In the online digital space we often hear the term ‘Best known beats best.’
It’s true given the right context.
Unfortunately most people even I found myself in the beginning fall into the trap that Personal Branding is all about positioning yourself as a celebrity or you need to be popular in your chosen platform.
I rememer my life back in highschool where the only way to hang out with cool kids who have flashy cars and the latest gadgets is find ways how to be cool yourself and work you way in the glamour of being ‘one of them.’
Let’s admit it, ‘Who doesn’t want to be cool? right?
If you’re like me who likes to watch YouTube or any social media platform..
You’ll notice the Ad from self-proclaimed gurus telling you how to get rich and make money online and convincing you by flaunting their rented Lambos, Air BnB Mansions and Chicks that are for hire to be in their video ads.
Because as humans we are attracted to shiny objects that increase our percieved value.
The moment you buy-in the idea that you need to be a celebrity or popular to get the things you want to achieve either that’s 10x your business, get access to the network of well-known industry experts, or win an award so you can flaunt into your target customers.
And this is where the problem starts.
We call this ‘Social Proof.’
Social proof is a psychological and social phenomenon wherein people copy the actions of others in an attempt to undertake behavior in a given situation. The term was coined by Robert Cialdini in his 1984 book Influence: Science and Practice, and the concept is also known as informational social influence.
What it means is that shows validation of the products or services a business provides and this may vary from personal testimonials, ratings, reviews and recommendations.
While in a marketing standpoint this is often used to generate interest, shows that people actually bought, tried and used the product. With the power of online information distribution one can simply fake it and entice people to part their hard-earned money with it.
What’s negative social proof?
They paid a premium to rub shoulders with a celebrity or well known expert in their field.
They rented a ballroom to speak in-front of people mostly volunteers or people who paid like them and document the whole process by capturing headshots, speaking reel videos.
They rented an AirBnB Mansion overnight stay with co-gurus and record videos that will be used for Ads, Social Media Content and Overall Social Proof.
Sent out a press release that picks-up by news aggregator sites and put their logos as if they had been really featured by that media outlet.
The danger zone happens is when one intentionally decides to craft and curate an online persona that is borderline unethical and down right fraudulent with one goal alone.
That is to let people open their wallets and part with their hard-earned money.
I hope this content provides you enough context on using social proof in a negative way.
In my next blog. I’ll be sharing how to utilize social proof the right way.
See you soon!
Many thanks!
Danielle