Leveraging Social Proof To Improve User Experience

Marvin Behavioral Health's enrollment doubled after changing three things that had nothing to do with their actual therapy service. THE CONTEXT: 48% of physicians report burnout, yet 72% are satisfied with their jobs—they don't want to leave medicine, they want support that actually understands their world. THE CHALLENGE: Too many were dropping off at signup for the service before ever starting therapy, despite needing help. When Irrational Labs looked at Marvin's landing page through a behavioral science lens, three barriers jumped out: 🧠 Mental model confusion: Is this AI or human therapy? The value prop wasn't clear. ⏰ Present bias: "Therapy sounds good, but how does it help me right now?" 🤐 Identity & stigma: Clinicians are caregivers first—seeking care feels uncomfortable. Our redesign tackled each barrier: 1️⃣ Humanize the experience: Photos and therapist bios showed real healthcare experts, not generic counselors 2️⃣ Build trust through expertise: Highlighted Marvin's 24/7 crisis hotline (free even for non-members) and therapists' deep healthcare experience 3️⃣ Layer social proof: Featuring both prestigious hospital partners and local clinical champions made therapy feel normal, not exceptional THE RESULT? Conversion doubled from 10% to 21%. Key takeaways for product leaders: - Emphasize emotional benefits: Lead with human connection, not platform features - Show your work: Display expertise and institutional sacrifice prominently; skip the jargon - Stack social proof: Layer general credibility (prestigious partners) with specific relevance (local champions) Too often, the biggest conversion killer is the mental model users have of a product or service before they even try it, not the product itself. How are you aligning your product's mental model to the value you offer users? Let us know in the comments 👇 #BehavioralScience #HealthTech #ProductDesign

Reviews are more than social proof. They’re your best copywriters. Let me explain 👇 Most brands just throw reviews on a PDP and forget about them. Here’s a better idea: turn your best reviews into full email flows. Here’s how: • Take your top 10 5-star reviews. • Label what problem each one is solving. • Build an email around each. Examples: • Review: “Finally something that fits my wide feet!” → Subject: “Got wide feet? We made this for you.” • Review: “I was nervous buying shoes online…” → Subject: “She doubted it too — until she tried this.” • Review: “Works even with my 3 toddlers running around.” → Subject: “Kid proof. Mom tested.” You’re not showing off. You’re letting real people tell your story. Let your customers do the talking. It comes across more real than anything you could write yourself.

In 30 days, we DOUBLED Champify’s homepage conversion rate (see image).  How? We updated our strategy to reflect how people want to buy software. Here are the 4 key changes we made: BACKGROUND: Here’s what the marketing journey on my latest software evaluation Product A: discovered via newsletter sponsorship → followed founders on linkedin → asked peers in case studies about their experience → reached out for a demo Product B: discovered via linkedin ad featuring someone i know → bdr engaged with my linkedin content → asked peer about their experience → reached out for demo Based on that experience, here’s what we changed (and why): 1. PERSONAL EXPERIENCE > EXPLAINING USE CASES We updated our website to revolve around individuals’ successes. Instead of saying “build more outbound pipeline” we highlight an awesome BDR who says “I booked $1,000,000 of pipeline 6 months after using Champify” Rather than Champify explaining the use cases, our customers share their results and how they were accomplished. 2. JOBS TO BE DONE > COMPANY CASE STUDIES It’s easy to forget that (in most cases) our products are a portion of people's jobs. People want to do their entire job better, not just use our products better. So we’ve moved away from the traditional case study and towards playbooks that show how our customers master their day to day. While we still have case studies that show bottom line impact - we’ve also got fantastic resources on how our customers build universal SDR dashboards, got sales and marketing alignment, and got their AEs prospecting. 3. PERSONA BASED SOCIAL PROOF FOR RETARGETING ADS We’ve switched from case studies to persona-based quotes for retargeting ads and have 3x our CTR. The goal is to show people a personal experience from someone in a similar role. Who knows? Like me they may even know the customer highlighted and reach out without ever clicking through an ad. It’s too early to measure direct conversion impact, but the trends are promising. 4. CREATE CONTENT WORTH COMING BACK FOR We spend a lot of time ensuring that we are producing content worth following for day-to-day advice. This means we’re not just writing about our product. We’re hosting webinars with customers, writing blogs, and publishing LinkedIprn content around real problems, and not just challenges we immediately solve. TAKEAWAY: Show don’t tell. Every software category is competitive. Trust in vendors has eroded. People are looking to peers for advice. Your champions will sell your solution better than you can. So put them at the forefront of your GTM strategy.

93% of consumers say online reviews influence their purchase decisions. But the way most use social proof actually hurts conversion instead of helping. It's one of digital marketing's greatest ironies. I've analyzed thousands of websites over the past decade and found a consistent pattern: companies add testimonials and reviews to their sites, yet they often sabotage their effectiveness through poor implementation. The psychology is clear: humans are social creatures who look to others when making decisions. But simply sprinkling testimonials throughout your site isn't enough. Here are the common social proof mistakes that kill conversion: ↳ Placing social proof at the wrong stage of the journey Don't show testimonials before establishing what your product actually solves. ↳ Using reviews that sound suspiciously perfect Real reviews have nuance... 4.7 stars is more believable than 5.0. ↳ Showcasing anonymous quotes instead of identifiable people Our brains dismiss "J.S. from California" as potentially fake 🤷🏻♂️ Social proof is most effective when strategically deployed based on where customers are in their decision-making process: ↳ Discovery Use expert endorsements and certification badges to establish credibility ↳ Information Gathering Customer reviews highlighting specific benefits address practical concerns ↳ Decision-making Testimonials addressing potential objections remove final barriers One enterprise client at The Good increased conversions 42% (!!) by simply moving testimonials from their homepage to their decision stage pages. Is your social proof convincing potential customers, or just convincing *you* that you've checked a marketing box?

People trust people. Not brands. You can say your product is amazing a hundred times. Or… you can let your customers say it once. And that’s why the 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 works so well. 📌 The Setup: Send it to engaged subscribers—people who have opened or clicked an email or SMS in the last 60 days (or just signed up). They’re already interested. They just need a nudge. 📌 The Strategy: Drop a glowing review right into their inbox. ✅ A short, powerful testimonial. ✅ A hero image of the featured product. ✅ A simple “See why everyone’s raving” button. No clutter. No fluff. Just social proof doing what it does best. Here’s why it works: People trust 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 people. They want to hear from buyers who’ve already been there, done that, and loved it. A single review can turn hesitation into action. A single quote can push them from “Maybe later” to “Take my money.” And if you layer in urgency (limited stock, trending, last chance to buy)? You’ve got a 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗲𝘁. So, the next time you’re crafting an email… Skip the sales pitch. Let your happiest customers sell for you. Are you leveraging social proof in your email flows? #emailmarketing #ecommerce #growth #Shopify #Klaviyo