About a month ago, I posted a list of 24 ways anyone could use to triple (not an exaggeration) your sales, income, and all-around success in a fast way.
One of the tasks on that list was:
“Ignore social proof when making buying decisions”
To which a few people asked why ignore social proof?
My answer:
By all means USE social proof in your marketing. Social proof being (basically), if “xyz celebrity/guru/credentialed person/or person like me uses/endorses/sells it, it must be good enough for me.”
Robert Cialdini wrote about this years ago.
And, it’s a very sound marketing principle.
But, like anything that works, it’s also used by the unsavory types, too.
The con artists.
The thieves.
And, especially, the various sociopaths skimming the shadows.
That’s why I didn’t say to not use it in your marketing.
I said ignore social proof in marketing before making a buying decision for your own purchases. It wasn’t all that long ago (and it still happens, it’s just more sophisticated now, more of a 2.0 version) when the exact same affiliate circle-jerk of gurus would all blindly endorse each others’ products and eBooks, etc, without even having consumed those products first, and people would buy because their favorite guru said to buy it.
A lot of people got burned in this industry back then.
And, it was because people bought solely on social proof.
I’m not saying it can’t be a factor in buying something.
But, it shouldn’t be the only factor.
That includes with anything I sell, too.
Yes, I use social proof. And, it’s there to help sell my products. But, there’s a reason I have said repeatedly over the years to assume everyone is full of shyt (including me) when reading our ads, and make us demonstrate why you should buy, first.
Thus, the power of daily emails that let you demonstrate your knowledge every day.
And (if you do it right) in a way people look forward to reading and buying from.
(You’re not a pest, you’re what Dan Kennedy called a “welcome guest.”)
That’s where my Email Players newsletter comes in.
The May issue is going to the printer soon.
I’ve got all kinds of goodies inside this one — including how to sell in markets where everything is given away free, how to do cold emails (bonus training), and a ho’ bunch more.
Here’s the link to subscribe:
Ben Settle
