Ray Corcoran

  • Blog
  • Consulting
  • Results
  • Speaking
  • About

12 Ways To Make More Sales Through Social Proof + Trust Indicators

November 22, 2015 By Ray Corcoran Leave a Comment

Here’s the deal.

Most business owners are (relatively) trustworthy.

I’m sure if I met you in person, I’d find out you’re a really nice person.

Problem is – not all of your prospects get a chance to meet you in person.

So they may only ever judge you based on your website.

Or your social media accounts.

Which – depending on how crap your website or Facebook business page is – could be a bad thing.

We end up in a situation where great businesses miss out on making more sales, because there’s a mismatch between their online trustworthiness and their actual trustworthiness.

See below:

social-proof-website-trust-indicators

Obviously, if there’s no trust – then there’s no enquiry or sale.

So how can we fix this?

There’s a number of things you can do.

Click here for a PDF checklist of the 12 tips

Here’s 12 of my favourites:

  1. Testimonials – This is the obvious one. Can you have video or written testimonials showcased on your website showing happy customers of your product / service? If you haven’t got any yet, go get some. Video is ideal, following by photo of person + text and then text only. Here’s a sample from The Entourage.testimonial-social-proof
  2. Use actual photos of yourself – Nothing says generic quite like a stock photo. Use photos of yourself through your website. Let us put a face to the name. Some people have hangups about this, but if you aren’t going to do this it means people will find it harder to bond with you and your business. Here’s an example from Neil Patel.real-photos-neil-patel
  3. Video from the owner – This doesn’t need to be anything fancy. It just needs to be a 30-60 second video welcoming them to your website and letting them know what they can get out of it. It goes a long way in letting your visitors know you’re a nice person just like them. Here’s an awesome, friendly example from Lifestyle Clotheslines:vid
  4. Mention your community – The legends from Bluewire Media nail several social proof elements on their website. This one shows us that they have a large community of people who keep updated with their latest content. There’s a good chance if over 15,000 love what they do, then you might too.mention-your-community-bluewire-media
  5. Clear contact details – This is a realllllllly basic one, but can go a long way in showing your a legit business. If you have a physical location, mention that. If you have a contact email address, mention that. This will depend on your preferred communication channels though. Below image is from Lube Mobile.clear-contact-details
  6. Featured in the media – I recommend doing this even if it is just the local paper. That still matters to local customers. If you haven’t been featured in the media and would like to – I’d suggest checking out SourceBottle.net or HARO (Help A Reporter Out). Start with being featured in one publication, then piggyback off that to lock in your second, third etc. The below screengrab is from Ramit Sethi.featured-in-the-media-ramit-sethi
  7. Big Brands – If you’ve worked with big brands before, say so and benefit from leveraging their credibility. Below is from my About page.ray corcoran brands worked with logos 4
  8. Security Seals – This is more common for e-commerce stores who process credit card transactions through the website.security-seal-website-social-proof
  9. Experience / Results – If you have achieved awesome results for a number of people, or have been in business 5, 10 or 15+ years, tell us that. If you are newer to business, you can say X people served in the last 30 days perhaps. If the numbers are really low you may want to add stuff like this in 6 months time when you have got runs on the board. Below is from The Entourage homepage.experience and results
  10. Industry Associations – What industry associations are you a part of? Many associations charge a lot and don’t deliver much value in return (haha) so you may as well get some social proof from them by adding their logo to your site. Below image is from Lube Mobile.industry-associations
  11. Qualifications (Certifications, Relevant Degrees etc.) – Have you achieved partner status with a credible brand, or completed certain qualifications. I would suggest only mentioning relevant / recent ones. Most people won’t care that you have a Certificate II in Hospitality from 10 years ago.certified-partner-logos
  12. Awards – Have you won any awards or been recognised for your work? Get the maximum value from the award(s) and tell everyone about it.win-business-awards

You don’t need to use all of the above, but it’s good to know all the different ways you can convey you’re trustworthy.

Click here for a PDF checklist of the 12 tips

How many of these 12 have you got on your website?

Let me know in the comments.

Or not.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Join the mailing list

Get more business training templates, videos and expert interviews delivered to your inbox each week.

About Ray Corcoran

Ray is an experienced business growth consultant and international speaker on digital marketing strategy. He's worked with over 1000 businesses across 100 different industries. Join him on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or LinkedIn.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Double Website Lead Generation Ray Corcoran GuidePrivate Marketing Consulting Coaching Ray CorcoranDigital Marketing Speaker Australia - Ray Corcoran

Join 2,300+ Business owners

Get one awesome, practical email per month on growing your business. Nothing woo-woo, just straight help from direct experience working with literally hundreds of businesses.

About Ray Corcoran

Ray Corcoran Digital Marketing Consultant Speaker Sydney Australia 2Ray Corcoran is a Business Advisor and digital marketing speaker. He helps established business owners grow revenue and profit fast. He has helped 1000+ small businesses across 100+ industries over the last 11 years and has also worked with top tier corporates including Optus, McDonald’s Australia, Leighton and Woolworths Group to name a few. He has been seen in the Australian Financial Review, The Sun Herald, Startup Daily and many more publications. Continue reading

Recent Posts

  • One Month In: Client Wins + Learnings
  • Early Thoughts On How To Manage Your Business & Marketing During This Pandemic
  • Make more profit from your Facebook Ads by using the ‘rules’ feature
  • The Hidden Goldmine: Your Current And Past Customers
  • How to create 6 months of HD video content in 2 hours

Recent Comments

  • Ray Corcoran on How To Export LinkedIn Connections And Upload To Facebook Custom Audiences
  • Mark @ Hotly on How To Export LinkedIn Connections And Upload To Facebook Custom Audiences
  • Ray Corcoran on How To Export LinkedIn Connections And Upload To Facebook Custom Audiences
  • Mark @ Hotly on How To Export LinkedIn Connections And Upload To Facebook Custom Audiences
  • Sean Bowes on What I learned from running my first full marathon

Like us on facebook

Copyright © 2021 · Ray Corcoran · ABN 36 158 489 484 · Privacy / Terms · Click Here to GET YOUR DOUBLE YOUR WEBSITE LEADS GUIDE