How to Use Social Proof to Boost Online Course Sales

As an entrepreneur, online courses are excellent for sharing your knowledge and expertise in your niche. It’s also a great way to generate extra revenue – if you market the course well.

In order to stand out among all the competitors, you need to be able to show the value in your course. One way to do this is through social proof. In this blog post, we’ll first explain what social proof is and its importance, and then discuss how you can use social proof to boost online course sales.

What is Social Proof and why does it matter?

Social proof is a psychological phenomenon where people mimic the action of others in situations of uncertainty in an attempt to display the correct behavior. This phenomenon was originally coined by Robert Cialdini in 1984 in his book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, and is often referred to as informational social influence.

From the words of Cialdini, “In general, when we are unsure of ourselves, when the situation is unclear or ambiguous, when uncertainty reigns, we are most likely to look to and accept the actions of others as correct.” In other words, we rely on others’ (friends, family, influencers, experts, etc.) behaviors to determine the proper way to act in a certain situation.

From a marketing perspective, social proof is when consumers look for reviews, testimonials, and recommendations on what products to buy. This is especially true for online courses. Before a potential customer buys your online course, they’ll want to hear from others’ experiences first.

According to a recent survey, 91% of consumers indicated they read at least one review before making a purchase online. Social proof is so important for the success of an online course. Keep on reading to learn how to use social proof to boost online course sales.

How to Use Social Proof to Boost Online Course Sales

So now you understand what social proof is and why it’s important to increase your online course sales. Let’s dive deeper into some of the many ways you can leverage social proof.

Course Reviews Are Key to Boosting Sales

As we highlighted earlier, your audience will be looking for reviews to influence their decision on whether or not they buy your course. This means you should definitely be including them on your social media, landing pages, newsletters, and website.

Course reviews come from students who’ve taken your course. They will generally include a star rating and a short description talking about the course. You can use these reviews to generate an overall star rating of your course and feature the reviews on your landing pages to influence potential students.

Coursera does an excellent job collecting course reviews to provide a star rating of their courses.

Course reviews are often seen as star rating, but you could also generate a Net Promoter Score^℠ (NPS^®). NPS is a simple way to measure your previous students’ satisfaction with your course. This is done with a single question – “How likely are you to recommend this course to a friend?” – and a scale – 1 being very unlikely and 10 being very likely – to generate a satisfaction score.

Tips for success:

• Have a simplified process to request a review from a student once they finish the course.
• Incorporate course reviews on your landing page or sales page.
• Include course reviews in your social media marketing or other ads.

Testimonials Make a Difference

Testimonials take course reviews a step further to highlight the individual’s experience with your course. This type of social proof tends to be more personal. It’s based on the individual’s experience and helps build trust in your brand and course. In fact, 72% of people say positive testimonials increase their trust in a business (Big Commerce). By increasing trust, testimonials can also help to boost online course sales.

There are many types of testimonials, but we recommend using direct quotes and video testimonials for your online course. Understanding testimonials and knowing how to use them can be a daunting task, so we’ve put together a guide for course creators on how to collect and share testimonials. 

 

Featured Resource: Creator's Guide to Collecting & Sharing Testimonials

Download the Testimonial Guide for Creators!

 

For direct quotes, reach out to your students who’ve completed your online course and see if they’d be willing to provide feedback. Oftentimes, if they had a positive experience they’ll likely have a bit to share on how your course impacted them. ConvertKit does a great job of highlighting testimonials on their landing page from students who had success with the course.

At Boast, we feature video testimonials as they’re the most powerful form of social proof. Potential students will want to hear from those who’ve already completed the course and how it impacted them. A video testimonial captures their story and experience in way that can inspire others to give it a try!

Tips for success:

• Include a photo and name of the student when using direct quotes.
• Request testimonials from students who were genuinely happy with the course.
• Prioritize video testimonials, which tend to be more impactful and generate more clicks and views. 

Awards and Recognition Show Expertise and Credibility

Sharing awards and endorsements is another form of social proof that can help to boost online course sales. Awards are a visible way to show your expertise on the content in your course. This is important, as your potential students want to ensure they’re learning from a credible expert.

Recognition can come in the form of endorsements from other experts in your field or from the press. An endorsement from another expert is a powerful tool, as it helps to establish credibility. Endorsements are not easy to come by, so don’t worry if you can’t get them right away. Instead, focus on sharing credible sites your course has been featured in!

Sunny Lenarduzzi does a great job of incorporating recognition on her site with direct quotes from recognizable brands and a section of “As Seen On” to state other places she’s been featured.

Tips for success:

• Share your awards and achievements on landing pages and your website (be sure to include the award logo too).
• Include logos to sites you’ve been featured on to show recognition
• Include records of achievements or accolades you’ve acquired in your field

Leverage User-Generated Content in Your Marketing

User-Generated Content (UGC) is a powerful social proof tool that every online business should be taking advantage of. UGC is brand-related content that is posted online by a person, not the brand itself. Most often, UGC is shared on social media, but can also be seen on wikis, blogs, and other online sites. 

There are multiple ways you can leverage UGC in your marketing, but the biggest and simplest one is re-posting or sharing the UGC to your brand’s social media channels. All social media sites have ways you can do this: Twitter allows you to retweet, Instagram you can share posts to your stories, Facebook re-share a post featuring your product. All of these options just require a few clicks and the content is shared! 

Many brands, like Whole Foods Market, will repost images or videos created by their customers to then share on their own social media (with permission and giving proper credit of course).

Tips for Success:

• Include a section on your website or landing page to highlight UGC
• UGC can be positive and negative, be sure to share the positive and respond to the negative promptly.
• Engage with your audience on social media, this will prompt them to post UGC and mention your brand.

 

Featured Resource: Creator's Guide to Collecting & Sharing Testimonials

Download the Testimonial Guide for Creators!

 

Using social proof in your marketing strategy can help you stand out from your competition and boost your online course enrollment. Consider the tips above and what may work best for your audience. If you decide to include course reviews and testimonials, make sure you’re requesting these from your students as they complete your course.