In Act II, we introduce the solution, namely our software. I might include a brief explanation of what drove our protagonist to seek out our products, before going into more depth about how the client uses our software. This section will often include direct quotes from the client, and is usually strongly benefit-driven. This section is where the real meat of the story is, and is often the longest of the three sections. Cold, hard data is your best friend when writing a case study — more so than most other content projects.
- 2. Grab Readers by the Eyeballs?
- Der Erziehungsratgeber Die deutsche Mutter und ihr erstes Kind von Johanna Haarer (German Edition).
- 2. Grab Readers by the Eyeballs!
- Into Danger: Risking Your Life for Work.
Real performance metrics from a WordStream customer, as featured in this case study. If possible, the data you include in your case study should directly reflect the challenges faced by your protagonist in Act I. In our example, this might be increasing click-through rate , which can be easily demonstrated by charts or other data. However you choose to do so, be sure to include some data or evidence to support your major points and reiterate how your featured client overcame their problem using your products or services.
Similarly, nobody uses a product or service for its own sake, but because a product or service helps them solve a specific problem. For this reason, your company should always be positioned as a helping hand that helped the real hero of the story — your client — overcome their obstacle. There are two primary reasons this approach is so effective.
Firstly, you want your audience to visualize themselves as the protagonist of the case study.
Secondly, adopting a more humble tone can help increase your credibility in the mind of the reader. If in doubt, remember that your client is Batman — and your business is Robin or Nightwing, depending on where you are in the Batman comics universe. Image via DC Comics. Using direct quotes from your client is a great way to let them tell their own story in their own words. This also allows you to draw the reader in using techniques similar to those commonly found in feature journalism, gradually revealing more of your protagonist using their own words in an almost interview-style format.
However, as effective as this technique can be, it does create certain pitfalls, namely the risk of repetition. Case studies may not be the most exciting content you produce, but they can be among the most effective. No two businesses are alike, and case studies vary widely in terms of style, tone, and format. What we released will be tested, tweaked and improved upon in the coming months. Getting it out to the public was priority No. On top of tracking clicks, watching sign-up rates and asking for customer feedback, we're taking a deep dive in the many ways in which we can improve upon what we've published.
Property Sale Case Studies: how to use case studies to get more property listings
To do so, I've put myself in charge of collecting tactics, proven practices and lessons learned from expert case study writers, such as authors Casey Hibbard and Steve Slaunwhite , and best in the business content marketing companies, like HubSpot and Kissmetrics. Here are 25 effective tactics, grouped by three common sections of a case study—the customer, the solution and the benefits—plus perspectives on formatting and marketing this type of content.
Some marketers say a shorter case study is better, others proclaim the benefits of long-form content. Consultant and blogger Debbie Weil writes that a reasonable word count is words. On the other side, Kissmetrics co-founder Neil Patel has helped herald the success of long-form content for marketing.
In , he found that longer copy on his homepage yielded him a higher conversion rate and longer blog posts earned him more social shares. He backed up his encouragement by noting a Moz study that showed higher search rankings for long-form content, too. Marketer Drew McLellan calls case studies the marketing version of Aesop's Fables, they're stories that are told to make a point or teach a lesson about the value of your product.
Describe how the challenge was overcome tell of the battle. Sum it up give it a happy ending.
How to Turn Boring Case Studies into Gripping Stories that Sell
On the The National Center for the Middle Market site, journalist Erik Sherman laid out what he sees as the "fairly strict formula" for a case study:. There may be other structures that could work, and experimentation can be good, but only so long as all these points are covered at a minimum in the final piece. Another way to look at it is to think of case studies as stories told from the perspective of a happy customer.
These kind of stories, says Slaunwhite, are hard to resist reading.
How to Write a Convincing Case Study in 7 Steps
Hibbard, who wrote the book Stories that Sell , says there are two types of audiences: In Weil's write-up on case studies, she calls subheads , such as "The Challenge" and "The Solution", "signposts". And just like a city keeps its signpost format the same, so too should your case study library. In her case study mistakes ebook, Hibbard offers another approach: But the most interesting stories usually take a more creative path. Instead, she encourages you to think about the personality of your audience and consider what would resonate with them most.
Here are three alternatives she recommends:. See the "Label the Customer" top below. Readers who want to know more can click through to a complete version that goes into more detail. Eye-catching headlines aren't only for your blog posts, they should be used on your case studies page, too. Selecting what type of customer—marketer, small business owner or data scientist—to profile is a major task in itself, one that involves first understanding who will pay for your product.
This post won't attempt to tackle this part of the case study writing process, but I encourage you to read Hibbard's ebook, Making Your Customer Success Stories Work for You , which outlines this initial task in detail. If you've already selected what type of customer you're profiling, be sure to heed Hibbard's next advice, too: Your next task is to get that customer's attention and have them agree to spending one to two hours on the phone with you, telling you how they use your product and reporting the results they've experience.
At Zapier, we send out an automated email invitation every Wednesday asking customers who meet a certain app usage condition to participate in a case study.
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In the plain-text email, the customer is asked to fill out a short form with questions such as, "What results have you seen since using Zapier? Since implementing this automated request and retrieval process in December, more than customers have submitted their stories for case studies. If you don't have the tech team to configure a custom drip campaign to customers, check out products like Intercom , Vero and Customer. Another method to build a list of case study candidates is to offer incentives , both to customers themselves and your sales team. The Solution What solution did you come up with: How did this work out?
What was the result? Did you have any work-arounds?
Was it successful on first attempt or were multiple solutions required? The Hurdle What hurdles did your client need to overcome before they hired you? Recommendations to list with another agent? They wanted you to discount and you said no? The Result What was the final outcome? If this exceeded their expectations, why? Where to use your Case Studies You can use your case studies everywhere: Assumptions can land you in hot water and cost you listings.
Here are some examples from the corporate world to steer you in the right direction: Facebook for realtors — what do you say on Facebook? Never Discount Your Fee — free realtor coaching. Click HERE to find out how. Lessons from the coal face — where to find your next listing. Lessons from the coal face — why hiring early is better than hiring late. Success Habit 1 — Database Management — making the call to keep in touch.