As we all know, travellers have a vast range of options when it comes to what to buy and who to buy it with.
Consumer-facing online brands devote a lot of time and effort building up the inventory available and in getting travellers to their site. Once on the site, there are various mechanisms that sites can use to convert visitors into bookers, and one emerging avenue is social proof - the idea that our behaviour as individuals can be influenced by the wider community.
A lot of familiar ecommerce features fall under this umbrella - "people who bought this also bought that"; "10 people are looking at this hotel now"; "10 guests gave this restaurant five out of five in the past 24 hours"...
This is where ProveSource comes in. It allows websites to present users with a variety of social proof messaging, all aimed at increasing conversion rates.
Before the Q&A, here's a short video.
What problem does your business solve?
When you walk into a shop or restaurant, you quickly get a feel for its popularity and ambiance. But when you’re in front of a computer, it’s hard to tell how “hot” an online marketplace is. Most companies use too many aggressive popups, without any personal touch. ProveSource bridges that gap by bringing in the social proof strategy.
ProveSource gives your customers a new online shopping experience that makes them feel more like they’re in an actual place with other people. The results are increased urgency, trust and social validation, both of which dramatically increase conversions.
Names of founders, their management roles, and number of full-time paid staff?
Yosi Dahan, cofounder and CEO
Natan Abramov, cofounder and CTO
plus two other full-time staff.
Funding arrangements?
ProveSource is currently bootstrapped.
Revenue model?
ProveSource is a SaaS, self-serve product. We charge a monthly fee (starting from 0$ to $699) depending on users volume and available features.
Why do you think the pain point you’re solving is painful enough that customers are willing to pay for your solution?
When someone lands on your landing page or website, they don't know whether your offer is any good.
Your product or service could be the best in the world, and it's okay to lay that claim -- it's just that people may not believe you unless they hear it from other people too.
Booking.com for example, pulls all the social signal levers in its search results, creating a sense of urgency by showing the actions taken by others.
Along the path to book a flight or room, many of your potential customers will visit your website. Eliminating any doubts in the consumer’s mind is an important and powerful strategy, and that’s why it’s vital to add social proof into your online experience, especially as customers approach a booking decision.
External validation?
ProveSource is now installed on thousands of websites, landing pages, ecommerce shops, OTAs, with more than one million unique engagements (views, clicks) per day.
We are running a new affiliate program that let others make money by referring potential clients.
We have integrations with more than 500 external services such as Zapier, CRMs, marketing automation tools.
Tnooz view
Over the past year or so, there appears to have been a growing interest in conversion rate optimisation. It's almost as if the industry realised that customer acquisition costs and conversion rates need to be part of the same discipline rather than discrete, silo-ed concepts.
ProveSource has identified social proof messaging as a way to increase the number of people who actually buy something on a site. One of the interesting ideas outlined above is that the tone and content of social proof messaging needs to be adapted once the customer gets close to booking.
As with many ecommerce initiatives, there is the balance between personalisation and privacy. But these prompts are now so commonplace customers are becoming more accepting of this type of engagement.
The viability of ProveSource as a business depends on how many people sign up, which is in turn reliant on how effective it is at increasing conversion rates. It appears to be a simple equation - if the additional revenue is greater than the cost then it is worth considering.
There are many players - big and small - who think they can crack conversion rates by offering a positive ROI. We wish ProveSource well in an interesting and competitive space.