Trust is the foundation of all business transactions. For first-time buyers. Repeat buyers. Newsletter subscribers. Leads. And everything in between. If your other doesn’t trust you, they won’t keep doing business with you. Simple.

And because becoming a lead is usually one of the first commitments a potential customer makes to your business, it’s here on your landing page where you lay the groundwork for future sales. 

Why varying proof is important

Any proof is better than no proof, sure. And if you spend enough time together (without giving them a reason to think otherwise), your prospect will naturally begin to trust you. 

But unfortunately, you don’t have time. You need action now. 

So, if you want to write an irresistible (and high-converting) landing page, you need to leave no stone unturned – and leave everything out there, removing all possible friction in the way.

And that means varying your proof and building impenetrable trust.

Why trust is important for landing pages

Alongside being the foundation for all business transactions, trust also instils confidence in your reader. In other words, they might believe you (and that your product does what it says), but they might not believe they’ll actually be able to experience the transformation for themselves. “Maybe others do, but I might not…”

And if you let this propagate, prospects turn stale, slip away, and your middle funnel will go dry. 

So, to build the best form of trust, your proof has two jobs: build trust in your offering and confidence they’ll experience your promise.

The types of proof you can use

To build trust and instil confidence, the rest of your copy plays a role, of course. But the types of proof you use will be one of the main influencers. They fall under two main categories:

Qualitative and quantitative

Your landing page copy, like all copy, should be tailored to your main reader and their decision-making modality. Qualitative proof appeals more to the slow, meticulous thinkers (who want the details) and quantitative proof to the fast, logical thinkers (who want stats and figures). If you know your readers prefer one type over the other, adjust your proof to suit.

Explicit and implicit

The next category is your “directness” so to speak. Your explicit proof states (or shows) directly that you can be trusted. It’s cold hard proof. Implicit proof, on the other hand, hints at your trustworthiness. It prompts your reader to deduce you can be trusted. Both are required.

Let’s have a look at the types you can use.

Proof 1: Review Snippets

If you have certain anxieties you know your prospects might be feeling, you can use parts of reviews or customer testimonials to prove they won’t feel them. You can also use your review snippets to say something the rest of your copy doesn’t. For extra trust points, use an image of the review-ee.

Proof 2: Social Proof

Humans trust and follow the behaviour of others. And you’re speaking to humans, too, right? So social proof will also help you. Ways of using social proof include: stating how many customers or newsletter subscribers you’ve got or the number of countries you do business in. You’re trying to demonstrate the number of people already trusting you so your prospects feel they can too.

Proof 3: Accreditations and Awards

By showing awards you’ve won, or accreditations you’ve earned, you can effectively borrow credibility from them. Seeing an award logo or certificate helps your prospect deduce (quickly) that you’re capable, reputable and hence trustworthy.

Proof 4: Press Coverage

Ideally, your proof will be a mix of explicit (like social proof or awards) and implicit. Implicit proof, like press coverage, prompts your reader to work a tiny bit harder (in a good way) to conclude you’re trustworthy. You can show places you’ve featured or screenshots of articles (or their headlines), for example. This way, you’re not repetitively screaming “YOU CAN TRUST ME”… but strategically suggest it instead. 

Proof 5: Authoritative Customers

Like press coverage, using authoritative customers works implicitly too. Because a big name wouldn’t just buy or use any old product, would they? Of course, make sure you’re legally allowed to use their name and picture (and consider their reputation) before you choose to use them on your landing page.

Proof 6: Stats and Figures

Specificity is believable. So make sure all your stats and figures are as specific as they can be. This is an easy way to include some quantitative proof and appeal to the more logically-minded decision-makers. Make sure you reference where you’ve got your data from too.

Proof 7: Visual, Structure and Tone Consistency

Whilst changes in visual style, structure and tone can sometimes help keep your reader engaged, there’s a balance. Your landing page still needs to look and read as though one person/business wrote it. Random changes in language use, for example, raise suspicions and add friction. This doesn’t help build trust. It’s better to veer on the side of complete consistency than chopping and changing for reader engagement.

From sales funnel to sales slide

And there you have it. How a landing page copywriter uses proof to build impenetrable trust with their readers. Of course, there are other types of proof you can use in your sales funnel. But the proof here will help remove friction in the middle of your sales funnel – and turn it into more of a sales slide instead.

Article originally posted on: lewisfolkard.co.uk/

Originally published on lewisfolkard.com