Case studies are an excellent medium for building a story around your product or service. In marketing, a case study refers to any content that describes how your product or service has helped past customers in an attempt to convert leads into customers. This is not just a before and after testimonial, but the entire journey of how it felt during the process. Case studies are relevant for marketing B2B products, as you can gather data over time and outline how your product made a difference. A case study should describe the problem faced by the company in detail before they used your product as a solution. It must also enclose how other solutions didn’t work for them and how your product made a difference. You must get information about building a proper case study for marketing if you do not already know how to write it.
Whether customer stories exist in PDF format, on their own landing page, or in video form, customer case studies give your personas what they yearn for: proof that your products or services deliver results. This guide highlights 9 fantastic ways you can supercharge your current marketing with a compelling case study to close more sales.
- Showcase it on your website: Featuring your case study on your website home page is a good opportunity to capture their attention to a real-life example of how a client benefited from your product or service.
- Event handouts: Case study PDFs also make great event collateral. If you’ll be attending an industry event and will have a booth or a speaking engagement, print out some case studies to use as handouts at your booth. This will give your buyers, clients, and other attendees something tangible to walk away with after an event.
- Create a designated place for your case studies on your website: As you build a library of customer success stories, it’s important to showcase them in a meaningful way. It is more convenient for your customers to see all of them at a single place.
- Webinars: Let’s face it: client speakers will often be more of a draw in your webinar program that an internal speaker. That’s because buyers want to hear more about how other companies are using your product — and if they’re hearing it straight from the client, the credibility of that testimony skyrockets.
- Blog about it: Consider repurposing your customer stories into an abridged blog post. This can serve as an inspirational, awareness-stage post that focuses less on the data and insights, and more on the achievement and transformation your customer experienced. At the end of your blog post, include a call to action (CTA) to download the full customer story.
- Testimonials or reviews: When people have opinions, they often take to the social sphere to voice them. Tap into some of the praise your company may be garnering on your social profiles by embedding Tweets or Facebook posts on your website.
- Turn traditional case studies into video content: According to a report from HubSpot, it is estimated that more than 50 percent of consumers want to see videos from brands more than any other type of content. I know what you’re thinking: Video is expensive and labor-intensive. But the truth is, it doesn’t need to be. There are some great video tools and apps out there that make shooting, editing, and packaging videos a breeze.
- Speaking gigs: Last but not least, consider tapping into your client base when you’re looking for speakers at your next event. Ask them to share their stories with your product or brand, and promote the session as an inside look at your product from the view of a current client (just make sure they’re a happy and satisfied client first!).