials. Ever seen a “#1-selling or best selling” label?
Leave a comment