The Power of Social Influence

Created on 1 December, 2022 • 255 views • 3 minutes read

A great social media presence can not only social proof your business, but also offers you quite a lot of influence.

The Power of Social Influence

A great social media presence can not only social proof your business, but also offers you quite a lot of influence. Social influence is indeed a reality and whether we talk about informational social influence or just general influence, this is indeed possible and it has only become a lot more prevalent in this digital age.

What is social influence?

At its core, the main idea behind social influence is that people change their actions and ideas in order to meet the demands of a specific group. That group holds an influence on others. However, social influence can also pertain to a single person that has the power to influence others, hence the reason why they are called an influencer in the first place.

Why are people ok with social influence?

Many times, we accept social influence because we want to become a part of a group. We need that sense of acceptance or maybe we want the benefits of being part of that group. In doing so, the group has social influence over us. Another reason why groups have social influence is because they encourage cooperation and everyone works closely to fulfil a specific goal.

Being a part of that group gives a sense of cohesion, and it helps you push the limits, while also bringing in a sense of happiness all the time. That being said, there’s also the downside of being a part of such a group. The challenge here is that you do end up having others controlling the ideas and where the group is heading.

When you are under social influence, you don’t really have a lot of control and you just match the views of the group or you end up outside of the group. That’s why social influence is very powerful, because those that hold this influence end up having more control than expected.

Can social influence be used to generate sales for businesses?

Yes, and a great example would be social media influencers. Those persons already have an established audience, and many times we just want to be a part of that group. What that also means is the fact that influencers can present various products and businesses to people, and those a part of that group will go ahead and visit those businesses, maybe even buy something.

There’s a reason why influencer marketing is so popular right now. The social influence of an influencer is very high, and thus companies can harness that to their own advantage. Influencers have conformity, where their followers are adopting the views of other people. But in doing so, they are presenting a multitude of unique ideas, and the benefits they can bring to the table are nothing short of incredible.

Leveraging the power of social influence

You can use social influence in a variety of ways. For example, as a business you can share stories from your customers in the marketing copy. You can also show off the numerous awards received by your business. It’s even possible to interview clients in the content if you want, same with growing your social following. All of these can help boost your social influence as a company, and customers will take notice. It’s an amazing opportunity and one of those great things you do not want to miss.

Conclusion

As you can see, social influence gives tremendous power to those that own it. Add to that the fact that social proofing can also improve your branding efforts and generate sales, then you can see why social influence is so powerful right now. Implemented properly, it can bring in amazing benefits, and the outcome can be nothing short of incredible. All you have to do is to take it into account and use its benefits to grow your business and generate sales in the long run!