Need to find out how many incoming calls a contact centre platform can handle, compare the features of two cybersecurity solutions or see what a law firm offers? That information is just a few clicks away. But does the product or service work? What’s it like to use? Does it really deliver the promised results? That’s where case studies, also often known as customer references or customer success stories, come in.
When choosing which product to use or creating a shortlist of vendors, tech specs and service lists are less important than real-world insights into how a product solves a particular problem and the actual results. You want evidence that a proposed solution has worked for organisations like yours.
Why effective case studies matter
You already know that case studies are among the most valuable assets in your marketing toolkit. They provide credible evidence of customer outcomes, help build trust with prospective buyers and strengthen sales conversations. They can also be repurposed across multiple marketing and sales channels, from social media and newsletters to proposals and award submissions.
But knowing the value of case studies and producing ones that deliver that value are two different things. As experienced writers of case studies and customer references, we understand the steps involved in uncovering a compelling story, gathering meaningful evidence, demonstrating the value you provided and securing stakeholder approval. They can be more challenging than you expect!
Writing a compelling case study
Producing an effective case study requires planning, strong storytelling and attention to detail. Here are eight strategies for streamlining the process.
1. Choose a story worth telling
Not every customer story makes a great case study, even if the engagement was successful. When choosing who to feature, think about your audience and goals. What marketing or sales goal should the case study support, and how will you use it? What customer pain point is it addressing, and what do your prospects want to learn?
Look for customers who faced a clear challenge, had a good reason for choosing your product or service, and saw actual results. Make sure the customer is happy to take part and will likely approve the case study for publication.
Ideally, each customer reference should feature an organisation similar to those in your target market. Stories are more convincing when potential customers see themselves in them. If you have several products or services, or serve multiple industries, you should look to have a portfolio of case studies and customer testimonials that encompasses your main solutions and target markets.
2. Choose the right format
Most case studies and customer references use a simple structure: challenge, solution and results. But how you tell the story will depend on your audience, the topic’s complexity and where you plan to share it.
A short written case study might work well on your website or in a sales proposal. A video, infographic or longer feature can be more effective if you have access to articulate interviewees, strong visuals or detailed results.
If you want customer stories to be an ongoing part of your marketing strategy, aim to use the same format every time. Consider creating a template that outlines standard story elements and includes writing tips. This can help ensure your case studies and customer references are consistent no matter who is writing them.
3. Make the customer the hero
Don’t make case studies an ad for your business – let the customer’s challenges, achievements and results lead the story. Your organisation played a vital role in the story by providing the products or services, but the focus should be on the results the customer accomplished.
4. Do your research
Collect as much background information as you can – this includes talking with your sales, account or technical teams, and reviewing project materials before the interview. Don’t waste the customer’s time with questions you could answer yourself.
This way, your customer interview can focus on what matters most: the customer’s perspective and insights about the project.
5. Ask questions that uncover a story
One thing we’ve learned is the importance of asking questions that elicit more than just the facts. Asking open questions can help you uncover experiences, examples, challenges, turning points and observations to add colour to your content. For example, ask what challenges they faced, what might have happened if nothing changed, why they chose this approach, what changed afterwards and whether they have advice for others starting a similar project or engagement.
Follow up with questions on specific examples, anecdotes and results. Sometimes customers are reluctant to share the particulars or may not know exact figures, but drawing out these details makes your case study more believable and engaging for the reader.
6. Show value
Instead of making broad claims like ‘the solution significantly improved efficiency’ or ‘the firm was great to work with’, provide evidence of measurable results whenever you can, such as time and cost savings, revenue or productivity gains and increased customer satisfaction.
We know from experience that customers don’t always have numbers they can or want to share. However, you can still demonstrate a difference using qualitative evidence such as feedback from customers or employees, changes in workflows or how the solution made people feel.
Customer quotes are especially useful because they let customers explain the benefits in their own words.
7. Make approval as easy as possible
In our experience, getting customer approval is often one of the biggest bottlenecks in producing case studies and customer references, especially if your contact needs permission from their head office.
To avoid issues, agree on the approval process early and give the customer a polished, fact-checked draft to approve, rather than a work in progress that still needs their help to complete. Wherever possible, keep the number of reviewers at the customer’s end to a minimum and make it clear what you need from them.
Allow plenty of time for approvals and keep track of the process so you don’t miss your deadline.
8. Get more from your customer story
After you finish a customer story, think about how you can reuse it. It could become website content, an infographic, a social media post, video, podcast, sales slide or the basis of an event – or all of the above.
Make your customer success count
Ultimately, a good customer reference explains how a real customer used your product or solution to solve a problem and get actual results. This shows prospective customers that your organisation is capable, innovative and efficient more effectively than making those claims in other marketing materials.
By picking the right stories and focusing on tangible evidence and results, you can turn existing customer successes into proof of what your organisation can do and give future clients confidence in your products or services.
How we can help
At Editor Group, we help many leading companies and government departments create case studies that showcase their customer and program successes and demonstrate the value they provide. We get involved in qualifying customers, conducting interviews and other research, writing copy and getting it approved to help our clients deliver high-quality reference materials.
Discover more about how we can help you write compelling case studies and customer references or contact us to discuss your needs.
Ylla Watkins