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Low-hanging social proof opportunities for indie hackers

We are social creatures and that's why social proof is so important — nothing is more convincing. It builds trust, increases conversions, explains your product better than you can, and even helps with SEO.

Here's what I've learned about the top social-proof opportunities, plus low-hanging fruit for indie hackers. 👇

Forms of social proof

Here are the opportunities that you should keep in mind when designing your landing pages and workflows:

  • Testimonials: This is, of course, the big one. Sales page conversions go up by as much as 34% with testimonials, according to one study. How do you get them? You ask for them. Send surveys. Incentivize (honest) ones. Trigger emails that send when users have some kind of win with your product. And do some social listening to find mentions that can be used as testimonials (and don't forget to engage with them).

@dhruvg: Get some early users to use your product at any cost - give it for free if you have to. Hopefully these early users see enough value in your product that they don't need social proof. If you can't find these users, I'd question your product market fit and would probably say that thinking about social proof is premature. Finally, ask these users to write a testimonial if they had a good experience.

  • Case studies and customer success stories: Work with companies that have had a lot of success with your product to put together a case study. You'll need to understand their goals, their results, and how this impacted their business as a whole. If you're B2B, many of your customers will be open to this since they will get some exposure without taking much of their time — if you have traffic, that is.
  • Product reviews: These don't really apply to SaaS companies but for those of you who are selling in marketplaces, or who have products like infoproducts, it's worth setting up your website to allow for reviews. After all, 93% of online consumers look at product reviews before buying. Other than having the option on your site and marketplace, you can send emails after purchases to request reviews. You can also incentivize (honest) reviews.
  • Off-site reviews: Here's where reviews matter for SaaS companies. Sign up with review sites like G2 and Trustpilot and send users there when asking them to review your product. You can also add their logo and rating on your site.
  • Success data: Keep track of how the product is helping your customers as a whole. Take the key data points and present them.
  • Real-time stat notifications: You've probably seen sites where purchases, signups, etc. pop up as little notifications. They have an impact. Though, to be fair, trust has been lost due to people getting caught faking this. And some folks don't like it.

@rosiesherry: If it's ones with pop ups that show 'x has just bought y'...I don't know if they work, but I sure do hate them. For me they have a negative effect and I would be less likely to buy if I saw that.

  • Dynamic headlines and subtext: You'll see this one around a lot. A little "X companies signed up in the last 7 days alone" or "Join X others who are benefiting from my product" next to the signup button. I know I find it reassuring when I see that.
  • Engagement count: If you've got content that gets some decent engagement, consider including engagement stats like the number of shares, comments, etc.
  • Customer logos: If you're B2B, add customer logos to your site. They don't need to be huge names — at first, any logos at all will help. Ask customers for permission to use their logos on your site.
  • Media mentions: Both B2B and B2C should include the logos of any press organizations that cover your product.
  • Features: In the same vein, try to get featured on podcasts, in articles, etc. Nothing tells people you're an expert more than getting interviewed. When it happens, amplify it on your socials. And if it's a big name, put their logo on your landing page.
  • Influencers, industry experts, and ambassadors: Give your product to them for free in return for a testimonial and/or share if they like it. Micro-influencers are a little more realistic for most of us. Consider setting them up as ambassadors.
  • Affiliates: Set up an affiliate program where folks get a small kickback for talking about your product. They should, of course, disclose that they are affiliates, and that will dilute the social proof a bit, but it's still effective.
  • Social media following and engagement: While you don't always see this mentioned in the social proof conversation, your followings are obviously important, as social media influences 71% of buying decisions. Have links to your socials in your email signature (including transactional emails), on your website, etc., and encourage people to like/follow. Get verified (or go with Twitter Blue). I posted about growing your twitter following here if it's helpful. And regardless of whether it's Twitter or somewhere else, I'd recommend focusing on one platform until it's established, before moving on to others.
  • Build in public: This one's pretty borderline, but I'm including it. Share your milestones on social media so that others see your progress and the engagement you get on the posts.
  • Open companies: Probably not a great idea social-proof-wise in the beginning, since you won't have a whole lot of anything. But once you're up and running, having an open company can provide excellent social proof (number of users, revenue, etc.).
  • Pricing tags: On your pricing page, for example, you can note which tier is the "best seller" or "most popular", which implies that you're selling lots.
  • Bundling with other brands: Collaborating with a popular brand can lend you some of their credibility. Partner with a company that has a complimentary product (or at least a non-competitive product in your niche) and sell your products together at a discount.
  • Integrations: I don't know if I'd technically call this "social" proof, but I've seen others mention it, and it does lend credibility so I'm including it. Integrate with popular products, then include their logos on your Integrations page. It puts your business in their ranks by association.

Where to put your social proof

Obviously getting the social proof is one thing, but where do you display it?

