How to Skyrocket your Course Sales by Building Social Proof

Have you ever wondered how to get more students to enroll in your online course? Another question, have you ever wondered how to make your course stand out from the crowd? Well, the answer to both questions is the same - social proof.

Social proof is the concept that people are more likely to do something if other people are doing it too. In other words, it’s the idea that people are influenced by what other people are doing.

In today’s day & age where there are abundant online courses, social proof is incredibly important for online course creators to truly stand out by showcasing positive words from their customers. It’s what will differentiate your course from the competition and help you increase your sales.

In this post, we’ll discuss why social proof matters, what types of social proof you can use, and how to use social proof to increase your course sales. Let’s get started!

What is Social Proof?

To get things straight, social proof is a psychological phenomenon where people are influenced by the actions and opinions of others. Since this is a trait that we've inherited over decades, it’s one of the most powerful ways to increase sales, build trust, and inspire action from customers

Social proof becomes important for online course creators because it helps them to build trust with potential students & help them navigate their indecisiveness.

People are more likely to purchase a course if they see that other people have purchased it and had great results.

Why Social Proof Matters?

As discussed before, social proof is important for course creators because it helps them to build trust with new visitors and inspire action by making them purchase the course.

When potential students see that a lot of other people are already taking a course, they are more likely to purchase it themselves. This is because they trust that the course is legitimate and will provide them with the results they’re looking for.

Finally, social proof is important because it can inspire action. Our minds are programmed to blend in with the crowd and not try something risky by nature. This has helped us survive for countless ages with our tribe.

The same phenomenon manifests in our everyday life as well, especially when we're trying to purchase something on the internet.

Types of Social Proof

There are many different types of social proof that you can use to increase sales and get more students to buy your course. Here are some of the most common types of social proof:

• Testimonials:
  
  Testimonials are one of the most powerful forms of social proof. They are written or video statements from past students that share their positive experiences with your course and describe how it helped them achieve their goals.
  
  
• Reviews:
  
  Reviews are another form of social proof that can help to increase sales and get more students to enroll in your course. Reviews contain both positive & negative statements from past students which detail their overall experience after buying your course.
  
  
• Social Media Posts:
  
  Social media posts are high-value social proof. You can highlight social media posts from your students to showcase positive word of mouth. You can also use social media to share the results that your students have achieved with your course.
  
  
• Case Studies:
  
  Case studies are pieces of content that showcase the results that your students have achieved with your course. They can help to build credibility and trust, which can lead to more sales and more students enrolling in your course.
  

Strategies to Build Social Proof

Knowing what types of social proof you can use, let’s see some strategies to build social proof.

Here are some strategies to help you build social proof for your course:

• Ask for Reviews and Testimonials:
  
  Ask your past students for reviews and testimonials. You can use Famewall to easily collect testimonials from your customers by customizing the messages and using the Testimonial Collection Page from Famewall, with which your customers can send you a text/video testimonial in minutes
  
  This is one of the easiest and most effective ways to build social proof. Reviews and testimonials can help to build trust and credibility, which can lead to more sales and more students enrolling in your course.
  
  In fact here are 4 simple ways to collect course reviews from your students & a detailed guide on collecting video testimonials from your students
  
  
• Build a brand on Social Media:
  
  Social media is an effective way to build social proof. You can use social media to engage with potential students & write content centered around the problems your course solves.
  
  This creates an engaged audience who would buy from you and spread positive word of mouth on social media
  
  
• Publish Case Studies:
  
  Case studies showcase the results that your students have achieved with your course. So get a past student on a video interview and walk through the process of how they found your course useful and the transformation journey after the course.
  
  This would help potential students resonate with the journey and increase the chances of them buying the course from you
  
  
• Leverage Influencers:
  
  Influencers are people with a large following and increased engagement on social media.
  
  You can leverage influencers to promote your course after they genuinely try out your course. You can offer them a small discount and open an affiliate campaign. Influencers' positive word of mouth will have a huge influence on your brand perception and increase sales
  
  It's much better if an influencer genuinely finds your course valuable rather than promoting it just for the money
  

How to Use Social Proof to Increase Course Sales?

Now that you know the types of social proof and strategies to build social proof, let’s discuss how to use social proof to increase course sales.

So here are some tips for course creators to use social proof to increase sales:

• Display Reviews & Testimonials on your course landing page:
  
  You can display the reviews & testimonials you collected from customers on your website using tools like Famewall which gives you a testimonial widget that can be embedded on your website in just a few minutes without writing any code.
  
  We've discussed here in detail how you can collect testimonials from your students
  
  It supports multiple platforms like Webflow, Kajabi, WordPress, Softr, Bubble etc.
  
  
• Showcase video testimonials from customers
  
  Video testimonials are the ultimate social proof since people get to see and hear from real students and have no doubt about the authenticity of the testimonials.
  
  You can use Famewall to collect a video testimonial from your students  & display them on your website using the widget

Ideally, it's best to include testimonials in your marketing campaigns to see better results. Here are simple ways to get the best out of your marketing efforts using testimonials

Ways to Get Students to Enroll in Your Course

Once we've built social proof to increase course sales, let’s discuss some strategies to get more students to enroll in your course by helping spread good word of mouth. This is necessary to get visibility for your course & make the social proof do its work

• Offer Discounts and Special Deals:
  Discounts and special deals are a great way to entice potential students to enroll in your course. You can offer limited-time discounts on the course price, bundle deals, and other special offers to attract more students.
  
  
• Provide Free Resources:
  Providing free resources is another great way to get more students to enroll in your course. You can create free webinars, tutorials, and other resources related to your course to draw in potential students.
  
  
• Promote Your Course:
  You should promote your course on social media, through email, and through other channels. This will help to get the word out about your course and increase the number of students who enroll.
  
  
• Use Paid Advertising:
  You can use paid advertising to promote your course and target potential students who are interested in your course topic. This includes creating ads on Facebook, Google and other social media platforms. This is quite effective as it doesn't require any active effort from your end
  

Channels to Help Create Social Proof for Your Course

Finally here are some handy tools to build social proof for your course

• Social Media:
  Social media is an underrated & fantastic way to build social proof. Use social media to share testimonials, reviews, and success stories from past students. You can also use social media to showcase the results that your students have achieved with your course.
  
  
• Review and Testimonial Platforms:
  There are review and testimonial platforms that you can use to collect reviews and testimonials from past students.  One such affordable tool for course creators with the option to collect testimonials for multiple cohorts is Famewall
  
  It reduces the friction in collecting testimonials and leads to more sales and more students enrolling in your course.
  

Few Tips for Course Creators to Build Social Proof

So now we can all agree that social proof boosts course sales to an extent. But here are a few tips to keep in mind when trying to build social proof

• Always Ask for Testimonials:
  Asking for reviews and testimonials is one of the best ways to build social proof. You should always reach out to past students and ask them to share their experiences with your course. Since a happy student who benefitted from your course is more likely to give a testimonial, never miss that chance.
  
  You can use Famewall to make the process of collecting testimonials and adding them to your website frictionless
  
  
• Showcase Results:
  Focus on showcasing the results that your students have achieved with your course on a specific section of your website. These can be case studies, success stories, or customer testimonials. These would inspire potential students to enroll in your course.
  
  
• Leverage Influencers:
  Collaborate with influencers on social media or webinars. You can leverage influencers to promote your course and build social proof. Influencers could also share reviews and success stories from past students, which brings more credibility to you as a creator & for your course

Try Famewall for free to collect testimonials for your course from students with a dedicated Testimonial Collection Page and add the testimonials to your website in just a few clicks