A third-party credential earns its place in outbound when it reduces doubt about your ability to help this buyer. Use it to connect an outside signal to the reason you contacted them. A relevant partnership is a less obvious use: a trusted authority can lend your company both reputation and audience, so the credential can support trust and reach at the same time.1 Explain the partner's role in the message instead of leaving it as a logo beside the message.
Choose the credential's job
Choose the credential based on the doubt your message needs to reduce. It should answer a question the buyer is likely to have about your capability, credibility or track record.
When the message needs outside confirmation, choose an external third party that can confirm the point you are making. Industry appraisals and customer quotes can offer that confirmation.2 When the message needs credibility from work already done, use a past success or current partner. Mentioning either can provide credibility.3
Use certification when you can explain what it proves and why that proof matters to this buyer. Use recognition when the issuing body gives the buyer a reason to trust the claim. Use a partnership when the other organization adds expertise, reputation or access that makes the message stronger.
Before writing, ask yourself:
- What doubt does this credential address?
- What exactly does the outside party confirm?
- Which sentence in the message will it support?
- Why would this buyer care about this particular credential?
Move on when you can answer those questions and connect the credential to the buyer's situation in a sentence. If the connection stays vague, leave the credential out of that message.
Put the credential in the line
Make the credential answer a question the message has already created. State why you are reaching out, name the outside signal, then explain why it matters to the buyer.
Keep the credential close to the claim it supports. Recognition can be stated plainly. A credibility slide can say, "Hey, we've been recognized by G2".4 In outbound copy, retain the recognition and explain why the buyer should care about it.
Use the same test for certifications, awards, analyst mentions and partnerships: can the reader see what the credential confirms without doing extra work? If the answer is no, add the missing connection. You can phrase that bridge as: "We were recognized by [organization] for [relevant capability], which is why I thought this might be useful for your situation." The bracketed parts need to describe the credential accurately and fit the reason for contact.
Keep the credential focused on the claim it supports. A message with several unrelated badges gives the buyer more material to interpret and less reason to trust any one of them.
Use partner credentials as a bridge
Give a partner credential a clear job in the copy. Decide what the partner contributes, then state that contribution in language the buyer can connect to their own concern.
For an agency, partnering with a trusted industry authority can let that authority carry much of the credibility work.5 Use this approach when the partner's expertise makes your point easier to accept. A useful line can follow this shape: "We partnered with [authority] to help with [relevant problem]."
Make the partner part of the reason for contact and explain whether the partnership gives you expertise, helps close a knowledge gap or supports a particular point of view. That gives the buyer a reason to care about the relationship.
When the partnership carries authority, make the transfer clear. The partner's reputation and audience can become yours.1 Keep that benefit tied to the buyer you are contacting, so the message earns attention through relevance as well as trust.
What not to do
Check these points before the message leaves your team.
- Publish certification as external proof only after the internal standard is met. Certification should happen internally first, and the trainee should provide external proof after reaching the internal bar.6
- Explain what a partner adds. Using partner expertise, adding credibility and minimizing knowledge gaps can position the organizer and brand as a thought leader and trusted name by association.7
- Check that an outside mention comes from an external and unbiased third party before using it as confirmation. Industry appraisals and customer quotes are examples of third-party material that can offer confirmation.2
- Make the relevance of a past success or current partner clear before using it as a credibility line. Mentioning a past success or current partner provides credibility.3