A wall of logos can tell a visitor that a business has customers. It cannot tell them whether those customers faced the same problem. The more specific the decision, the more specific the evidence needs to become.

01

Match the evidence to the question

Cialdini identifies social proof as a principle of persuasion: other people's actions can influence our own. For a business website, the practical question is which other people the reader considers relevant. A testimonial from a large enterprise may do little for an owner wondering whether your service works for a small team.

Build a proof inventory around the questions prospects actually ask. For implementation concerns, show the rollout. For uncertainty about quality, show the finished work. For a specialised use case, explain the constraints. A relevant example does more work than an impressive name without an explanation.

02

Make the claim inspectable

A useful case study identifies the starting problem, the intervention and the scope of the result. If a number covers one campaign, say so. If several teams contributed, make that attribution clear. Give the reader enough information to understand what the evidence supports.

An old infomercial story in my notes centres on a line implying that operators might be busy. The interesting lesson is how a sentence changes the picture in someone's mind. It is not a reason to invent demand. If your calendar is open, say it is open; if a customer recommends you, show what they actually valued.

03

Put proof beside the decision

Place an implementation example near the implementation question, and a relevant customer account near the service it describes. Then ask a prospect what remains uncertain. That answer tells you what evidence to collect next.

The test is not whether the page looks more established. It is whether the person considering the offer has a clearer basis for deciding.

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Field Notes

Give the page one job.

Field Notes

Knowing more about a customer is not always useful.

Field Notes

Make the comparison easier to make.