Founder + Creative Director at Gallery Design Studio NYCaward-winning B2B content creative agency.
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When prospects are in the awareness or consideration stage of their buyer journey, there is usually a point where sales and marketing teams feel that their buyer is about to buy. You may only need one more content item to sell your service offering. A good option is a case study.
Case studies illustrate exactly how your company has helped a previous or current customer. According to the Content Marketing Institute, 73% of the most successful content marketers cases used. Almost 50% of SaaS companies say case studies boost sales.
Before we get into the ‘why’ and ‘how’, let’s look at the ‘what’ components you need for a successful case study.
1. Provide example(s).
You need one example of a successful previous or existing customer. Focus on how your business has helped them grow, sell, and/or scale. Having a real-life example is vital to your case study – the whole point of this content format is to present a brief ‘study’ of a successful ‘case’. Getting permission to name your customer is great, but if you don’t, you can always anonymize them and still share limited information. For example, someone might refer to my company as a “NYC based creative agency.” You can do up to three examples in a case study, but ideally the content is a deep dive into a single case.
2. Show the data.
Case studies are most powerful when they share clear, relevant data about how you’ve helped a business improve. Do you save time? Then you want clear data about minutes/hours/days that have been saved and over which period. Does your service offering increase sales? Sharing specific dollar amounts is great; but if you need to anonymize, you can do it with percentages. Let’s say your service helped your customer go from $5 million to $7.5 million in revenue in one year. Your case study can show how your service increased revenue by 50% in one year. If you don’t have numbers, present qualitative data, for example, “Impeccably designed sales pitches gave us the confidence to pitch bigger and better accounts.” This is a result that our customers said our creative work did for them.
3. Tell the story.
People love stories, even B2B buyers. This is why person-to-person (H2H) approaches are becoming more and more popular: Marketers know that the most effective sales occur when you remember that you are selling to a person, with feelings, emotions and desires associated with this professional buying decision. To build a story for your case study, start with the customer’s biggest pain point, sympathize with them, describe the “better day”, then tease them about your service offering and share the numbers that illustrate exactly how your business has helped. Don’t forget to end with a call-to-action (CTA) that gives them the next steps.
Choose Your Fighter: Select Case Study Formats
People learn in different ways. Therefore, you will generate more sales by creating case studies in multiple formats. There are three main ways to share your case study: video format, one-page infographic, and e-book format.
• Videos: One look at any social media platform shows that videos are powerful and impactful. In a recent study, Uplift Content found that: more than half – 55% – of larger companies create case study videos. Uplift also learned that 44% of companies that have not yet included video in their case studies plan to do so this year. Video case studies can be shared on social media, on your website (more on that later), and in nurturing campaigns like emails or newsletters.
• One page infographic: Technically, this could be a little longer than a page, but the idea is to create a screen-sized (perhaps slightly longer) version of your case study. Walk people through the biggest pain points and most impressive (relevant) stats. Use fun graphics to draw and maintain interest.
• Ebook format: Given that 37% of buyers will send case studies to their fellow buying committee members and 66% of buyers choose to share business content via email, e-books are a great format for case studies. They are also the longest content format recommended for case studies, allowing you to dive deep and provide useful background information about the customer mentioned in the case study, the product/solution they chose, and lots of specifics about how your business has helped they solve their pain points.
Bring It All Together: Case Study Landing Page
The truth is, you don’t have to choose just one format for your case study. I actually recommend embracing all three and putting them on a landing page on your website.
Having all three formats of your case study on one page ensures that different types of students have access to the valuable information. Uplift Content’s recent survey found that: 62% of larger companies use video and text together. In addition, the video or infographic can prompt someone to read the entire eBook, providing even more in-depth information to help drive their purchase decision.
Hosting case studies on your website does more than just drive sales – it can also be a great way to leverage search engine optimization (SEO) and serve as a lead magnet and attract prospects to your page. Don’t forget to include a contact form with a compelling CTA on your case study page so interested prospects can enter your sales funnel.
When it comes to purchasing, hosting all your case study layouts in one place is especially helpful so buyers who are ready to buy can share the landing page with other stakeholders. After all, most B2B purchasing decisions involve: six to seven people. A single location with multiple case study layouts can be the deciding factor helping customers choose you.
Tell the best story
When it comes to increasing sales with multi-format case studies, you really only need to remember two things: tell a story using data and tell your story in multiple ways. Data grabs attention, and multiple formats hold that attention long enough to help you make that sale.
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Janice has been with businesskinda for 5 years, writing copy for client websites, blog posts, EDMs and other mediums to engage readers and encourage action. By collaborating with clients, our SEO manager and the wider businesskinda team, Janice seeks to understand an audience before creating memorable, persuasive copy.