🎓 Show a product’s ‘likes’ to boost sales

People were 49% more likely to buy when browsing outside work hours. Revenue increased 7.5%.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 August 22, 2023 | [Read Online]( Show a product’s ‘likes’ to boost sales People were 49% more likely to buy when browsing outside work hours. Revenue increased 7.5%. [fb]( [tw]( [in]( [email](mailto:?subject=Post%20from%20Ariyh&body=Show%20a%20product%E2%80%99s%20%E2%80%98likes%E2%80%99%20to%20boost%20sales%3A%20People%20were%2049%25%20more%20likely%20to%20buy%20when%20browsing%20outside%20work%20hours.%20Revenue%20increased%207.5%25.%0A%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fariyh.beehiiv.com%2Fp%2Fshow-your-products-likes) New to [Ariyh](? This is a 3min practical summary of a scientific study 🎓 Join 21,281 evidence-based marketers that grow using science, not opinions 📈 [Subscribe here]( Today’s insight is brought to you by… [beCreatives]( Need to edit many videos for yourself or clients? You know how time-consuming it can be. That’s where [beCreatives]( comes in. Get unlimited video editing at a flat monthly rate. They handle revisions and tight deadlines, so you can focus on what you do best. Sounds good? [Hop on a free call to learn more](. And if you join now you get 2 months free with any yearly subscription! [Schedule a call]( Want to sponsor Ariyh? [Here’s all you need to know](. 📝 Intro We know how powerful [social proof]( is. For example, to boost sales you can highlight a product’s: - [Number of sales, or views]( - How many reviews it received - Customers from well-known companies It’s extremely powerful. And now scientists have investigated another potential way to boost your social proof: The number of likes of your product. P.S.: Want more reviews to further boost your social proof? Make sure you [respond to every single review you receive](. Hotels that did this received 12% more reviews, with an average 0.12 star higher rating. Previous insight: [Don’t misspell your brand name]( (more insights [here]() Showing product likes increases sales in the evenings and weekends Channels: Social proof | Reviews | Ecommerce | Social media For: B2C. Can be tested for B2B Research date: July 2023 📈 Recommendation On your website or product pages, show how many likes your product has received on social media (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest) or on your own website. Make sure to include some profile pictures of those who liked the product, and their names. People will be much more likely to buy. 🎓 Findings - Showing a product’s likes, along with a few profile photos of people who liked it, on a website’s product page increases sales of tha[t product.]( - In an experiment with a German Ecommerce store, researchers found that showing (vs not showing) likes next to a product: - Increased sales outside of regular work hours of the day by 49% - Increased total revenue by 7.48% - Generated €0.26 for each additional like received, about 0.14% of an average product price. - Revenue only increased outside of work hours, mainly evenings and weekends, because during work hours people are more focused on shopping efficiently, and are less affected by this social proof. 🧠Why it works - We usually [learn from the example]( of others, especially when [shopping online](. This is why social proof (e.g. number of sales, reviews) is so effective. - When we’re unsure about a product, likes [signal us]( that the quality must be good, for so many people to have liked it. - We also interpret likes as popularity, and we often [go along with the most popular choice]( because we assume that others have information that we don’t. ✉️ Use the power of [email courses]( to nurture customers Email courses are a highly efficient way to collect and nurture leads. Here’s how they work. It’s simple: - Visitors sign up for free to get a taste of your expertise - Over a period of days (4+) you send bite-sized lessons and build a relationship - By the end of the course, people know what you can offer and are much more likely to buy Sounds useful? Here’s how you can craft your own email course 👇 [Take the crash course]( This announcement was sponsored. Want your brand here? [Click here](. ✋ Limitations - This research focused on a single website selling low-mid priced products (toys and games). The effect will vary for different websites, product categories, and price points. - The study only analyzed new customers. The effect on returning customers is unknown, but probably similar. - The study showed likes alongside some profile pictures and names of people who liked the product. Showing only the number of likes, without adding a face and name to the like wasn’t tested, so it’s unclear if the effect would hold. - The research used likes collected from a social media network and shown on the product page. Although not tested, likes recorded on an Ecommerce store’s own system would likely trigger the same response. 🏢 Companies using this - Showing how many social media likes a product has received isn’t common. Currently, large global Ecommerce brands don’t include this feature on their sites. - A number of Ecommerce add-ons or plug-ins offer this functionality. For example: - [Product Like and Hide](, [WooHelper](, and [Product Likes]( for WordPress websites - [LikeMe]( for Shopify websites eCommerce software provider [CS-Cart]( offers plug-ins to display how many likes a product receives, with options for users to sort the “Most Liked” products and go back and view items they’ve liked. ⚡ Steps to implement - On your product pages show how many people like a product. - To maximize the effect, include profile pictures and the names of a few customers who liked the product. - You can try different methods to collect product likes, for example: - Create dedicated posts, pages, or accounts for your products on social media - then count and collect these likes and report them on your product page - Use a custom or third-party system to collect likes, and profile pictures all within your website - Remember that in many jurisdictions you need some form of a person’s consent to show their profile pictures alongside your product. 🔍 Study type Field experiment (analysis of 112,087 page visits over a 3 week period of a German Ecommerce retailer) 📖 Research [How do likes influence revenue? A randomized controlled field experiment](. Journal of Business Research (July 2023) 🏫 Researchers - [Jörn Grahl](. PHOENIX group - [Oliver Hinz](. Goethe University Frankfurt - [Franz Rothlauf](. Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz - [Benjamin M. Abdel-Karim](. Deutsche Bank - [Cristina Mihale-Wilson](. Goethe University Frankfurt Remember: This is a new scientific discovery. In the future it will probably be better understood and could even be proven wrong (that’s [how science works](). It may also not be generalizable to your situation. If it’s a risky change, always test it on a small scale before rolling it out widely. Rate today’s insight to help me make Ariyh's next insights 🎓 even more useful 📈 How was today’s insight? 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