ClickInsights: 3 important components that will make a great case study

Posted by Ambal Balakrishnan September 10th 09

ClickInsights is an Expert Interview Series brought to you by Connect the Docs (ClickDocuments blog). In ClickInsights Expert Interview Series we feature "top-notch" industry experts and thought leaders and get their insights, opinions and predictions. We also ask for their suggestions on what reports, whitepapers etc to read to keep abreast with latest trends in their industry.

All case studies are not created equally. Why are some case studies more effective than others? We asked case study experts "What are the 3 important components that will make a great case study"? Get insights and recommended resources from Case Study Experts.  

 

Casey Hibbard

Blog Stories That Sell Twitter Casey_Hibbard

“Quotes, Results, Story format”

Casey Hibbard's Bio

Casey Hibbard is the founder and principal of Compelling Cases, Inc. Over the past decade, she has created and managed nearly 500 customer stories for dozens of companies, including Level 3, USA.NET, Jobfox, Qwest, Great-West Healthcare, Vocus and Verio. She is the author of the first published book on the topic of customer case studies, Stories That Sell: Turn Satisfied Customers into Your Most Powerful Sales & Marketing Asset.

Casey Hibbard's Tip

The 3 important components that will make a great case study are:

• Quotes
• Results
• Story format

Quotes
A customer case study or success story tells a real account of a customer's experience. It's just not as powerful or credible without actual customer quotes. If you've ever read a customer story without them, it lacks punch. You may not even realize why.
 
The average customer story of 2-3 pages should include at least 2-3 quotes that capture the customer's emotions and the impact of the product or service. Plus, you can use those quotes in other marketing materials.
 
Results
Buyers need details, and especially results. Without specifics, all your stories will start to sound the same to readers.
 
While it can be difficult to collect measurable results, be as specific as you possibly can. Highlight for readers both the qualitative and quantitative results the customer experiences using your products and services - and repeat them in a sidebar callout.

Story format
There's a reason why customer case studies are effective - the story format. Stories help people learn and remember information better than other formats.
 
Always try to tell a story for readers, instead of just providing blocks of facts under Challenge-Solution-Results headlines.

Casey Hibbard Recommends

• For writers and marketers, the first book on customer case studies just came out, Stories That Sell: Turn Satisfied Customers into Your Most Powerful Sales & Marketing Asset, in ebook or printed formats. It covers the complete process of creating a story from start to finish to usage.
• Steve Slaunwhite’s Cracking the Case Study Market how-to manual is a great resource for writers looking to profit in this field.
• Join LinkedIn Group – Success-Story Marketing Group for discussions about all things related to using customer stories in sales and marketing. 

Jonathan Kranz

Blog Kranzcom Twitter jonkranz

"Emphasize the stakes, Paint a precise picture, Let your clients speak for you"

Jonathan Kranz's Bio

Today, Jonathan Kranz enjoys the confidence of numerous clients and agencies, but unlike most independent copywriters, his career didn't begin with them. Instead, he had stints as a follow-spot operator in a regional theater, a park ranger on an allegedly haunted island in Boston Harbor, and as a summarizer of documents in large-scale litigations (think: Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener). After completing his MFA in Creative Writing in 1995 (and publishing a number of short stories in literary journals such as the Missouri Review and the Green Mountains Review), he leap-frogged agency life and jumped into freelancing with both feet. Since then, he has written a huge stack of content, advertising, direct marketing, and public relations materials for consumer and B2B clients in financial services, banking, insurance, high-tech, healthcare, education, and other industries.

Jonathan Kranz's Tip

3 important components that will make a great case study are:

• Emphasize the stakes
• Paint a precise picture
• Let your clients speak for you

Emphasize the stakes
Most studies do a fair job of articulating the challenge, opportunity or problem the client faced. But too many neglect to tell us why it matters. What’s at stake? Is there an obstacle to overcome, such as supply chain delays or excessive taxes? Are there exciting possibilities to achieve, like greater customer satisfaction, more revenues or higher profits? This “why it matters” positioning is essential for creating the dramatic tension necessary to keep readers reading.

