Jonestown, Guyana, November 18, 1978.
Over 900 individuals of the Peoples Temple voluntarily chose to take their lives.
The incident became one of the largest mass deaths in American history.
But why would so many people choose to take such drastic action?
Let's go back to 1955 and a man called Jim Jones.
Jones was brought up in a religious household and joined the ministry after graduating from university.
In 1955, Jones set up his own church in Indianapolis.
Named the Wings of Deliverance, the church eventually became known as the Peoples Temple.
The Peoples Temple was popular among minority groups and "less educated" individuals.
It was known for its work with the homeless and in the 1960's Jones served as director of Indianapolis’s Human Rights Commission for his contributions to the community.
This is when the power started to get to him.
Fearing that nuclear war was on the way, Jones relocated the Peoples Temple to California in 1965 where he amassed a following of over 1000 members.
Jones adopted the nickname “the Prophet,” and in 1977 emigrated to Guyana where he set up Jonestown.
Away from the rest of civilization, the group picked up a number of bizarre rituals, including ritual mass suicide.
After a visit from a U.S. Rep turned sour and five visitors were killed, Jones put this ritual into action announcing that a mass suicide will take place.
913 obeyed his commands and drank cyanide-adulterated punch.
Initial investigations into this horrific event focused on Jim Jones himself.
He was described as manipulative, highly influential, and hypnotic.
However recent studies by psychologists point to a greater underlying influence:
While there's no doubt that Jones was influential, no leader can single-handedly influence such a large group of people.
Instead, he utilized social proof to build a large following and get them to take their lives.
By controlling a small group to influence the masses.
Jones had a smaller group of followers who worshiped his every move.
In their eyes he was a god.
While many of his followers didn't believe in him to such extremities, a change in their surroundings would push them to their limits.
Once in Guyana, obeying what Jones said became the social norm.
People actively went out of their way to serve him and those that didn't were punished with beatings and even imprisonment.
This happened for two reasons.
Firstly, people were uncertain. They were in a new location, lived with new people and had no connection to the outside world.
As a result they simply adopted what others were doing.
This leads to the second reason.
People were surrounded by others like them.
In a non-English speaking country, the settlers at Jamestown looked towards one another for new social norms.
Unfortunately, these norms lead to their demise.
Now, what does any of this have to do with copywriting and marketing?
You see, Friend, it shows how influential social proof can be.
And also how social proof can be used to maximum effect.
Most copywriters use social proof in their work.
But many use it incorrectly.
They use the highest statistic or most impressive client results.
But they forget who they're writing for.
Social proof is most effective when the audience can relate to it.
This means using testimonials and reviews from people like them.
Writing to runners? Use results from a runner.
Writing to eCom store owners? Use results from an eCom store.
Writing to bodybuilders? It doesn't matter what you use as they can't read anyway.
Jokes aside, when using social proof make sure you're using proof your audiences resonates with.
This will maximize effectivness & boost sales.
So next time you go to use social proof ask yourself:
"Will the reader relate to this proof?"
If not, choose something else.
