Creating SEO-optimized landing pages has been a key piece of digital marketing strategy for years. Recently, with the tougher economic environment in tech over the last ~6 months, marketing teams have been asked to do more with less, and landing page conversion has seen increasing focus as a high-impact area to optimize.
Part of this optimization is tuning the content offers, copy, and calls-to-action (CTAs), making them relevant and persuasive. Additionally, personalization has seen huge advancements—dynamically making landing pages personalized at the industry, persona, account, or even contact level. Leading the charge in this space is Mutiny, a no-code AI platform that helps marketers convert their top-of-funnel demand into revenue.
Mutiny has conversion data on hundreds of thousands of landing pages. So for this blog, we teamed up with Mutiny to look at how social proof and customer evidence (e.g. testimonials, reviews, and stats) impact landing page conversions.
How does social proof increase landing page conversions?
Social proof is peer-based validation that pushes your prospects towards a purchase by building trust. How often have you found yourself listening to a new podcast or trying a new restaurant because of all the hype you’re seeing about it online? By placing social proof, like reviews, testimonials, stats, and more, strategically onto your landing pages, you can increase your landing page conversions.
Social proof pushes your audience towards conversion by establishing credibility for your brand. By adding third-party reviews and statistical customer evidence to your landing pages, buyers are more likely to trust your brand. The social proof backs up your sales claims, providing evidence that proves your product’s efficacy. In fact, 63% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase from a brand that includes product ratings and reviews on their website. The existence of social proof on your website’s landing pages helps to affirm each of your sales claims, encouraging your customers to learn more about your product. A customer thinking of buying your product will feel bolstered by the decisions of others to do the same, and then feel assured that their experience will be similarly positive. This motivates them to sign up for your free trial or download additional content.
For example, let’s say that you create a landing page encouraging potential customers to sign up for a free one-month trial of your product. On the landing page, you include quotations from existing customers gushing about their business’s increased productivity since implementing your product. This encourages customers to sign up for a free trial and see if they will experience the same benefits. The quotations confirm their instinct to try the product, and push them towards the CTA — providing you with potential new customers on a free trial basis.
Mutiny’s recent study proves social proof increases conversion
Take a look at Mutiny’s recent study below, comparing two landing pages: Version A includes customer testimonials and Version B includes company logos.
Which one do you think performed better?
Version A (the one with a customer quote) showed a 35% lift in conversions compared to Version B (with customer logos).
In their explanation of why this happened, Mutiny stated, “Because small and medium businesses love to hear from people like them with problems like theirs. A testimonial is particularly helpful when it’s quantitative, and when you can show information of who provided it.” That’s the power of customer testimonials!
The types of social proof that add value to your landing pages
With so many different types of social proof for you to potentially add to your landing pages, how do you know which to add that most effectively boosts conversions? Different types of social proof work to encourage your buyers in unique ways, so it’s important to understand what types of social proof can accomplish.
Logos
Adding company logos of enterprises you’ve worked with to your landing pages adds credibility to your brand. When a customer sees that a successful, large-scale business uses your product, it emphasizes your product’s efficacy. Think about it this way: if you were shopping for a new stovetop in your kitchen, and saw that one stove you’d been eyeing was also used by celebrity chef Ina Garten, you’d be inclined to think the stove works well. After all, if it’s good enough for Ina Garten, it’s good enough for you!
This mentality works within B2B marketing, as well. Large-scale enterprises are often viewed as experts within their field, and B2B buyers want to replicate the growth those enterprises experience. When Docsend added enterprise client logos to their website, landing page conversions increased by 260%. Those logos emphasized to website visitors and potential customers that Docsend’s product helps enterprise-scale businesses become more productive — so it can help their business, too.
➡️ Check out Mutiny’s complete case study, DocSend Doubles Website Conversion Rate In Less Than a Year.
Customer reviews and testimonials
Strategically placing customer reviews and testimonials throughout your landing pages can enhance the credibility of your sales claims. If you claim your product can increase sales productivity, placing a relevant quote near your claim can emphasize it. Anecdotal evidence from a verified customer sharing their business’s increased productivity with the product confirms exactly what you’ve been saying across your website The evidence of the quote emphasizes your statements. In fact, using testimonials on your website can increase landing page conversions by as much as 34%.
For instance, software company Wrike places reviews and testimonials on their product landing page. They include recent testimonials, each highlighting Wrike’s claims that their software enhances project management. When potential customers view this landing page, they’re met with this evidence before they scroll down to the CTA, which makes the testimonials much more effective at enhancing landing page conversions. This is because the customer has read each of the positive reviews just before being asked to register for a free trial, so they’re more easily convinced to test out the benefits for themselves.
Third-party verified statistics
Showcasing a third-party verified statistic increases conversions by providing concrete, tangible evidence of your product’s effectiveness. Statistics show that your product really does accomplish what you claim, bolstering your credibility. Consider this Yellowbrick statistic:
This statistic was gathered in a survey of Yellowbrick’s existing customer base. It shows the overwhelming majority of their consumers are pleased enough with their experience that they would recommend the product to others. When 91% of consumers in the 18–34 age group (a majority of today’s B2B buyers) trust online reviews as much as recommendations from family and friends, a statistic like this can significantly boost consumer confidence in your brand. Just see how Taboola uses statistics to convert leads on their landing page:
Here, the statistic teases the additional content for download, motivating buyers to learn more. This helps Taboola increase their landing page conversions through statistical evidence.
Final thoughts
Social proof can quickly boost your landing page conversions by increasing your customers’ trust in your brand, its promises, and its potential. We’ve seen this come to fruition through Mutiny’s extensive studies and even in feedback from our own clients. By placing social proof points near your CTAs and sales claims, you drive the message home to buyers that their successful industry peers are leveraging your product to carry out their initiatives.
Uncover more ways you can drive landing page conversions and get the most out of your social proof by reading our blog, Does Social Proof Yield a High ROI? Yes! Here’s How.