Paint a precise picture
When you get into the meat of the case study — what you actually did to help the client overcome its problem or achieve its goals — vague generalities won’t cut it. Your job is to paint a picture so precise readers can imagine themselves in the client’s shoes. Think of it as a chain: imagination leads to empathy, empathy to interest, interest to potential engagement — with you. Because when prospects begin to imagine themselves using your products or services, psychologically, they’re already invested in you.

But to get readers to this happy place, your copy has to be ruthlessly free of jargon and generalities (“we implemented best practices and cutting-edge solutions”) and positively ripe with specificity: “our team of chemical and process engineers analyzed more than 250 variations of the batch mix for elasticity, color stability and resistance to UV exposure...”

Get the picture? So should your readers.

Let your clients speak for you
Ugly truth: we don’t have that much credibility. Over time, marketers have taught customers not to trust our promises, our “missions” or even our results. What we say gets taken with a big, really big, grain of salt.

But customers tend to trust people like themselves. People in similar situations. People like...your clients. So whenever possible, tell your story through the client’s own words. Quote them at key moments, especially when it comes to describing the results of your work. It’s just so much more believable when it comes from them than when it comes from you.

Jonathan Kranz Recommends

• Savvy B2B Marketing
• Blog Junta42
• Connect the Docs
• eBook: Making Your Case: Everything You and Your Colleagues Need to Write Compelling, Lead-Generating Case Studies

Michele Linn

Blog Savvy B2B Marketing Twitter MicheleLinn

"Solid results, Powerful quotes, Engaging story"

Michele Linn's Bio

Michele Linn is a freelance marketing writer specializing creating buyer-focused B2B marketing content, such as white papers, research reports, feature articles and case studies.  Her business is devoted to making the job of B2B marketers easier by producing effective content and providing insights on how they can market it. Her website is Linn Communications.

Michele Linn's Tip

Many elements contribute to a strong case study, but these are the three things I think are essential:

• Solid results
• Powerful quotes
• Engaging story

Solid results
It’s best to develop a case study knowing exactly what successes you want to highlight, and the more quantifiable and relevant you can be, the better. Think about what matters to your specific audience and be certain that your case study clearly addresses this. For instance, decision makers often care about cost, while technical audiences want evidence that they product or solution works well.

Powerful quotes
Most case studies can (or should) be used in many ways, and one of the things that are pulled are quotes; it’s great to have some quick sound bites you can use.  Even though you can’t get a customer to say something, you can certainly structure your questions in a way that elicits a strong response. 

Engaging story
People love a good story, and case studies are a perfect vehicle for this. While I typically believe in brevity, case studies are great pieces to add more color and bring out the human aspect of your product or service. Even a dry product or service can be interesting if the story is engaging, and you’ll connect on a different level with your prospects.

Michele Linn Recommends

• Casey Hibbard's blog Stories that Sell
• Casey Hibbard's book Stories That Sell: Turn Satisfied Customers into Your Most Powerful Sales & Marketing Asset
• Jonathan Kranz's eBook: Making Your Case: Everything You and Your Colleagues Need to Write Compelling, Lead-Generating Case Studies

Sarah Mitchell

Blog Global Copywriting Twitter globalcopywrite

"Benchmarks and statistics, User quotes, A narrative written in a 'feature' style"

Sarah Mitchell's Bio

Sarah Mitchell is a freelance copywriter with a focus on B2B content, specifically case studies and white papers. Combining successful technical, sales and writing careers, Sarah provides a rare perspective to every project. She’s especially interested in working with small and medium-sized businesses. Sarah has lived and worked on five continents. Find her website at Global Copywriting.

