How to Get Social Proof on Facebook Ads

A mediocre ad with great social proof will almost always outperform a great ad with none. Visible likes, shares, and a thread of positive comments act as a powerful signal, telling new viewers, Hey, people like and trust this. This guide breaks down exactly how to build and leverage social proof on your Facebook Ads, moving it from a random accident to a deliberate strategy for better campaign performance.

What is Social Proof and Why Does it Matter for Ads?

Social proof is the simple idea that people copy the actions of others. Think about an empty restaurant versus one with a line out the door - which one do you assume has better food? The packed restaurant has social proof. On Facebook Ads, this translates to tangible engagement metrics like:

• Likes, Loves, and other Reactions: The most basic form of approval.
• Comments: Conversations bring an ad to life, showing that real people have questions and thoughts about it. Positive comments are golden.
• Shares: A strong endorsement, signaling that the content is valuable enough for someone to show it to their own network.

When potential customers, especially from cold audiences, see an ad with zero engagement, their subconscious risk detectors go up. They're the first person at the party, and it feels awkward. But when they see an ad with hundreds of likes and comments from happy customers, it immediately lowers their guard. It builds instant credibility, reduces their skepticism, and makes them far more likely to click, trust, and convert. Without social proof, you're constantly fighting an uphill battle to win a new customer's trust from a cold start.

Strategy 1: Seed Your Social Proof with an Engagement Campaign

You can't get social proof if no one sees your ad, and cold audiences are reluctant to be the first to engage. It's a classic chicken-and-egg problem. The solution? Don't start with a conversion campaign targeting a cold audience. Instead, start by farming for early engagement from people who already know and like you.

The "Engagement First" method involves running a short, inexpensive campaign with a Page Post Engagement (PPE) objective before you run your main conversion campaign. This approach effectively "warms up" your ad.

Step-by-Step Guide to the Engagement First Method:

1. Create a New Campaign: In Facebook Ads Manager, create a new campaign and select the Engagement objective. For the ad set, choose "On your ad" and "Post engagement" as the conversion type.
2. Target a Warm Audience: This is the most important part. Target your warmest audiences - the people most likely to give you positive feedback. Good examples include:
   • People who follow your Facebook Page or Instagram Profile.
   • Your customer email list.
   • People who have visited your website in the last 30 days.
   • A 1% Lookalike Audience based on your purchasers.
3. Set a Small Budget: You don't need to spend a lot. A budget of $10-$20 a day for a few days is usually plenty. The goal isn't to make sales directly from this campaign, it's to collect likes, comments, and shares.
4. Craft Your Ad: At the ad level, create the exact ad you plan to use later in your conversion campaign. Make sure the copy is engaging and perhaps asks a question to encourage comments. For example, if you're selling t-shirts in different colors, ask, "Which color is your favorite? Let us know below!"
5. Run the Campaign for 2-3 Days: Let the ad run to your warm audience. Watch the social proof pour in. As comments arrive, make sure to reply to them to fuel the conversation.
6. Turn it Off and Grab the Post ID: Once you have a good amount of engagement (e.g., 50+ likes, a handful of positive comments and shares), turn off the engagement campaign. Now that your ad is "seasoned," you're ready to use it for your main campaign. We'll cover how to find and use this post in the next section.

By spending a small amount upfront, you have an ad that's loaded with credibility before you show it to a single new person. The difference in performance compared to an ad with zero engagement can be dramatic.

Strategy 2: The "Post ID" Method to Consolidate Social Proof

This is arguably the single most important technical strategy for maximizing social proof on your ads. By default, every time Facebook delivers your ad to a new audience in a different ad set, it creates a new, invisible version of that ad post. This means your social proof gets spread out across dozens of different versions, with none of them gaining serious traction.

The Post ID method solves this. You find the unique identification number of a single post and tell Facebook to use that exact post for all of your ads. All the likes, comments, and shares - regardless of which ad set or campaign they came from - accumulate on one single post.

How to Find and Use a Post ID:

Finding the Post ID is simple once you know where to look.