  • Website: Add them to your homepage, landing pages, pricing pages, checkout flow, onboarding flow, and you can even create a whole new page (e.g. Testimonials, Case Studies, etc.). But that last one should be in addition to the others. Specifically, make sure to include social proof above the fold and where decisions will be made (e.g. near the signup button).
  • Social media posts: Don't forget to shout out every piece of social proof via social media.
  • Social media bios: Lots of indie hackers put their customer counts and/or revenue numbers in their bios.
  • Paid ads: If you're planning to run ads, include social proof. One study showed that ads showing reviews increased click-throughs by 10%.
  • Emails: Include social proof both in the body of your drip campaigns and in your email signature.

Social proof tips

Here are a few ways to get the most out of your social proof:

How to get social proof when you're just starting out

First off, don't fake it. Don't buy it. Don't tell a friend to say something and then quote them. I know people who have done all three and it's shady AF. I've even seen products specifically designed to serve fake data. Crazy.

Will anybody know you did something shady? Probably not. But they might, and that will be bad. And it's a waste of effort anyway. It shouldn't be hard to get social proof. And if it is, then your problems are bigger than not having social proof, and your energy would be better spent elsewhere. Oh, and it's illegal, so there's that.

If you can get someone to use your product, you have some social proof right there. And you can get more social proof by talking to them. That's why the tried-and-true way to get testimonials and other forms of social proof is to reach out personally to all your users when you're starting out. Talk to them. Ask them for feedback. And then ask if you can quote them. In addition to your current customers, reach out to people who might be interested and give them access for free. Then ask them for the same thing.

You can get more sophisticated, setting up email campaigns and the like. But when you're just starting out, always do things that don't scale first.

And if you don't have users yet, focus on getting some. You don't need social proof to get users, but you do need users to get social proof.

Easy wins for indie hackers

From the list above, here's what I'd suggest starting with:

  • Add testimonials
  • Add dynamic headlines and subtext
  • Build in public and grow your socials
  • Display stats (if applicable)
  • Put tags on your pricing page

These alone will give you a big boost without taking a lot of effort. Then dive into the others I listed once your product has momentum.

Social proof tools

I'll wrap up with some tools that will help you with your social proof.

Social proof notifications:

Off-site reviews:

Testimonials, reviews, and embeds:

  • crowdy.ai: Video testimonials
  • Yotpo: Includes social proof features like reviews, ratings, and referral programs.
  • Boast: Video, audio, and text testimonials
  • Smash Balloon: Embed social media feeds in WP sites
  • Thrive Ovation: Testimonial management

What did I miss?


Subscribe for more tips, how-tos, and case studies.

  1. 3

    Great post James.

    Id like to throw one of my micro tools in the ring, it creates dynamic and simple testimonial images and gifs out of the reviews you collect for your company. Can be used for free: https://testimonial-creator.tactycs.io

  2. 3

    Never really thought of some of these (tags, open companies, etc.) as social proof, but I guess they are.

    Also, I really like this idea:

    Emphasize different types of social proof at different levels of your funnel

    🔥

  3. 3

    Testimonials are cool and all but influencer testimonials are the dream. I remember reading that @primer got endorsed by some country music star. Man, that'd be cool. Not sure if he added it to his website as social proof or not though.

    1. 2

      It wasn't a country music star, it was Bryan Adams and it's loud and proud on the homepage along with many others - https://songbox.com

      1. 1

        I actually remember when you announced that too. You’ve been grinding on that project for a while and it shows. Kudos and congrats, Mick!

  4. 2

    i found this great

  5. 2

    Great post!
    https://vouchfor.com/ is a really easy tool to collect customer video testimonials, would highly recommend

  6. 2

    Great post! Do you know any company/product that focuses on providing social proof among a user's network? I find this specially interesting for high average order value products where purchases take a lot of time and in the end potential customers seek some kind of reaffirmation to go ahead.

    1. 1

      Thanks! Not sure I'm following your question, though... So I think the answer is no, I don't know of any product like that. 😅

      There are tons of products in the social proof space, but if I'm understanding you right, you're wondering about companies that reach out to your network on your behalf? Everything I know of is more of a self-serve situation.

      1. 1

        It would be something similar to the reviwes or ratings of products we see today in every website but instead of being from anonymous people, from your friends or family.

        The idea is to mirror digitally what already happens face to face when people ask their friends about there experience with a product or shop. It could also serve as a vehicle for the other part, the people that have just bought something and feel eager to share it with their network (the classic word of mouth).

        Its an idea I came across and wanted to learn more. Anyways, thanks again for the post!

  7. 2

    Super complete list, thanks! Very helpful. And a lot of these I can start applying right away.

    I would only add to the "Where to put your social proof" list: make things like the case studies or testimonial easily accesible and in sharable formats for your internal sales team, so they can use them when they have meetings or sharing proposals to potential leads. So for example internal links, pdfs, presentations, etc

    1. 1

      Makes sense, thanks for weighing in!

  8. 2

    Super helpful, bookmarked!

