Configure a Recommendation Strategy–Based Social Proof Action

If you want to add Monetate's Social Proof feature to your account, contact your dedicated Customer Success Manager (CSM). Your contract must include the Premium Recommendations package to use recommendation strategy–based Social Proof actions.

In addition to displaying social influence messages to shoppers based on either aggregated customer behavior or inventory levels, you can display messages based on a recommendation strategy. This type of Social Proof action allows you to deploy messaging influenced by the customer's viewing and purchasing history on products they're more likely to buy.

You can use a recommendation strategy–based Social Proof action on product detail pages and on pages that display multiple product IDs. Furthermore, you can select a local or a global recommendation strategy for the action.

The Trending type typically works well when the recommendation strategy that you want to use for the Social Proof action includes a noncollaborative recommendation algorithm, such as Most Viewed (Product Detail Page) or Top Selling by Purchase Count. If the recommendation strategy that you want to use includes a collaborative recommendation algorithm, such as Purchased and Also Purchased or Viewed and Later Purchased, then consider using the Recommended for you type.

Follow these steps to build a Web experience with a Social Proof action that displays messages based on a recommendation strategy.

  1. Create a new Web experience, and then configure the WHY and WHO settings.
  2. Click WHAT and then click ADD ACTION.

    Callout of the WHAT settings and the ADD ACTION button

  3. Click Social Proof on the Action Type panel, and then click an action template.

    Template names may vary, and templates in your account may not include configuration specifics shown.

    The Social Proof action templates available for a Web experience, which include a Social Proof Cart Page template, a Social Proof Product Details Page template, and a Social Proof Product Listing Page template

  4. Select an option from the RECOMMENDATION STRATEGY category in Social Proof Type.

    Callout of the RECOMMENDATION STRATEGY category and the options within it in the Social Proof Type selector

  5. Select from Recommendation Strategy an option that's configured in a way that best supports the message type that you selected in the previous step. You can use the search field to find and select a strategy by name, or scroll through the options to select one.

    If you select a recommendation strategy that Monetate hasn't processed for any reason or hasn't finished processing it yet, then an error message appears below Recommendation Strategy alerting you. You cannot save the action until you select a recommendation strategy that's been processed.

    Callout of the 'Recommendation Strategy' selector and its search field

  6. Type into Maximum Products Returned the total number of recommended products on which the Social Proof message should appear.

    The minimum is 1 product, and the maximum is 50 products.

    Callout of the Maximum Products Returned field

  7. If you selected an action template configured for use on pages that show multiple product IDs or configured for use on the cart page in step 3, then optionally type into Maximum Messages per Page the total number of messages that can appear on one page. The default setting is No limit.

    If the number of products that are eligible for the Social Proof message exceeds the per-page limit that you set in Maximum Messages per Page, then the Social Proof message appears on the products on the page that most closely meet the recommendation strategy criteria.

    Callout of the Maximum Messages per Page field

  8. Optionally, customize the default message that appears in Social Proof Message, or replace the default message with a different one.
    • If you selected Trending in step 4, then the default message that appears when the action fires is "Trending!"
    • If you selected Recommended for you in that step, then the default message is "Recommended for you!"

    You cannot use the placeholder in the message that you craft for a Social Proof action that is based on a recommendation strategy.

    If you delete the default message and fail to input any message, the default message still appears when the action fires.

    The 'Social Proof Message' editor, with the Recommended for you-type default message that reads, 'Recommended for you!'

  9. Input the element selector in Relative Element Selector. See Element Selectors for more information about how to use this field.

    Callout of the Relative Element Selector field

  10. Select from Insert Method where the message should appear in relation to the selector you input in the previous step.

    Callout of the Insert Method selector

  11. Optionally, add any of the following settings to the action:
    • In the appropriate editor, input, upload, or select JavaScript code that already exists in the account for any JavaScript creative you want to appear as part of the social proof message.
    • In the appropriate editor, input, upload, or select CSS code that already exists in the account that you want appended to the DOM in a <style> or <link> element.
    • Toggle Select multiple elements, if matched? to YES if you want the social proof message to appear in multiple places if multiple elements match the specified relative element selector.
    • Toggle Re-check for Elements toggle to YES if you want the platform to recheck every 50 milliseconds for up to 3 seconds if the specified element is not immediately found.
    • Toggle Only run once? to YES if you want the platform to insert the JavaScript only on the first track.

    If you're using an action template configured for use on pages that show multiple product IDs, then you must toggle Select multiple elements, if matched? to YES if you want the message to appear for all SKUs of a product ID if each SKU is listed separately on the page.

    The Optional Inputs section of the Social Proof action template

  12. If you want to specify additional criteria that must be met for the action to fire, select one of the options from ADD CONDITION, and then type into the respective input field the necessary information to complete the action condition.
  13. Click CREATE.