Although the results were not the same sitewide we are positive that social proof plays a big part and is definitely worth a test or two.

In this article however, I’m not discussing the term as such and/or how it relates to Social Media. The point here is simply that when there are FEW likes, displaying these likes acts like a deterrent. This may or may not prove ‘Social Proof’ for website applications, but it does debunk the myth that many marketers propel that by just adding the likes, they will produce the effect of ‘Social Proof’. And in review my headline should have been more accurately ‘Debunking the myth of adding Social Media ‘Likes’ acts as ‘Social Proof” and stating that this CAN be the case, but only if certain conditions are met. Ie. marketers really ought to better understand what Social Proof is and how it functions in order to more accurately predict how using Social Media will influence their website visitors.

Thanks for pointing out the correct use of the term here!
Anne

Social proof, also known as informational social influence, is a psychological phenomenon where people assume the actions of others in an attempt to reflect correct behavior for a given situation. This effect is prominent in ambiguous social situations where people are unable to determine the appropriate mode of behavior, and is driven by the assumption that surrounding people possess more knowledge about the situation.

Social Media may or may not be relevant or interesting to your market.

Unfortunately we have not yet come up with the technology to close the testing loop around social media… even though we can repeatedly see that social media bars harm conversions in a single user cycle, we cannot say if that user, who didn’t buy, did perhaps by sharing, bring 10 new users to the site, 2 of which bought – thus increasing conversions.e.g. using query strings attached to the share, but have not yet concluded this method nor tested it. Stay tuned!

It is correct to say that if anything, this test further affirms the working of ‘Social Proof’. I’m more referring to the myth of by simply adding social media integration all over a page one would automatically gain social proof. And I see now that I didn’t say this clearly enough.
The next step I’m planning, is to test how placement, style, number of likes, follows vs likes, etc… impact conversions. This is but one study of many that have been conducted and merely shows that we need to learn more. But pending these results it’s safe to say, that any social media integration should be carefully assessed and then tested!

I am not clear about the conclusions. Did any of the goals have to do with social media engagement? If so then the big wins would prove that social media is good for a web site as long as it is done effectively. Just like everything else in SMM.

Exactly what Nick said. My thoughts exactly. I also think that today’s consumer is only going to get lazier, but having them take that first action may lead to future engagement. If they don’t have the chance to take that initial action, when are they ever going to engage with you. Those lazy visitors could very possibly become engaged and profitable customers – if given the chance.

@Juho

I have to say that when I started reading this article I was thinking the exact same as you. I don’t think the writer got to the point of ‘social proof’ quickly or clearly enough to justify the title. However, the very likes, retweets etc that you get are social proof in themselves. It is someone saying, hey I like this enough to let other people know that I like it, and believe that it is valuable enough to share.

For a blog that regularly has very few shares/likes, I have to agree with what Information Architects wrote.

In that initial phase when a blog is hardly known, I’d say they should focus on having actual discussions instead of going for “shares”.

As an example, see ContentVerve.com. Michael (the person running it) doesn’t have too many “social media shares” as such for his posts, but absolutely great discussions after most most of them (http://contentverve.com/test-your-gut-feeling-which-cta-won/).

Point being, better to focus on the talking with your visitors than trying to get clicks of affirmation from them.