  9. 2

    Great overview, bookmarked! Thank you!

    1. 1

      Sure thing, hope it helps! 😀

  10. 2

    That's really helpful! Thanks!

  11. 2

    Probably one of the greatest posts I've seen on social proof. Everything you're saying is spot on and super helpful to help indie hackers getting started with social proof! 🔥

    One thing that could be added is the importance of video testimonials in building social proof compared to text testimonials. Video testimonials are by far, way more engaging and impactful because they allow viewers to see the emotion and enthusiasm of the customer that gave the testimonial.

    If you have the opportunity to collect video testimonials instead of text testimonials, go for it. They have a much greater impact!

    You can use https://praisehive.com (self plug, I'm the founder) to collect both video and text testimonials, and then showcase them on your website.

    1. 1

      Thanks! Yep, video testimonials are a really solid option.

  12. 2

    Thanks for sharing, very good

  13. 1

    As an inexperienced indie hacker, my focus has always been on enhancing the features of my product, scaling the existing tech stack, and adding more value to the pricing packages.
    However, I was oblivious to the importance of social proof on my website until I came across this post. Prior to reading it, I held a misconception that testimonials were just fabricated content created by website owners. The realization that genuine testimonials from actual users can significantly increase user engagement with my product was an important takeaway.
    Thanks for the post.

  14. 1

    One thing that I am experimenting with is "video testimonial".

    I have seen image testimonials being faked so having a video testimonial of someone recommending your service can be key.

  15. 1

    Super explanation, really appreciates it.

    I want to add one more point here for B2B, that is we can use recent activities like recent sales, and recent feedback on our website as popup notifications or widgets. That'll definitely boost trust and increase the conversion rate.

    You can use Notificationpro. Using it you can your recent activities as popup notifications as well as testimonials. One more thing you can use it for your lead collections too.

  16. 1

    Very elaborate post! Thanks.

  17. 1

    Thanks for the extensive list! I would add my previous company: https://trustmary.com/ it allows you to add reviews from facebook, google, capterra, g2 etc. to your website in a couple of minutes for free + they look really good.

  18. 1

    Thanx for sharing this. Among this I've been following #buildinpublic on twitter which seemed to have real impact on me building my product and people who are willing to use it based on the content I share there. Seems like many beginner indie hackers are taking this approach and helping them to get the product out.

  19. 1

    Thanks for sharing, super interesting and it shows that there's definitely a lot to do!

    1. 1

      Haha, yeah. But just one small step at a time 😀

  20. 1

    Amazing. Thanks for sharing. I also wrote an article similar to this on a blog. Will be happy to share if anyone wants to take a look.

    1. 1

      Cool, feel free to share it here!

  21. 1

    One more option for funnel + some form of social proof is creating a tailored chatGPT for your audience. Currently trying to build for no code and have had good success with: https://river-ai-mvp.vercel.app/

  22. 1

    If you got a lot of product hunt reviews, you can actually import those into your site as well, so it's also a great form of social proof.

    But you need 5 reviews minimum though. For Evoke, we're not quite there yet, but getting close!

    1. 1

      That's a really great point! That's killer social proof if you're targeting founders. Thanks for weighing in 😀

  23. 1

    thanks for sharing t will be perfect for people for printers games websites
    https://printerlake.com/

  24. 1

    Very informative, thank you!!

    1. 1

      No problem, hope it helps!

  25. 1

    These are great ideas and quick tips. I didn't think of other than testimonials.

    Thank you so much for sharing all these :)

  26. 1

    Hey I created a chrome extension using ChatGPT that will generate email basis on subject and also generate reply to your emails in Gmail. I'm looking for feedback.
    You can try that here: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chatgpt-for-gmail/mllkpgcojiooenmengajhkailfjocond

  27. 1

    Remember those Proof Points!

    I guess that ties into a few categories here... But I feel its worth a specific mention.

    Proof Points are both easy to orchestrate internally, as well as becoming more engaging on landing pages - compared to text. This pendulum will swing back as 'units of measure' become more common.

    But for now, goooood god its a power and accessible section to have online.

    "126 Industries"
    "4024 Members"
    "45mins Old"

    1. 1

      Nice, thanks for weighing in! From your examples, it sounds like "proof points" are similar to what I labeled "dynamic headlines and subtext". Is that right? Didn't know there was a term for them - thanks! 😅

  28. 1

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  29. 1

    James,

    I believe this is the best breakdown I've seen for gaining social proof for users. Can you use these same efforts to grow a product (course) as well?

    Intentions:

    ebook > list > course > coaching

    I'm trying to see how all of these tips can work for this layout.

    1. 1

      Thanks! I don’t have any plans to create a course on the topic but I appreciate the vote of confidence 😀

      It certainly could be made into a course though - I bet there are some out there. Why do you ask?

      1. 1

        Your list is more indepth than some courses I've seen.

        I was also curious if those steps can help build an audience for any industry.

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