Marketers in cybersecurity use client testimonials to increase their credibility by leveraging Social proof (or consensus), one of the 6 psychological principles of persuasion. A client testimonial is an endorsement of your product or service that is provided by a client who has used your product or service, while the social proof (or consensus) principle informs us how an individual’s adaptive behaviour influences decision-making. This blog will help you increase your credibility by explaining the social proof (or concensus) principle, detailing the ways in which you can effectively showcase your client testimonials, and informing you why projecting your credibility is more essential than ever.
In his book “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion”, Psychologist Robert Cialdini asserted that decision-making requires effort, and to make the process less laboured, individuals develop heuristic techniques (mental shortcuts) to ease the cognitive load associated with the decision-making process. Cialdini identified 6 core principles that affect these decision-making shortcuts and form a “science of persuasion”: reciprocity, scarcity, authority, consistency, liking, and social proof (or consensus).
Science of persuasion
Social proof (or consensus), the 6th of Cialdini’s principles, is the idea that consumers will adapt their behaviour based on what other people are doing. In cybersecurity marketing, companies use social proof (or consensus) to influence buyers in their decision-making. Rather than trying to: persuade potential clients to use their product or service by informing them of its benefits, the problems it could solve and the satisfaction they will get. Companies use testimonials to draw attention to satisfied clients, the positive experiences they have already had, and how their problems were successfully resolved.
Client testimonials
Client testimonials can be positioned strategically both on your website and throughout your marketing campaigns. Along with boosting your credibility, they generate leads, boost sales, and ultimately increase revenue. The image below detailing a positive review is taken from the bora homepage and is an example of one of a series of reviews featured on a carousel.
The carousel is situated below a collection of logos from some of Bora’s featured cybersecurity clients, serving to re-enforce the message of credibility. The name of the individual being quoted is featured below the quote, as is the name of the company they work for. It is important to ensure that the images and the testimonials appear, and are, credible and legitimate. If the quality of the company’s logo image and the validity of the textual information you are using are not high quality, it will be counter-productive to feature them.
Further credibility can be added to your client testimonials by detailing the position the quoted individual holds at the company they work for. If an endorsement of your cybersecurity marketing agencyWhat is a Cybersecurity Marketing Agency?A cybersecurity marketing agency specializes in creating and executing marketing strategies for cybersecurity products and services. These agencies deeply understand the cybersecurity landscape, including the... More is coming from a senior figure in a high-profile company’s marketing department, adding their position will increase your credibility.
A variation on the layout of featuring testimonials exclusively on your homepage, is to have a separate page for your testimonials. But don’t hide them away. If you have a separate page on your website for testimonials, then be sure to feature what you consider to be the best ones on your homepage.
Although the archetypal location for client testimonials is on your company’s website. Testimonials can be used throughout your marketing campaigns. A good example would be the inclusion of a testimonial in a call-out box for use in a datasheet.
Credibility
Displaying your credibility as a business on your website is becoming increasingly important. All nine of the major social platform’s in the Insider Intelligence Digital Trust Benchmark 2022 Report experienced a decline over the past year. So the potential clients who were assessing your credibility through your social channels are increasingly returning to your website and assessing your credibility through your homepage and testimonials page.
Cybersecurity businesses increase their credibility by leveraging the social proof (or consensus) they have collected and showcasing it through client testimonials. These testimonials feature on their website homepage and/or a dedicated client testimonial page. They further increase their credibility by adding client testimonials to their projects like datasheets or case studies. Doing so is now more important than ever as trust in social media platforms is in decline and potential customers are increasingly coming directly to businesses in order to assess their credibility.
Knowing the theory of social proof (consensus) and implementing the strategies around client testimonials effectively will significantly increase your credibility. If you would like to take your marketing to the next level, contact us today and schedule a discovery call.
