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What is Social Proof?

Social proof, a term coined by author Robert Cialdini, focuses on the concept that people mimic the actions of others in an attempt to emulate their behaviour in specific situations. 

In other words, Michelle (a buyer) says, "Caroline's Debt Reduction training helped me to reduce my credit card debt by 50% in 2 weeks." Other buyers who are in deep financial credit card debt are eager to get their hands on Caroline’s training to achieve the same or similar results.

Imagine if Caroline receives lots of comments like Michelle's for her training! She will probably be smiling uncontrollably or popping a bottle of champagne. New buyers will be flooding her inbox to find out how they can access this service. And, she gets to do what she does best - help people get out of credit card debt.  

Imagine if YOU were in Caroline's position!!!

Testimonials help build trust and make potential buyers more likely to check out what you have to offer. They are so important and powerful when it comes to building social proof and getting more sales in your business. 

How Do You Get Testimonials? 

You have two options here. You can wait for them to come in, or you can ask for them. I recommend you take a proactive approach and ask your clients for them. You can accomplish this through a short form or in an email. If they love what you do, they’ll be happy to share. 

What Should Be Included In A Good Testimonial? 

• When you ask for testimonials, get permission from your customers or clients to share their names. If your customers give feedback in an email or on social media, ask if you can publish it and include their names. DO NOT ASSUME THAT IT IS OKAY TO PUBLISH SOMEONE'S NAME.
  • Depending on your niche and audience, you may want to use their full name. This is particularly important if you are in a biz-to-biz niche and the person is someone your other customers will recognize. Otherwise, a first name and last initial will suffice.

• Adding a location is a nice touch and makes the testimonial look more credible. The cherry on the cake is a picture of the person. It builds trust. Ask for it, but use the testimonial with or without the image. 

Where And How Can You Use Testimonials To Build Trust? 

Ok, you’ve collected some testimonials so where should they go? Everywhere you can publish them.

Your homepage and About page are great places to start. Any feedback related to your products and services should go on the sales page. You can easily add them to the bottom. It can make a big difference in convincing people who are on the fence about purchasing to click the BUY button. 

On social media, testimonials are excellent to drive traffic and talk about your product. Share a few per week and rotate through them.

Final Thoughts

Ready to give it a try? You probably already have some testimonials that you can use. Look through your emails and comments on social media. Ask permission to use the email or comment in your marketing. If it’s something like a Facebook comment, take a screenshot. For an email testimonial, ask if you can use the person’s name and a location like the country, state, or city, for example. Ask for a picture to use with the testimonial, but don’t be afraid to use it without. 

Get into the habit of asking for testimonials and keep an eye out for unsolicited ones and use them anywhere and everywhere you can. It’ll go a long way towards building trust and social proof with your target audience. 

It's time to build social proof!

Get the help you need to ask, collect and publish client testimonials. Our Client Testimonial Toolkit has all the resources to set you up for success, including a tracker!