Did you know you can create your own social proofs?
Want to say you know something about something? Create a website or blog or social media on the topic.
Write on topics. Speak at events.
Go out and mentor. Do stuff for free.
The more you can showcase authentic interaction to build trust - the lower friction you’ll experience in doing what you want to achieve.
Here are some specific tactics to collect, curate and deploy proof’s to position your services persuasively.
Build your content proof library architecture
Make sure you set yourself up to get timely feedback
Be sure to setup the trigger points:
- After you interact with a person or customer, make a point, manually or in an automated way to get feedback on the interaction.
- This is important, as you’ll learn, and you can later use it (with permission) to share with new customers.
Create case studies on what you’ve done
- Identify standout customers, or events or things to showcase effectively.
- Capture some quotes, comments or even interview content.
- Collect before/after metrics of what’s gone on.
Video and audio is gold
- Short clips: Request 15–30 second video endorsements via Loom or mobile uploads.
- Do podcast style Interviews: Record deeper success stories to repurpose as audio snippets, transcribed quotes, or longer case studies.
Capture quantified metrics
- Usage data: “Our customers automate 20,000 tasks per month.”
- Performance Gains: “On average, users see a 40% time savings.”
- Community Stats: “Join 5,000+ active Protagonists.”
Social mentions
- Social listening: Use tools like Brandwatch or Mention to find unsolicited praise on Twitter, LinkedIn, and forums.
- Permission workflow: Politely ask authors for approval to reuse their posts as testimonials.
Where to place your content
On your website
- Homepage: Rotate featured quotes or logos (“Trusted by…” carousel).
- Product pages: Embed relevant case snippets and star ratings near CTAs.
- Landing pages: Use context-specific proof,
Email campaigns
- Welcome sequence: Include a brief success story to build confidence in new users.
- Nurture drips: Highlight customer results relevant to each stage
- Re engagement: Remind inactive users of community achievements (“Join 1,200 members who automated workflows last week”).
Sales collateral & proposals
- Slide decks: Insert 1–2 powerful quotes with headshots on key slides.
- One pagers: Feature top metrics and mini-case bullet points.
- Proposals: Tailor proof to the prospect’s industry.
Ads and tetargeting
- Display ads: Use rotating logos or testimonial snippets to build trust before the click.
- Social ads: Incorporate short video endorsements and key stats in sponsored posts.
- Retargeting Banners: Show “X people viewed this page, Y people converted” for FOMO-driven proof.
Social media
- Pump your wagon on Social Media: “our users automate their first task within 24 hours!” - and show copy. Choose a platform and go for it.
Conclusion
A robust social proof system - from automated collection to careful curation and execution is an important part of doing business. Pro’s are almost routinely making this common practice and just a standard part of the flow. It’s one thing to think about.