Plenty of marketing trends have come and gone, but the one that will never go away is social proof.

Why is social proof so effective? It cuts past the "marketing speak" and shares real feedback about a brand and its products or services. Prospects trust real-world results more than your marketing promises.

SO HOW CAN YOUR BRAND LEVERAGE SOCIAL PROOF?

• Look into 3rd-party review sites, like G2, Trustpilot, Clutch, and more. There are often sites specific to your industry that you can leverage, so do your research.
• Once you've found the right site(s), establish a presence and consider building a relationship with that site to get listed prominently or drive review campaigns.
• Segment your email list by past customers to solicit reviews.
• Respond proactively to reviews (both positive and negative) to show you're engaged and care about what your customers are saying.
• Embed reviews and review widgets into your website, including your homepage and sales pages.
• Select common use cases for your product and build case studies you can share on your site and in marketing collateral to highlight how your product/service has resolved pain points for your past customers.

The key to all of this is to genuinely care about your customer experience and building the muscle of storytelling. Invest in this - it will never go out of style.