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The MSP Social Proof Playbook 

By now we should all know that social proof is a good thing, especially for service-based businesses that are largely built around trust and human-to-human relationships. That leads us to the following questions: How much social proof do MSPs need to make an actual impact? What types of social proof are most effective and how should we balance these types for optimal trust? 

While you would think that the answer is always ‘MORE SOCIAL PROOF’ that’s not always the case. In fact, one study performed earlier this year found that there is an inverted U-shape between consumer reviews and conversion rates on service-selling platforms. This means that as review counts increase, they reach a tipping point where additional reviews have a negative impact on conversion. In my view, this is likely due to trust and authenticity. When a company has an overwhelming amount of proof points, it can start to come off as suspicious or disingenuous. This is why balance, relevance, and quality are all key factors when presenting social proof to your prospective customers. 

I thought it would be useful to capture this balance by doing a deep dive on all things social proof for MSPs. To help me brainstorm, I called on creative mastermind and Camp Leader of MSP Camp, Taher Hamid. He answered the call, and provided loads of valuable input based on his direct experience creating content and marketing for MSPs:

Reviews

Sources

When it comes to sourcing reviews and the platforms upon which to do so, there is no dispute according to Taher. “The only place MSPs need to focus on for reviews is Google. Don’t put a second of time or energy into any other review platform until you have at least 50 Google reviews. Period. Once you have at least 50 Google reviews, then you can start branching out to other platforms like Clutch.” 

It’s important to understand that you shouldn’t just jump into the next platform blindly. It takes a little research and logic to make these decisions. “Before you worry about Clutch or UpCity, actually search ‘IT services in [your city]’ and see what shows up. If Clutch ranks on page one, then yes, it’s worth investing in. If it’s buried, don’t bother.”

The reasoning for this is fairly straightforward. Google is where the trust is and it also happens to be where the eyeballs are as well. If you are wondering what impact AI search will have on this in the near future, Taher is one step ahead. As he claims, “We just closed a $7,000/month deal because ChatGPT recommended us. Why? Because our Google reviews were the best in our market. Even AI is using them to rank businesses now.”

Reputation

After our passionate discussion on the importance of Google reviews, we started to debate whether diversification ever makes sense. For example, is having a lot of reviews concentrated on a single platform ever an issue? According to Hamid, there is one scenario where it makes sense.  I wouldn’t waste time on Facebook reviews unless you get a bad review there—then you need to fix it. Same with Yelp. If someone leaves you a one-star review, you need to get good ones to balance it out.”

This brings up the point of reputation management. In a perfect world, every review is going to be a 5 star rating with a passionate anecdote of how your Level 1 technician single-handedly saved their company. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Social proof isn’t just something that you collect, it has to be managed. This may include actively responding to reviews, whether positive or negative, to show engagement and ownership of the feedback given. 

Testimonials

Format

Before jumping into testimonials, we should first note the difference between that and a review. While they both consist of your customer’s providing public-facing feedback, there are some nuances that set them apart. A review is often published directly by your customer on a third party platform. In this case, you don’t control the message, nor do you control where it is published. In the case of a testimonial, the opposite is usually true. You have editorial control over the message and you often publish these on a platform that you can directly control (i.e., your website).   

Since you are the de facto Editor-In-Chief of your testimonials, the first decision you have to make is in regard to format. While a simple blurb of text may be the most attainable, these are often spoofed to the point where they offer very little trust. This is why Taher Hamid highly recommends video testimonials for your website. This is because, as he puts it; “Almost no MSPs have video testimonials. If you put even one or two on your homepage, you’re already standing out from the competition.”

Production

While anyone can point and shoot an iPhone or hop on a recorded Zoom call, Taher believes that there are incremental gains when increasing the production value. “People have webinar fatigue. Nobody wants to watch two people talking on Zoom anymore. If you can, hire a videographer, shoot some B-roll, and make it polished. That will have the highest impact.” While video editors are in high demand, AI-based editing tools are also growing the talent pool at the same time, making high quality video production available on almost any budget. 

If you are willing to fork up a few bucks to hire a freelance editor, then you can be more flexible on the input. Taher suggests that even “If a client records a quick selfie video talking about how your MSP helped them, that’s still gold. A casual phone recording with a few simple edits is still better than a written testimonial. People trust real faces. If you go that route, at least edit it properly—switch to full-screen when they talk, add captions, and make it look clean.”

Placement

Before you go through the trouble of producing a video testimonial, I would first consider where you are going to place it. This way you can be sure that there is a direct correlation between what is in the testimonial and the content on the page. For example, “If you have a healthcare client, you want their testimonial on your healthcare page—not buried on some generic testimonial page. People are way more likely to engage when the testimonial speaks directly to their industry.”

While relevance is key, it’s also important to note that these secondary pages are further down in the funnel, at precisely the moment that your visitor would be needing social proof to validate their curiosity and whether or not you can help their business. “When a prospect is on a vertical-specific page, they spend more time there. That’s where testimonials should go—right next to the messaging that speaks to them. They’re not going to dig through your website to find testimonials and they shouldn’t have to dig through testimonials to find the one that is relevant to them.”

Incentives

Working up the motivation to produce a testimonial is only half the battle. You also have to get your customers to participate in the effort, which is easier said than done. Taher believes that incentives are a great way to achieve this. As he points out, “These are busy business owners—you’re asking them to take time out of their day. Give them something in return.” He went on to reveal a simple hack that his MSP has used successfully. “When I asked for a testimonial, I told the client, ‘We’re doing a marketing campaign and we want to feature your business.’ We’d shoot two videos—one about them and their business, and one about how they worked with us. They got free content, and we got an amazing testimonial.” 