For a Brand New Ad (from your Engagement Campaign):

1. Go to your Facebook Ads Manager.
2. Navigate to the engagement campaign and the ad you just ran.
3. Click the checkbox next to the ad, then click the "Preview" button in the right-hand panel.
4. In the preview window, click the dropdown menu and select "Facebook Post with Comments."
5. A new tab will open with the direct link to that ad post. Look at the URL in your browser. The long number at the end of the URL is the Post ID. Copy it.

For an Existing Organic Page Post:

1. Navigate to Meta Business Suite.
2. Click on "Content" in the left-hand menu and find the published post you want to use.
3. Click on the three dots (...) on the post and select "View on Facebook."
4. Just like before, the URL will contain the Post ID. You'll see several numbers, but it's typically the last long string of digits. Copy it.

Putting the Post ID to Work:

Now that you have your Post ID, here's how to use it in your new conversion campaign:

1. Create your new Sales or Leads campaign as you normally would.
2. At the Ad level of your campaign setup, look for the "Ad Setup" section.
3. Instead of "Create Ad," select the option "Use Existing Post."
4. Below that, you'll see an option to "Select Post." Click on the "Enter Post ID" button or tab.
5. Paste the Post ID you copied earlier into the text box and hit "Submit."
6. Voila! Your ad will populate with that exact post, carrying over all of its likes, comments, and shares. Now, repeat this process for every ad in every ad set in your campaign. This ensures every dollar you spend is building social proof in one central place.

This powerful technique prevents your engagement from being fragmented and builds what can be perceived as an incredibly popular and well-loved piece of content.

Strategy 3: Actively Cultivate and Manage Your Social Proof

Getting social proof is only half the battle, managing it is just as vital. The comments section of your ad is a public forum for your brand. Treating it with care can turn neutral observers into loyal customers.

Respond to Everything

The worst thing you can do is ignore your comments section. A brand that actively engages feels human and trustworthy.

• For positive comments: Don't just "like" them. Reply personally. Thank them for their kind words. If they tagged a friend, welcome the friend to the conversation. This encourages more of the same positive behavior.
• For questions: Answer them quickly and transparently. For every person who asks a question, ten more are wondering about the same thing. Answering questions publicly builds trust and helps overcome purchase objections for everyone reading.
• For negative comments: This is where great brands shine. Never delete negative feedback (unless it's offensive spam). Address it publicly, professionally, and empathetically. Say, "We're so sorry to hear you had that experience. Please send us a DM so we can make this right." This demonstrates excellent customer service and shows onlookers that you stand behind your product and care about your customers. Seeing a brand handle criticism well often builds more trust than a string of uninterrupted positive reviews.

Leverage User-Generated Content (UGC) in Your Ad Creative

The ultimate form of social proof is when your customers become your marketers. User-generated content - photos, videos, and testimonials from real people - is authentic, relatable, and incredibly persuasive.

How to Incorporate UGC:

• Testimonial Overlays: Take a compelling quote from a five-star review and place it as a text overlay on your ad's video or image. For example: "This is the best skincare product I've ever used!" - Sarah_K.
• Customer Photo Carousels: Create a carousel ad format showcasing pictures of different real customers using your product. The authenticity is far more believable than slick, professional photoshoots.
• Write "Proof" into your Ad Copy: Don't be afraid to explicitly state your social proof. Phrases like, "Join over 50,000 happy customers!" or "Voted the #1 Gadget of 2024 by Tech Weekly" instantly borrow credibility from either a large group or a trusted authority.

To gather this content, encourage customers to use a specific hashtag, run photo contests, or simply send a follow-up email after purchase asking happy customers if they'd be willing to share their experience. Always get permission before using someone's photo or full name in an ad.

Final Thoughts

Building social proof on your Facebook Ads isn't about getting lucky, it's about being strategic. By seeding engagement with warm audiences, consolidating that engagement with the Post ID method, actively managing your comments, and weaving user-generated content into your creative, you build a powerful asset that reduces buyer friction and increases trust - leading to better results for every dollar you spend.

Responding to every single comment and DM to build positive momentum can get intense, especially when managing multiple social platforms. At Postbase, we built a unified social inbox to solve this exact problem. It lets you handle all your comments and direct messages from every platform in one organized place, ensuring you never miss an opportunity to engage with your community and turn a conversation into compelling social proof.