Sarah Mitchell's Tip

We’ve all read case studies that didn’t quite do their job, leaving the audience unconvinced about the solution described. Three important components to a great case study are:

• Benchmarks and statistics
• User quotes recommending the product or service
• A narrative written in a “feature” style

Benchmarks and statistics

Any case study is more powerful when it contains actual statistics demonstrating operating efficiencies, returns on investment or improved profit margins. It may sound obvious, but extracting this information can be difficult. Probably the most important measurements to obtain are “before” and “after” benchmarks. Nothing tells a story better than precise details. Digging for figures is time well spent in the construction of a case study.

User quotes recommending the product or service

In lieu of hard numbers, a solid reference from the subject of the success story goes a long way to creating persuasive copy. As Word of Mouth recommendations gain influence with consumers, a specific quote detailing the strengths of the solution is an extremely effective way to convince the target audience. Even better, use quotes from more than one person and layer them throughout your paper.

A narrative written in a “feature” style

Statistics and recommendations make your case study easier to write, but my advice is to make your document easier to read. How would you rather spend your time: mining a report to glean data or reading an account where a problem is presented and solved? When people are involved in the story, they read more thoroughly and absorb more detail. The writer doesn’t always have the ability to obtain the ideal, raw material for a case study. Using good story-telling techniques allows you to develop an engaging feature story.

Sarah Mitchell Recommends

•  Savvy B2B Marketing
• Compelling Cases Blog
• Joe Pulizzi’s Blog
• Stories that Sell by Casey Hibbard
• The Well-Fed Writer by Peter Bowerman
• LinkedIn Groups: Copywriting Success Summit and Success-Story Marketing 

Stephanie Tilton

Blog Savvy B2B Marketing Twitter StephanieTilton

 “Customer quotes, Hard-hitting metrics, Call to action”

Stephanie Tilton's Bio

Stephanie Tilton is an expert case study and white paper writer who helps B2B companies advance the sales cycle by engaging prospects and customers. Harnessing her unique blend of technical knowledge, marketing savvy, and writing skills, Stephanie has crafted nearly 100 case studies and white papers for leading brands such as Akamai Technologies, EMC, Macromedia, Novell, SAP, and Symantec. Her website is Ten Ton Marketing.

Stephanie Tilton's Tip

Case studies are one of the most powerful tools in the marketing library. But let's face it, all case studies are not created equal. An effective case study includes these three components:

• Customer quotes
• Hard-hitting metrics
• Call to action

Customer quotes
The main reason case studies are so powerful is because your customers are selling the value of your offering for you. Like it or not, prospects tend to believe the veracity of statements made by other customers over ones made by your company. That being the case, let your customers tell the story. Pepper your case study with quotes that capture key points in the customer's own words and help move the story along.

Hard-hitting metrics
Prospects want validation that your solution can solve their issue or help them achieve their objectives. Anecdotal stories just don't pack the same punch as a case study featuring hard-hitting metrics. Include proof points that demonstrate the customer's success using your product or service. In addition to referencing statistics throughout the story, be sure to highlight them in a stand-alone, at-a-glance section.

Call to action
Like all other content assets in your marketing library, your case studies play an important role in moving prospects further along the path to purchase. Once prospects have read your case study, don't leave it up to them to decide what they should do next. Instead, guide them to the next logical step, whether that's downloading more of your content, signing up for a webinar or demo, or contacting your sales team.

Stephanie Tilton Recommends

• Casey Hibbard's book Stories That Sell: Turn Satisfied Customers into Your Most Powerful Sales & Marketing Asset 
• Casey Hibbard's blog Stories that Sell
• 6 Steps to Successful Case Studies

 

Related Articles

• ClickInsights: How to get customers to participate in a case study?
  
• ClickInsights: What is the biggest mistake to avoid when writing a case study?
• ClickInsights: Tips on how to write a better Case Study

 

posted in ClickInsights: Expert Interviews

bookmark in del.icio.us | submit to stumbleupon