I thought this was a fantastic way to leverage the resources already at-hand, limiting the cost of the incentive while maximizing the value. The customer can use this ‘bonus’ video on their own website, which could help improve their own conversion rate and help them earn new business (an incentive that would get just about anyone’s attention). According to Taher, “Not a single business owner turned down that offer. They got to be featured in front of thousands of other local businesses, and they got a free promotional video. Why would they say no?”

Case Studies

Framework

Much like testimonials, case studies are self-published content that tell your customer’s story. The difference is that case studies are often longer form, in written format, and are more intentionally organized. When I asked Hamid how he typically structures the MSP case studies that he’s produced, he went on to offer a simple, yet proven, four-part framework to follow: 

• 1. The Problem: “What issue was the client facing? Why was it causing pain in their organization?”
• 2. The Solution: “What specific tools and strategies did we use to fix the issue?”
• 3. The Outcome: “What changed? How did it improve their business operations?”
• 4. The Testimonial: “You can’t forget this part. End the case study with a client testimonial and their photo. That’s the final stamp of credibility.”

As you can imagine, these four major points can be boiled down to a single page, or they can be expanded on in a multi-page document. The length, format, and design of the document should largely depend on how you will use it. 

Opt-Ins

When placing case studies on your website, the first question you will encounter is whether or not to require an email opt-in to access them. This is a difficult decision, because you want to share these stories and adding friction to the process will only decrease the number of views it gets. This was Taher’s primary motivation for leaving them ungated. As he recalls, “I don’t use a case study as a lead magnet because, to me, a case study is a selling tool. I don’t need someone’s email in exchange for it—I just want them to consume the content and sell themselves on us before they ever reach out.”

This opinion was from his learned experience and the underwhelming performance that he’s seen in the past, whether gated or ungated. “To be honest, we didn’t see a ton of engagement on case studies when they were just sitting on the website. They’re more effective when used strategically, like in sales conversations or follow-ups.” I was surprised to hear Taher say this, as almost every MSP website has a case study of some sort, but maybe that’s exactly why they’ve become ineffective? 

Sales

As he suggests, case studies do have far more utility the further down in the sales funnel you go. “The way I really used case studies was in sales meetings. If a prospect was on the hook, I’d send them a case study that matched their industry or problem. It gave them proof before they even had to ask for it.” I would agree with Taher’s take on this, as someone who you’ve just personally met with would get far more value from a case study compared to a random website visitor. This is because it is actually solving a problem for them as they evaluate your company and decide whether or not they want to do business with you. 

Given that Taher served in a hybrid marketing and sales role at his MSP, he was able to constantly iterate and develop content for each sales scenario he found himself in. This is no doubt how he’s developed a knack for combining creativity, messaging and relevance to produce highly engaging assets for MSPs. As he explains, “I always say I sell with content. I never had to be an aggressive salesperson because I had content—case studies, testimonials, and proof—that did the selling for me.” These visual reinforcements allow you to continue selling when you’re no longer in the room, which can be incredibly useful for both you and the prospective customer. 

Segmentation

Case studies are most effective when they are highly relevant to the prospect or project at-hand. As Hamid notes,  “I made sure we had case studies for every major vertical we targeted. So if I was talking to a healthcare client, I had a healthcare-specific case study ready to go. If I was talking to a law firm, I had one for them too. That’s what made it powerful—prospects could see themselves in the story.”

This doesn’t just apply to industries, but also to the technologies themselves. “When we were doing big cloud migrations—moving companies from on-prem to SharePoint, Intune, Business Premium—we had case studies that showed exactly how we did it. That was a game-changer. It took the conversation from ‘Can you do this?’ to ‘When can we start?’” As Taher goes on to explain, supporting your proposal through storytelling can be a competitive advantage. “I was often the only MSP that had a case study specific to what the prospect needed. When I showed them a case study that was a direct match for their situation, the sale basically closed itself.”

Key Takeaways

To summarize, here a few actionable takeaways from each of these sections so that you can put this information directly into practice: 

Reviews

• Focus exclusively on Google Reviews: Until you reach at least 50, don’t spend time on other second tier platforms like Clutch or UpCity.
• Search your keywords before diversifying: Only invest in platforms (like Clutch) that rank on page one for local IT search terms.
• Use reviews to influence AI-search: Google reviews are being used in tools like ChatGPT to rank businesses.
• Manage reputation actively: If you get a negative review on platforms like Yelp or Facebook, respond and gather positive reviews there to balance it out.
• Respond to all reviews: Take time to respond to feedback, both positive and negative, to show engagement and authenticity.

Testimonials

• Invest in video testimonials: Even one or two can differentiate you from competitors who only use text.
• Increase production quality: If budget allows, use a videographer, B-roll, and editing tools to make the content engaging.
• Place testimonials contextually: Embed industry-specific testimonials on corresponding service or vertical pages, not just on a general testimonials page.
• Offer incentives for participation: Position the testimonial as a chance for your client to promote their own business (e.g., dual-purpose recording sessions).
• Edit even casual videos properly: Simple edits like captions, clean transitions, and full-screen talking heads can enhance trust and professionalism.

Case Studies

• Use a 4-part framework: Problem, Solution, Outcome, and Testimonial (with photo) to make the story complete and credible.
• Leave case studies ungated: Prioritize consumption over lead capture unless there’s a specific strategic reason to gate them.
• Deploy in sales follow-ups: Case studies are most effective later in the funnel, especially when customized to the prospect’s industry or issue.
• Segment by vertical and solution: Build a library that speaks directly to the prospect’s context, whether industry-specific or technology-specific.
• Let content sell for you: Equip sales reps with relevant case studies so they don’t need to rely on hard sales tactics; the proof does the persuasion.

Keep an eye out for Part 2 of this series coming soon!  Next up, we’ll do a deep dive into using badges, logos, and statistics as social proof for your MSP.