Social Proof Sells - here's what to share!
Social proof is your secret ingredient to more interior design clients (and more money!)
If you want to attract clients to your design business then you have to show that you know what you're talking about and can deliver exceptional results.
And to do that you have to have some kind of evidence that you can share on your website and on social media.
In this post I’m going to share some ideas of what you can share and what to share if you haven’t yet worked with any clients.
What is social proof
Social proof is a concept that was first discussed by Robert Cialdini in his exceptional book on marketing and the psychology of sales called ‘Influence: The Power of Persuasion” (if you haven’t read this I highly recommend it!).
The basic premise behind social proof is that the more we see others performing, enjoying or achieving something the more we are going to believe that it will also work for us and the more we are going to want to copy that behaviour.
You will have experienced and acted on social proof lots of times in your life - for example
when you choose one product over another because it had more ‘5 star reviews’ or positive comments
when you buy a product because your friend (or even favourite celebrity) has recommended it
when you choose a book because it’s on the ‘most recommended’ shelf at the bookshop
Social proof is an incredibly powerful form of marketing and most designers aren’t sharing enough of it.
Examples of social proof for interior designers
Social proof and evidence of work you've done is the number one way to attract paying clients to your business.
Here’s some examples of social proof for designers:
✅ images or videos of completed design projects
✅ testimonials from previous clients - display these on your website and regularly share them to social media
✅ case studies of projects you've worked on
✅ before and after photos of projects you've worked on
✅ a video or story about your customer service/client experience
✅ ask a client or supplier to create a video testimonial you can share
✅ behind the scenes on site visits (shows you really have work and projects you are doing!)
✅ snippets from client or supplier meetings - shows you are working with people and what it might be like to work with you
✅ Google or Facebook reviews and star ratings
✅ images of your projects shared by suppliers or other partners on their own websites or social media (e.g. if a large furniture company shares your image to their Instagram page)
✅ media features - e.g. having projects featured in well known magazines or design blogs
✅ awards and recognition - e.g. winning design awards
✅ endorsements by others with strong brands - e.g. being part of an industry membership organisation (e.g. Design Institute of Australia), having the ‘blue check’ on Instagram or Twitter
✅ clients you’ve worked with - if you’ve worked with some big brands (especially relevant to those working B2B with commercial clients) then make sure you have a place to include this on your website.
A mistake I see regularly, especially from new business owners, is when they make up social proof.
I follow lots of you on Instagram and something I see regularly are ‘pretend’ project updates. For example - sharing something like a mood board or palette for a project and pretending this is for an upcoming project.
But we then see absolutely no other evidence of this project - no further updates, no more discussion about it.
People aren’t silly and they do notice. So don’t be dishonest. It’s much better to be honest and say you are playing around with ideas than to say this is something for a project that doesn’t exist.
[An aside and related issue is when I see designers call themselves ‘we’ on social media when the business is quite clearly only them - i.e. an ‘I’ - there is nothing wrong or shameful about being a solo business owner and clients aren’t going to think any less of you. If there’s no we then don’t use we - people can tell and it’s irritating!]
Being dishonest is how you’ll lose trust with your community and then they really won’t want to work with you.
Social proof needs to be genuine - people are clever these days and they can sniff out if you’re making up projects that don’t really exist.
What to share if you haven’t had any clients yet
But what if you haven't worked with clients before so you don't have any testimonials or proof of your work?
In that instance here's some examples of what you can do:
✅ work for free so you can collect some testimonials and images/videos of projects you've worked on
✅ create mood boards, SketchUp drawings or other design documents that you can share as evidence that you know what you're doing and shows what you can deliver - but don’t pretend these are for projects that don’t exist. Put them up as examples of your work.
✅ share images of your own house if it has been renovated or styled by you as evidence of your style and what you're capable of
✅ do tips and tricks videos by restyling parts of your home or talking about your niche area and building your reputation as an expert
✅ reach out to media to get featured as an expert - they are often looking for people to interview for upcoming articles.
Social proof is just one type of content you should be creating regularly on social media. But there are others as well - I talk about what they are in this post.
Hopefully this article has given you some ideas for what to share as social proof! :)
Courses and Templates for Designers and Architects
DO YOU WANT TO….
Improve your professionalism?
Find more clients?
Bring in more revenue?
Create better systems and processes?
Then check out my business courses and templates for designers and architects.
These courses and templates leave you with work done - not just a long list of things you need to do next. We have a really strong focus on taking action and getting things created that improve your business.
Enjoy the rest of your day!
Clare x
Dr Clare Le Roy
