Welcome to the latest edition of our new weekly blog series, The Underrated Series. Each week, we will highlight an important, often underrated component of marketing success.

Last week’s underrated topic was product design.

What are we underrating this week? Social proof.

You likely think that your product or service is amazing. It’s got loads of value and it’s definitely worth the price you charge for it. Right?

But that really doesn’t matter. Because customers know that you think it’s amazing. You have an incentive to tell them it’s amazing. That’s what marketing is, and customers are wary of marketing.

But what happens when someone who has no incentive to tell them it’s amazing does?

We call that social proof, and it’s one of the most underrated tools the marketer has in his tool belt.

Social proof encompasses many different things. But what they all have in common is the goal. That goal is demonstrating to customers that your marketing claims are true by bringing in third-party sources.

It could be trust seals, like BBB Accreditation or industry certification. It could be sales figures, ie. over 1 billion sold. It could be satisfaction rates from customer surveys. It could be online reviews or testimonials. It could be a vibrant online forum or social media outlet.

It could be a combination of all or some of the above. But whatever it is, it’s proof to the market place that your claims are true. As consumers, we look to others like us to confirm our purchases. And strong social proof can help overcome the fear inherent in making a new purchasing decision.

Have something you think deserves more attention? Send us your suggestions for the Underrated Series using the comments below or submit them here.