Important Update for New Clients:
Please note that customers who have joined our platform after February, 2024 will not have access to non-responsive Social Proof templates. You can use responsive Social Proof templates instead.
If you're unsure what to recommend or how to approach Social Proof campaigns, review the best practices below and choose the ones that fit your needs.
On-page vs. Inline Social Proof
On-page Social Proof campaign
You can prefer an on-page Social Proof template because it is obviously visible (since it is a pop-up), and more people are likely to notice it.
To improve it, show it after X seconds and have it disappear after X+10 seconds. You can add animations like fade-in and fade-out to make your Social Proof more attractive and less like a regular, boring pop-up.
All pop-ups should always include a close button, per good UX practice. Also, ensure that your on-page element doesn’t block any essential native elements of your website. For example, you wouldn’t want to block your add-to-cart button on mobile. That's why we highly recommend testing your campaign before launching it.
Inline Social Proof campaign
Since it is not a pop-up, an inline Social Proof template would be suitable for most websites and work well on them. The user experience will be smooth since it is embedded on the page.
To improve it, you can remove the close button since having a button on embedded text would not look nice.
Bought vs. Viewed
Choose the dynamic attribute that matches your message. Daily View counts product page views, so pair it with copy that describes views, such as "This product was viewed X times in the last 24 hours." To show purchases, use Daily Purchase or Instant Purchase instead.
Because Daily View counts repeated views, avoid copy that presents its value as a number of people. Daily View also covers the last 24 hours rather than the calendar day, so avoid copy such as "today."
Why Daily View differs from your analytics numbers
Daily View combines product page views from all visitors, browsers, and devices. It is not split by browser or device type. If Daily View is lower than the traffic your analytics tool reports for the same page, check the following:
Social Proof collects data only while an active campaign is in place, so views from before the campaign started are not counted.
Daily View covers the last 24 hours, which might not match the date range of your analytics report.
Analytics tools often report sessions or users rather than page views, so the two numbers measure different things.
In Basket Count Campaigns
In Basket Count reflects cart page loads in the last six minutes, so it describes recent cart activity rather than a daily total. Use copy such as "X cart views in the last few minutes," and avoid copy that presents the value as a number of shoppers or as a total for the day.
Because the window is short, In Basket Count values are usually lower than Daily View values. Set a lower minimum value for In Basket Count than for Daily View, especially on websites with low traffic.
Because the window is short, In Basket Count values are usually lower than Daily View values. Set a lower minimum value for In Basket Count than for Daily View, especially on websites with low traffic.
Minimum Value for a Social Proof campaign
To better understand the Social Proof template's feature, consider seeing “1 user has bought this product before” on your website. Would it convince users to add the product to their cart?
That is why we set a minimum threshold to hide Social Proof when a product page has fewer than X views. For example, if a shirt has only two views in the last 24 hours, the Social Proof won’t appear on that page. On low-traffic websites, this happens relatively often. As a result, your Social Proof may appear to only a small group of people, making it ineffective.
Why add a random value, and why do we prefer it over “add to the original number”?
We highly recommend adding “random values” rather than “add to the original number” for Social Proof templates. For low-traffic websites, most product pages have the same number of daily purchases/views. That number is either 0 or 1. So, if you actually choose “add to original number +5,” → most of your pages will show the same value of 5.”
From the user’s perspective, they keep browsing multiple pages and seeing the same number 5; this wouldn’t persuade them. That's why we add a random value of “5-10” so not all pages show the same number, making it more believable.
Rules of a Social Proof campaign
The common rules are “Appear on the product page”, without any segment, and any other rules for Social Proof campaigns. If you want to go even more personalized, you can consider this:
Seeing “27 users have bought this product in the past day!” on a TV
vs.
Seeing “27 users have bought this product in the past day!” on an AA battery.
The message is clear; however, it may not be equally compelling across product categories. In fact, even in some industries, a higher number might not necessarily work. Consider job application sites: would seeing more applicants make you apply more, or the opposite?
In short, you can personalize Social Proof templates on your website by setting up different Social Proofs for different product categories. If you’re unsure what to recommend, review these best practices and see whether they apply to you.