7 types of social proof you need to share on LinkedIn

I used to avoid sharing testimonials and feedback from customers. I had two major concerns sharing it. I was worried about competitors hitting up my clients and I was uncomfortable and felt it might look like bragging or showing off.

Weirdly, anyone who wants to build their personal brand and win clients will face these two thoughts, the fear of competitors leaching off you and how to strike the balance between healthy self-promotion and bragging.

But if we really want to make an impact, social proof, evidence of success is something you cannot put off. You need to share it. 

Why share social proof?

It’s a no-brainer, social proof is evidence to give people comfort when making a buying decision. Your testimonials, reviews and case studies, allow others to see you know what you’re talking about. Social proof is reassurance for someone who wants to buy. It gives them additional comfort that they are making the right choice. 

Not sharing or having social proof will mean a lot of potential customers will sit on the fence or go elsewhere. Success sells. If you want more customers, you need to proactively share social proof.

Whilst our personal brand can help us build a lot of credibility, it’s the mix of the types of social proof that can help give people confidence to buy from you. 

I’m going to walk you through 7 types of social proof you should be sharing on LinkedIn.

Client success stories

Client success is the triple A level of social proof. Being able to share your clients journey, the before and after is the most persuasive type of social proof.

If your clients are open, you can go to a quick video interview which you can then use to document their experience and journey. You can then package that into a video, carousel or more formal case study.

Asking for a client to write something rarely works, they are busy and often never get around to it. A quick video call can do it all quickly.

Here's an example of one of mine:

 

 

 

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A post shared by Dean Seddon (@deanoflinkedin)

Client success stories are harder to collate primarily because many clients don’t want you to talk about them privately. I have a few clients I work with whereby I am restricted by confidentiality clauses. I also have clients who don’t want anyone to know they work with me, they are concerned about how it might look to their peers or customers. That’s totally understandable.

But when you can get these, you need to make the most of them.

Media coverage

Press coverage and mainstream media coverage, despite what you might think, has a huge impact on how you are perceived. This isn’t just about sharing news stories and clips from your press releases. The media influences millions of people every day. 

Yes - you should be sharing any media coverage you get on LinkedIn, but also think a bit bigger. What happens when a client Google’s you. Is there news and stories there that give them confidence?

I regularly contribute and write articles for Forbes Magazine. I do this primarily, because I want to get my expertise out but also, to give a trail of breadcrumbs for people to find online. Local newspapers, industry magazines are crying out for content. If it’s newsworthy and relevant, it’s highly likely they will publish it.

Even short snippets of information can be persuasive. Here are some examples from my Forbes publishing.

When you get published somewhere, you’re featured on a podcast or are listed in a Top 100 list for example, it’s easy to blatantly celebrate that, because, someone else has done it. When you get coverage, unashamedly celebrate it in a post.

It’s perfectly normal to celebrate this stuff and boast a little about it.

Your success

This is the most uncomfortable of all. Sharing your own success, should, if you are a normal human being, feel a little uncomfortable. That discomfort is healthy, it shows you aren’t full of yourself.

Sharing your success is really easy.

It can be as simple as these examples:

“This is my X year in business and we are having the best year…. Here’s why”

“I’ve just hired [name] and I’d like to introduce you to them….”

“In 2020, I was….. In 2024 I’m….”

“I’m celebrating, We just hit x goal….”

“When I started out, we used to….. Now here is how we do it”.

“How I overcome X and did Y”

These are simple posts to do, but the key is to find something interesting for the audience in there too. What you want to avoid is it coming off as “I’m awesome, you can be awesome like me” - this is rife online and it’s used to appeal to desperate people.

Instead focus on a real story, so that your success is subtly woven through the story, but isn’t the main story. 

Unlike media coverage, this needs to be more subtle, there has to be a reason for sharing it, otherwise it comes across as a bit of a brag.

Can you include a life lesson or something or someone to thank or celebrate. This will make these types of successes easier to share.

Awards

Awards are everywhere now. Getting nominated and winning awards can be a powerful part of your social proof. You can often enter awards online, most local newspapers or business organisations run them. I’d highly recommend entering awards if you can.

Whilst awards won’t win you business directly, they will help you move the decision needle with a client. Not only do you share your award win, share the nomination. Being nominated is also a great achievement and you should share it.

I’d start by entering local awards and then focusing on industry awards. It’s commitment but the award is something you can rinse, over and over again. Think about it, if you win an award, you can use that to get additional media coverage.

Testimonials

Testimonials or reviews are easy to collect, but you need to get into a routine of asking for them. Displaying recommendations on your LinkedIn profile, can help you add credibility to your business and services. Proactively asking clients for these is really important.

Here is a big tip, don’t ask clients to write a recommendation without giving them some suggestions. Asking a client to write a review without any prompts will either give you a lacklustre review or worse, they’ll never get around to it.

So, simple things like, giving some suggestions….

• How was I to work with?
• Did you achieve your goals?
• What was the best part of working with me?
• Would you recommend me to your contacts?

You can collect them on your LinkedIn profile, Trustpilot or another great website, which allows you to embed your review into your website is Testimonial.io.

I turn all my testimonials (I have collected around 600 now) into quotes, graphics and use them. In fact, this article has reminded me to use them more.

Speaking engagements

This is a weird one. There is something psychological that happens to us when we see photos of people speaking at events. First, we think they must be an expert, second, we think they must have something insightful to say.

We’re wired to think if someone speaks in front of a crowd, they must be good at what they do. In reality, we have all heard people speak, who had nothing to say and were pretty boring. Speaking engagements are massive for social proof. We trust people more if others have listened to them.

So, getting out and speaking at events is not just good for getting your name known, sharing about your speaking online also increases your reputation. That might mean offering to speak for free at some local events or, as many do, paying to be on a stage. This in turn often leads to more speaking gigs and getting paid for speaking gigs.

The social proof you gain from speaking to an audience from a stage and sharing your speaking online, will shape your personal brand and position you as the go-to-expert.

Credentials

If you’ve got credentials in your industry, share them. Whilst credentials don’t mean what they used to, they still can help separate you from everyone else. Starting a business and marketing it has never been easier. You can easily launch a website, create engaging content and look the part online. 

Credentials however are harder to get. Those overnight start-ups that have no experience might be able to do the marketing sizzle, but they can’t match your experience and training. The training and credentials aren’t going to change your life, but they add so much reassurance, especially when it is so easy to fake it till you make it.

Make sure your credentials are in your profile, even include them in your headline if there is space.

Key actions to take

One per week, you need to be posting some social proof about you and you offer (what you sell). Without this, you won’t create the intrigue around the expertise you offer.

Why not choose a day of the week where you deliberately promote your business and use social proof. Promoting your offer and using social proof probably won’t go viral, but it will cement your expertise in the minds of the people who matter - prospective clients.