Our prospects are trained by tv, radio, movies, Twitter...so what?

I have been playing around with social proof in the last year. As it pertains to this thread in particular social proof is well within the 3 seconds needed to convey a message. 153 people like this article on facebook, it must be good. The same with reviews. there are 35 reviews averaging 4 stars. It is quick down and dirty proof from peers that the product or service or article is worth the time and or money.

So back to what I have been playing with. I am finding through stupid amounts of testing that its not just having these social indicators, but WHERE they are that is key in a presentation.

If you have your social indicators right at the top of the page ( 153 likes ) there is a pre built assumption the product or article is good. As the prospect / reader is going through the material, they may disagree with something said or stated. Doesn't sound like a big deal right? it can be. You have just created a social disconnect. Sure its just1 person, but that 1 person is 10 is 50 is 20% of your traffic is 50% of your traffic and then what?

( Since its Ewens thread I will use the term ) In all sales pitches or even articles there is a "Tipping Point" when the prospect / reader has read enough to make a conclusion that the information provided is helpful or not. THIS is where social proof can have the most IMPACT.

Some good examples of this at play. Walmarts "New" product layout ( rolled out in the last day or 2 ). Walmarts new layout includes the star rating at the very top of each page. I have not really looked at this yet, but I will bet that good ratings will display and "bad" ratings may not. Walmart has REMOVED any and all social media indicators / links. with the exception of some faded out links in the bottom right of their footer.

A fellow warrior Rich Page is a CRO specialist. Looking at his page you can see some patterns developing ( I am not sure if he has done this intentionally, but as I recall he has moved some of these indicators ) 10 Inspiring Best Practices To Learn from High-Converting Websites ( part of my sharing his page is the fact its just good stuff everyone here should read, and his toolbox is well worth getting on his mailing list for. - I think he sends a mail once a week or so - maybe less now that I think of it )

so looking at his page you will see Social linking on the page, but the actual social proof is at the very bottom of each post. I believe the 'reasoning' behind this layout concept is pretty simple. this is #1 a strong converting portion of any page. #2 this is where he is actually implementing his call to action. He is more than indirectly tying in the social proof of the article in with the offer provided.

The last example is Unbounce. if there is a voice to be heard in a discussion of conversion and page layout, well here it is. using Everything You’ve Been Told About Copywriting is Complete Nonsense | Unbounce as an example, you will immediately find social proof along the top left of the page. ( Yes I know that is going against the premise of my statements, but it plays out I promise ) The first thing that catches my eye aside from it being there, is the social proof scrolls with the page, it does not float and stay to the left as a constant. - I find that of interest anyways.

This page without question exemplifies what I am trying to state. 3 times within this article there are chances to tweet this page, or a quote from this page to be exact. Each one of these "tweet moments" are aha moments or "Tipping Points" in the article. They are not making you scroll or loose your place. they are setting the impulse, and skillfully placing the trigger. This is not an accident, this is simply GREAT design.

OK you have hung on this long... I will now bring this mess of a post full circle and relate it to the OP. Each of these 3 examples of something in common. Each one of these incorporates the ideas that Ewen has suggest... 3 seconds.

• WALMART: Their page layout is broken into just about screen sized segments. Product image and purchase information, cross selling, Item details, Item specifics, more cross selling, and then reviews.
• Rich Page: If you look at his top 10 list. Each one of these fits on the screen. Page link, Description, and visual of the page discussed
• Unbounce: As much as the article itself is saying Headlines are over used( hahaha ) they sure are using the hell out of them. Each headline is just about a screen height away. easy to swallow segments to a long article ( actually this one is short in the world of Unbounce )

All three of these pages have segmented the content into easy to consume sections. Each of these are using social proof to its maximum potential.

here is what I find most interesting when looking at pages such as these. You have Rich Page a CRO specialist. You have Unbounce, that guys like Rich and myself use to get better results, and then you have Walmart that employs probably 100 guys and gals like Rich and probably use Unbounce to get their results.

All 3 of the given examples are driven towards one thing, and that is bottom line results. As much as they may appear different, one sells product and the other 2 a service, the page design is for the most part the same. The implementation of Social appears strikingly different, but once you look at the 2 that are out right pushing "Call to Action" ( Rich Page and Walmart ) the Social proof is interestingly enough right above the call to action itself. ( Walmart uses the reviews, and Rich uses likes )

What ultimately separates Unbounce from Rich and Walmart in this example is the intended function of the Social indicators. Unbounce is not using Social to assist in a call to action, Social IS the call to action. They are "Growth Hacking" traffic. - but that's for another post and another time!