6 Ways To Make Your Case Studies More Interesting

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6 Ways To Make Your Case Studies More Interesting
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Instructionsfor use

• Case studies are great content pieces to share
  with prospects. Unlike anything else you create
  and promote (whitepapers, tipsheets, guides,
  etc.), a case study is squarely focused on a
  real-life demonstration of your expertise,
  complete with success metrics. Case studies give
  you credibility, allow room for relevant details
  prospects are looking for, and provide the
  opportunity to tell a whole story from start to
  finish. Unfortunately, though, they can be deadly
  boring. But there are ways to breathe life into
  them, keep readers' attention, and still get your
  story told without putting anyone to sleep.
  Here are six simple ways to invigorate what could
  otherwise be a dull-as-a-doorknob content piece
  that never gets read.

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Include video

• Showing and telling is always better than just
  telling, especially if what you do is make
  tangible products like conveyor systems or
  secondary packaging equipment. This stuff is cool
  (maybe not to the average guy on the street, but
  certainly to prospects), and viewers will only
  get a true sense of what it can do by seeing it
  in action. There are a couple ways to feature
  video in your case study the easiest is to write
  the case study as a stand-alone, then include a
  link to the related video (this will be clickable
  if the case study is downloaded, but not if
  someone wants to print it). An even more
  effective case study is a video case study 
  showing what a voiceover is talking about. This
  type is a little more complicated to produce, but
  worth the effort. 

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Make sure you include a quote from the customer

• Not a quote like, We appreciate the help Acme
  was able to provide in solving our challenge. We
  recommend them highly. Instead, go for something
  that tells the customers peers what they want
  and need to know, like this Before Acme
  partnered with us, we had to spend a good half
  hour each time we changed the line for a new
  product. Their packaging solution not only
  allowed us to reduce our secondary packaging
  costs, but it reduced turnaround time by more
  than half. That adds up to a lot of savings over
  the course of a year, and makes our operations
  people pretty happy. Some customers are
  reluctant to get on video, but if you can get
  them to go in front of the camera, thats even
  better than a written testimonial. 

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Offer your testimonial subject as a reference

• Whats better than rave reviews? Telling
  prospects they can talk to the person giving the
  testimonial! If customers are willing to give a
  testimonial, theyre usually happy to say theyll
  take a few calls from prospects who want to know
  about their experience with you. Putting a
  customer and prospect in touch is a great way to
  enhance prospects confidence in you it also
  allows the prospect to get answers to their
  questions that might be more convincing coming
  from a customer.

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Focus on case studies that are typical for your
industry

• Dont choose cases that are highly unusual
  where the circumstances are rare, the solution
  implausible for most customers, or that focuses
  on a problem that will be difficult for your best
  prospect to relate to. What prospects are usually
  looking for is something they recognize as
  similar to their own challenge, not something
  that only shows what you can do in extreme
  situations.

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Include quotes from your team

• Include quotes form the people who worked on the
  project and who would likely be working on a new
  prospect's account. Not only would prospects like
  to hear from your customers, theyd also benefit
  from hearing from your people. It helps them get
  to know how your team thinks and operates, and is
  another step in familiarizing them with your
  organization. This connection will help keep you
  top-of-mind when theyre ready to buy.

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Tell an interesting storybut do it using bullet
points

• Nothing makes people want to read a case story
  less than when they see paragraph after paragraph
  after paragraph of text. As a writer, I hate to
  admit this but people dont really want to read.
  To draw them in and entice them to read, break up
  your case study wherever possible with bulleted
  copy not everything has to be written in
  complete sentences. This helps people absorb the
  information, its usually more lively than
  sentences, and you dont run the risk of people
  checking out because its taking too long to read.

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Include Key Metrics

• Finally, remember to include numbers! A case
  study is most valuable and compelling when
  prospects get hit between the eyes with a
  great result...a decrease in downtime, an
  improvement in throughput, a reduced maintenance
  cost. Without telling the reader the kind of
  success he or she can expect from your product,
  you've got a story with no ending and you've left
  readers without a reason to reach out to you.

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