Updated July 2023

As small business owners, we're constantly trying to evaluate buying decisions, return on investment, and how to make a lasting and positive first impression on our audience.

Should we go traditional or modern in our physical space? Should our signs be funny and sarcastic or traditional and serious? Does buying new furniture signal that we don't need new business? Should our waiting area be decked out with a free player for TV screens, allowing you to play music videos, viral videos, movie trailers, and so on or calm and serene with a classical piano playlist?

For service-based businesses, it's about our website technology. Do we use Squarespace or WordPress? How often are we supposed to blog? Show up on social media or ignore social media? How many testimonials are too many? Should we only use a video testimonial or is listing a simple customer review enough?

It doesn't help that there is a plethora of technology and apps out there telling us we need a new product, this service, this strategy...and so on. It's exhausting and at times, just too much. I've faced this in my own business, working with nonprofit website design clients and in running the Nonprofit Template Shop. I seem to drift back and forth between "that's good enough" and "what else could I be doing?"

If any of this resonates with you, I'm sorry and I'm glad! I thought I'd zoom in on the abundance of social proof software choices out there and specifically, my experience with social proof notification tools for my Squarespace website.

In case this concept is new to you, let's start with the basics.

What is a social proof notification or social proof plugin?

A social proof notification or plugin is a tool you can implement on your website to show recent activity from your customers. It's typically used for e-commerce shops to show recent sales, sales streaks, and other customer activities. (If you're looking for a real social proof example, just glance down at the bottom left of your screen to see my active social proof software, FOMO, at work.

The concept is simple -- show potential customers that your current customers are buying your products or services. It's like taking a customer review to the next level. You're not just using words or video on a page to tell your site visitors that people like your stuff - you're showing them that they are actually buying your stuff.

While most of these social proof plugin products are very similar in nature, there are some subtle differences. I tried two other companies before landing with FOMO so I'm happy to share my personal experience with those. Ultimately, all of these tools boast that they will help you improve your conversion rates and turn potential customers into buyers.

Squarespace Social Proof Plugins

If you have a WordPress website, this section won't be all that helpful so feel free to skip down to the next section or do a search for "wordpress social proof plugin" instead.

TrustPulse Social Notification Plugin for Squarespace users

I started this social proof plugin search when I saw it in real-time on another Squarespace website. They were using TrustPulse which, as all of these companies seem to do, claims to be the "best social proof plugin" out there.

TrustPulse claimed to work on Squarespace sites, had a reasonable price ($10/month for a limited time), and said it was super easy to install. So, I went for it. I created a quick campaign (I wanted the plugin to show recent sales from The Nonprofit Template Shop), grabbed the embed code, and added it to my Code Injection header section. Easy peasy.

Or not. After multiple attempts to get this to work, it just didn't. I went through all of the support steps, followed all the directions, and nothing worked. I did have some initial trouble connecting with support but they finally got back to me and after troubleshooting it for themselves, I got this message:

Thank you for providing all the necessary information.

I have made a test purchase and I have confirmed that TrustPulse would not work as expected for your Squarespace site.

I really apologize that this is happening but it is a common situation with a number of our Squarespace customers.

Please do not feel offended at this news but it seems there would not be any other solution I can proffer for you beyond this point.

We do not have full control of integrations that involve third-party tools like Squarespace.

Bummer. They gave me a full refund since it was within 14 days of my purchase.

ProveSource Social Notification Plugin for Squarespace users

The next one I tried was ProveSource social proof. Their site also claims to be the "best social proof" solution and has an entire page about the Squarespace integration with the headline: Easily Integrate ProveSource with Squarespace.

Spoiler alert: It also did not work for me. I know I have seen this plugin work on other Squarespace sites so I'd love to tell you what the problem was but the support team never returned my message. I cancelled in the trial period and was about to give up.

FOMO Social Proof Marketing for Squarespace users

After a couple of weeks (and seeing these tools on nearly every commerce site I visited), I decided to try one more time. It can't be that hard, right? Like the first two sites, FOMO's page told me I was in the right place. (Of course, I was very skeptical at this point.) However, I noticed an immediate difference after I signed up -- as soon as I followed the installation steps, I got a "real" integration screen showing me the two sites were connected. Things were looking up! For once, the marketing lingo on the website was true - they really are "The world's first Social Proof Automation API."

The starting price was a little higher than the other two options ($19/month for up to 25,000 notifications) but for my traffic level, that pricing tier was going to be just fine. Plus, I had a free trial so I could actually see if it was going to be worth the investment.

The verdict: Does FOMO really increase conversions?

For me, so far the answer is YES. I installed FOMO on my Squarespace website on April 24, 2022 and as of the time I'm writing this post, it's been exactly 30 days.

My conversion rate has moved up slightly (.71% to .92%). I'm not using the notifications to get clicks but rather as a proof factor so I can't really measure based on clicks. My guess is that I'll see a continued uptick from this tool as time goes on.

Update as of February 2023 - FOMO is still working very well for me. While I have exceeded the traffic amounts for my plan a few times, it’s still a good price point and I’m convinced it’s helping my conversion rates increase in the Shop!

Update as of July 2023 - I am even more convinced that FOMO is helping my shop sales soar! Every month I’m maxing out my impressions for my plan and on the few days that the pop-up is not on, my sales are down!

Is a social proof popup the only social proof tool?

A social proof popup is just one of many ways to use the power of social proof on your website. Social proof, as a marketing concept, is simply a way to show your ideal audience that people similar to them have experienced a similar set of challenges or pain points and found your product or service to help alleviate that problem.

There are all kinds of ways you can use social proof on your website on your social media platform of choice:

• Be proactive in gathering customer testimonials.

• Showcase positive reviews on your website homepage.

• Add a testimonial plugin to your product page or sales page to show multiple reviews.

• Use a recent product review in your Facebook Ads.

• Get creative and use a video testimonial to put even more power behind the reviews. (Bonjoro is great for this!)

So what's the best social proof plugin for Squarespace?

For me, it's been FOMO. I can't speak to why the other two products didn't work for me (and apparently for lots of other people) but I'm happy with FOMO and plan to keep it for at least six months while I watch my Google analytics and monitor the return on investment. Do I think a sales notification is the only reason my Template Shop is doing well? Absolutely not.

I've used best practices in writing my SEO descriptions, added lots of internal links to my blog content, I'm using a lead generation tool through my Free Template and Training Bundle, and have plenty of user generated content through my customer reviews, as well. Like any great marketing strategy, I'm coming at this process from all angles.

Try FOMO for free with an extended trial plus get 50% off your first month

I was NOT paid for this post (I wish!) but I do have a FOMO Promo code/affiliate link for you that will give you an extended free trial if you want to try it on your own Squarespace website. Direct link: https://oneninedesign.net/fomo

I’m curious! Are you using a social proof plugin? If so, which one and are you finding it a good return on investment?

Until next time,

Andrea

You might enjoy these related posts…