How many times has your social media algorithm shown you adverts and posts from influencers, companies, and business leaders, all claiming to change your life?

Whilst we all want to find the magic formula, the packs of lies sold by hundreds of people across the internet makes your personal brand’s credibility more important than ever before.

”Join now to increase your business by 800% in the first 6 months!”

“Buy this meal subscription and lose 20 lbs. in 4 weeks!”

”Find out how to grow your blog into your business within 10 days!”

We’re all familiar with the above - social media has provided a platform for people and businesses from all over the world to make enormous claims and gain enormous amounts of money from them as a result.

Most of us know that the key to achieving anything - whether that’s weight loss or a six-figure salary - is hard work, dedication, and a little bit of good fortune. However, every time somebody capitalizes on creating a fake quick-fix, they’re creating a further hurdle for those with integrity and values to jump over. The only way to overcome this hurdle, is by presenting your own credibility. Audiences want to see evidence of what you do, how you do it, and that it pays off - without a catch. When social media is so over-saturated with people they could be following, how do you prove to your audience that you are somebody of high quality? How do you demonstrate that you are somebody they should be engaging with?

Here are three ways you can boost your personal brand’s credibility:

Testimonials

Testimonials consist of asking people that you work with to write a short paragraph about their experience working with you. Anyone who is happy to be named and/or have a photograph used alongside their testimonial will automatically enhance their credibility by proving to be a reliable source.

As direct quotes from those around you, testimonials make for excellent content and bitesize snippets spread across your website, your products and your social media where possible. You can input them in graphics and really hone in on the key phrases and words to show the value of your work to others.

If your work is varied, or you have multiple products, ensure they’re represented broadly and that you have multiple stories to fit the different user personas you appeal to.

Case Studies

Case Studies are about more than credibility. They’re about taking the customer on a journey and allowing them to envision themselves as this client of yours going from point A to B. If you own a business, you should always be tracking the ROI for your customers and clients. Including this in your case study will be invaluable to showcasing exactly how good you are, and how much you’ve helped this person. Due to the work that goes into building case studies, many companies push it to the back of their to-do list. However, they’re vital if you want to bring potential clients on board, with more and more people requesting to hear real stories from those you’ve worked with. When you’re asking those you’ve worked with to share their experiences for a case study, there are six key questions you should be asking. Providing them with a structure, as below, will make your job far easier when gathering this information and turning it into a journey.

- What were you struggling with initially?
- What were you looking for?
- Why did you choose to work with me?
- What were the best elements of working with me?
- What have been the tangible results?
- Would you recommend your experience to others?

Unlike testimonials, case studies are full stories and don’t need to be direct quotes. However, having quotes within the case study will always strengthen their authenticity. The two best ways to make waves with a case study, is by considering the greatness of the journey, and the caliber of the client themselves.

Thought Leadership Content

All you need to do is logon to LinkedIn to find thousands of people sharing news articles and re-posting blogs. Creating your own authentic, original content based on what you do will not only allow you to stand out from the noise, but also gives you the power to position yourself as the leader you are. Thought leadership content is all about showcasing your expertise and bringing value to your audience through high-quality content, whether that’s a blog, a video or a podcast. Use these tools and platforms to your advantage. It brings credibility to your brand through showing what you know on the subject, and how much you can share with your audience if they follow you.