Social Proof Always Makes An Impact

By Eddie Machaalani

One of the most powerful strategies for improving your credibility is social proof. If you can prove that others are currently using and benefiting from your products/services then you've already won half the battle.

Testimonials and case studies are extremely effective in providing social proof. The more honest, genuine testimonials you can include on your website, in your proposals and in your advertising, the more effective this strategy can work.

When using testimonials, try and choose those that are very specific about a particular aspect of your product/service . Simply saying, "Blah blah built a great website for me" is just not enough and sometimes wont come across as believable.

Here's an example of a good testimonial /case study:

"Accountants 123 recently hired Web Design Firm (That's us) to provide a profitable web solution for their accounting practice. Emphasis was placed on professional look and feel as well as constant contact with their client base. Web Design Firm provided a simple, clean, information oriented website as well as a do it yourself email marketing suite. This allowed Accountants 123 to build a steady stream of additional revenue by sending out Monthly newsletters to their clients advising them of their Financial and Tax duties.

Not only were Accountants 123 clients extremely pleased to be notified by email whenever there was something relevant to report, it showcased Accountants 123 as experts and earned them constant revenue from existing clients and new clients who subscribed to the newsletter through the Accountants 123 website or via a referral."

Here's what Accountants 123 had to say:

"Working with Web Design Firm has been an absolute pleasure. They worked hard to understand our business and provide unprecedented expertise in the web industry. Their knowledge, not only of design and website building, but also online strategies to directly influence our revenue has made a tremendous difference to the way we now run our business. We've increased our revenue as a direct result of our new website and email marketing efforts and we highly recommend Web Design Firm's services to anyone (except our competitors). - Feel free to contact me, John Doe, Director of Accountants 123 on 555-5555 if you'd like to hear more good things about Web Design Firm."

There are two extremely important things to remember with case studies and testimonials. You will only ever get great testimonials like the ones shown above if your work really is of a high standard and you go that extra mile to prove it. You’ll often need to ask your client for the testimonial. Sometimes you might even write it yourself and ask the client to approve it.

Do you have any clients in your portfolio that you can ask for a testimonial?

If you're looking for an email marketing suite to offer your clients, check out the one I helped design and develop: http://www.interspire.com/sendstudio

And here’s a whole bunch of testimonials from customers who’ve used SendStudio:
http://www.interspire.com/sendstudio/testimonials.php

If you’ve never used or heard about SendStudio before, then you should notice how the power of testimonials really helps to add a level of desire to the product that nothing else could. Testimonials and case studies can do the same for your business.

Here's to your success!
 

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This article is an exert from our free web designer tips 'n' tricks email course. To signup and receive expert advice on growing your web design business, attracting more customers and increasing revenue from existing customers, visit this link: http://www.interspire.com/strategies/