Hi Reader,

If you saw my LinkedIn teaser, you know today’s email came to fruition because I got fired up about being used as a pawn in someone else’s shady marketing practices. I believe I referred to it as marketing fuckery (a phrase I picked up listening to the Duped podcast).

Here’s how it went down.

A few months ago I was chatting in the LinkedIn DMs with another copywriter about an upcoming discovery call. He gave me a tiny piece of unsolicited advice amidst the rest of our conversation.

You can probably imagine my surprise when, a couple weeks later, I saw a screenshot of the message taken out of context and used as social proof for their services, with my name and profile picture front and center.

I politely sent a message that it’s a good practice to ask permission before using a private message as a public screenshot, or at the very least, to cross out identifying information. I didn’t even mention that it was shady at best to use an unrelated comment as social proof.

He apologized, deleted the screenshot, and we moved on. No hard feelings. Until…

I opened his email (which I am no longer subscribed to) and saw it again. The screenshot was less identifiable, but people who engage with me on LinkedIn probably recognized it. And it was construed as a testimonial for a service I never used. 100% out of context.

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Why did this piss me off? Because social proof is a powerful thing! It’s one of the ways you build credibility and is highly influential in people’s decisions. According to Nielsen, “70% of people will trust a recommendation from someone they don’t even know, and 92% of people will trust a recommendation from a peer.”

Copywriters and marketers get a bad rap for being salesy, gimmicky, and manipulative. Precisely because of tactics like this. And testimonials can be one of the most commonly used ways to mislead people.

So how do you social proof in a persuasive and ethical way? And what if you don’t have any testimonials yet?

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Let’s dive into best (and creative but honest) practices.

I feel like this should go without saying, but just in case… your testimonials should always be real words from real people who really worked with you

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If you have testimonials for your offer

• Ask for permission to use them.
• Pair them with a name and photo (again with permission).
• Pick out the highlights. No one’s going to read a wall of text. You can even break up the testimonial and use pieces of it throughout your website.
• Use the crap out of them wherever it’s relevant.

You can use your testimonials anywhere you write about what you offer: emails, websites, social media etc. And for goodness sake, don’t bury them at the bottom where they might not get seen. Sometimes a strong testimonial is exactly what will make people keep reading.
If you really want to pack a punch, pair it with relevant copy. Here’s a sneak peek at my client’s in-progress website. I wrote the copy but the Figma wireframe was created by one of my favorite web designers to partner with, Molly Beaton.
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If you have testimonials but they're not directly related to your offer

• Use a testimonial from a different offer. Just say so.
  • Example: If you are doing a new workshop and did one on another topic, “Hear what participants of my last workshop had to say…”
• You can use unrelated testimonials, even from previous careers, IF they speak to what it’s like to work with you in a very similar situation and it’s how you conduct business.
  • Example: “(Name) is attentive to detail and always delivers what she promises.”

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If you don't have testimonials yet (and even if you do)

• Tell a (true) story about a client experience and how your offer solved their problem.
• Use data.
  • Example: My client went from a 34% email open rate to 60% in one month. Here’s how we did it. (True story. I’ll tell you about that another time.)
• Show a before and after.
• Go through emails and messages. Can any of them be social proof? If so, ask for permission and use them.
• Show examples of your work.
• Ask for them. Yes, it can be that simple.

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Need some inspiration? (Don’t be judgy. I wrote these posts when I first started on LinkedIn. There’s room for improvement but there’s good stuff in there too.)

• ​Social proof swipe files​
• ​How to get testimonials as a beginning freelancer​

The post for beginning freelancers has advice that’s relevant even if you’ve been doing this awhile. But you don’t have to take it from me.

See what I did there? 😉

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So, basically, be a good human. Social proof is important. But it shouldn’t be more important than your values.

And if you’ve been doing something awhile and have to use an out of context screenshot that was never intended as a testimonial, it might be time to reconsider your offer. (Damn, I almost made it to the end under the premise of going high when they go low.)

Oh yeah, and while we’re on the topic of social proof… if you’ve been enjoying my emails, I’d appreciate if you could help spread the word as I grow my list. It’s super quick and easy (and free) with Senja. Leave your testimonial here. 🙏
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Resource Roundup

3 resources I love and I think you will too. Check them out and let me know which one is your favorite.

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📹 Not sure what questions to include when asking for a testimonial? Brad Long’s got you covered with this LinkedIn post.

📝 Alice Rowan, a self-proclaimed “friendly no-bullshit website copywriter and SEO nerd”, wrote one of the most helpful SEO blog posts I’ve ever seen. So much value in 2500 words.

✉️ I can not believe people give shit this good away. John Harrison distilled 6 years of copywriting experience into a 10 day email course (read: masterclass) on copywriting principles. You can sign up here.

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Psst… Did you find a (free) share-worthy resource? Send it my way. No affiliate links please. If I’m equally impressed, it might just wind up in a future issue.

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Until next time,

Stacy

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👉 Forgot to leave a testimonial above? No worries. Here’s the link.

👉 Interested in my copywriting or brand messaging services? Hop on a free discovery call.

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