Remember when they put those really bad laugh tracks on TV comedy shows to encourage you to laugh at the jokes. That’s an example of social proof.

1. Using Social Proof in Recruitment Marketing
Slide 1
Using Social Proof in
Recruitment Marketing

2. Using Social Proof in Recruitment Marketing
Slide 2
1) Social Proof
2) Testimonials
3) Social Sharing
4) Rankings and Awards
5) Trust Icons
Overview
Source: Higher Education Marketing – Using Social Proof in Recruitment Marketing

3. Using Social Proof in Recruitment Marketing
Slide 3
 Simply put, social proof is the phenomena where people
follow the actions (or decisions) of others when they find out
that others are already doing something, based on the
assumption that others have more knowledge about the
situation than they do.
 In higher-ed recruitment marketing, social proofs are
particularly important because prospective students are very
tuned in, and sensitive to, the behavior of their peers and
other external advisers and actively seek social proof to
assist them in their decision making.
1. Social Proof
Source: Higher Education Marketing – Using Social Proof in Recruitment Marketing

4. Using Social Proof in Recruitment Marketing
Slide 4
 When you say something about how good your university is,
it’s marketing. When a student says something good about
you, it’s a testimonial.
 Student testimonials are powerful micro narratives that you can
weave through you program, information and landing pages,
providing solid “proofs” of student experience and results.
 Short relevant testimonials fit well into main pages and longer
student success or graduate success testimonials provide more
details for deeper pages.
 Use video where ever possible for testimonials as they bring more
credibility than straight text.
 Visitors don't generally visit a testimonials page, but will
spend time on them when they are embedded in other
content.
2. Testimonials
Source: Higher Education Marketing – Using Social Proof in Recruitment Marketing

5. Using Social Proof in Recruitment Marketing
Slide 5
 Social sharing buttons and statistics are showing up more
and more on higher-ed websites.
 Reporting likes and followers to the visitor provides a strong proof of
the interest and approval of their peers.
 Be careful with applying this tactic to pages that have low traffic or
low approval ratings.
 Poor stats will produce negative social proof, the opposite of the
intended effect.
 No proof is better than low proof; the impression left is that
your content is either too new to place faith in or it is not
being used by anyone because it's not useful.
3. Social Sharing
Source: Higher Education Marketing – Using Social Proof in Recruitment Marketing

6. Using Social Proof in Recruitment Marketing
Slide 6
 Using rankings and awards are a time tested tactic for
providing social proof of a school’s merit and general
approval ratings.
 On their website, Mohawk College claims the number one spot in
student Key Performance Indicators in 12/13 in the Greater Toronto
and Hamilton Area.
 Always be sure to back up these claims, (as Mohawk did in this
example), with a click through to all the details about the ranking to
confirm your proof.
4. Rankings and Awards
Source: Higher Education Marketing – Using Social Proof in Recruitment Marketing

7. Using Social Proof in Recruitment Marketing
Slide 7
 Trust icons range widely in form and purpose, from
indicators of secure ecommerce servers to identification of
accreditation bodies.
 Trust icons are typically formal endorsements from expert bodies or
influencers, have some level of public recognition, and offer the
visitor proof that the organization can be trusted and are recognized
by other public organizations.
5. Trust Icons
Source: Higher Education Marketing – Using Social Proof in Recruitment Marketing

8. Using Social Proof in Recruitment Marketing
Slide 8
 Trust icons are particularly important on landing pages and
should be placed near your calls to action for maximum
effect on conversion rates.
 Social proofs are important to communicate your story, it’s
authenticity and relevance to your visitor.
 If used effectively they can increase your visitor’s time on site,
positively communicate your brand and encourage click-throughs on
your conversion paths.
5. Trust Icons
Source: Higher Education Marketing – Using Social Proof in Recruitment Marketing

9. Using Social Proof in Recruitment Marketing
Slide 9
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