A Browse Through My Bookshelf: Proven Social Proof Strategies to Drive Book Sales

The psychology of social proof 

In the previous article, we explored Rory Sutherland’s concept of framing and how it can dramatically change the perceived value of your offering. Today, we’re diving into another powerful principle: social proof. This concept, popularized by psychologist Robert Cialdini, shows how people tend to follow the actions of others, especially in uncertain situations.

Social proof is based on the idea that if others are doing something, it must be the right thing to do. In marketing, this translates to showcasing how others value and enjoy your product or service. The bandwagon effect it creates further influences cumulative advantage.

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But what if you don’t have social proof?

Real-world applications

Let’s break this down using our RAVE example.

At RAVE, we are running our first event, so we don’t have past events to trade on for social proof. Wouldn’t it be great if we had:

  1. Testimonials from past attendees
  2. Social media buzz
  3. Attendance numbers
  4. Media coverage

We don’t, so here is what we have done:

  1. Leverage author endorsements: While we don’t have past attendees, we do have confirmed authors. We’ve asked them to share why they’re excited about RAVE, creating a form of expert social proof. You may have seen some of our posts about who is speaking from us or them.
  2. Create pre-event buzz: We’ve encouraged early ticket buyers to share their excitement on social media with a specific hashtag and post. We can then showcase these posts, creating a sense of anticipation and community even before the event begins.
  3. Highlight early adopters: Instead of total attendance numbers, we focus on how quickly certain ticket tiers are selling out. “VIP passes are 75% sold out!” creates urgency and shows that others are already on board
  4. Showcase sponsor support: By highlighting the authors, brands, and publishers supporting RAVE, we demonstrate that established industry players believe in our event.
  5. Create FOMO (Fear of Missing Out): We’re releasing “sneak peeks” of exclusive content or experiences that will only be available at RAVE, encouraging people to share their anticipation.
  6. Finally, we have invested in capturing social proof at this first event in various ways so we can leverage it in the future. Sometimes, you just have to wait and deliver over and over before the reviews come in.

How authors can build social proof

This approach to creating social proof for a new event can be directly applied to book marketing, especially for debut authors. Here’s how:

  1. Build a street team: Assemble a group of eager readers who get early access to your book in exchange for honest reviews and social media buzz.
  2. Share your writing journey: Document your writing process on social media. Followers who have been part of your journey are more likely to support your book launch.
  3. Create exclusive content: Offer bonus material, like a prequel short story, to early buyers. This can encourage people to pre-order and share their excitement.
  4. Leverage your network: Ask friends, family, and colleagues to share about your book on their social media platforms, expanding your reach.

Here’s a quick exercise: Imagine you’re launching a new book. List five potential sources of social proof you could leverage, even without having a large existing readership.

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Remember, the key is to start building social proof early and to be creative in how you demonstrate that others value your work. Social proof is a long game. You need to give people reasons to post, and they need to be real posts about their satisfaction and emotional payoff.

In our next and final article of this series, we’ll explore the principle of scarcity and how it can drive demand for your book or event. We’ll look at how RAVE uses this principle to create urgency around ticket sales and how you can apply it to your own book launch strategies.

Until then, start paying attention to how brands and individuals create social proof in their marketing. You might be surprised at the innovative ways people demonstrate value through the actions and opinions of others.