B2B Marketing

5 Keys to Creating Killer Case Studies – Even If You’re Totally Swamped

How to Get Your Lead-Converting Case Studies Done (Even If You Have Zero Time to Create Content) Case studies are one of the most powerful items in your B2B marketing toolbox. According to Demand Gen Report, 79% of B2B buyers read case studies when they research a purchase. They primarily use case studies in the […]

nikhil

Dec 2, 2024 - 17:41

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5 Keys to Creating Killer Case Studies – Even If You’re Totally Swamped

How to Get Your Lead-Converting Case Studies Done (Even If You Have Zero Time to Create Content)

Case studies are one of the most powerful items in your B2B marketing toolbox.

According to Demand Gen Report, 79% of B2B buyers read case studies when they research a purchase. They primarily use case studies in the middle-to-late stages of their buying journey, when comparing vendors and making a final decision.

The more case studies you have, the better your chances of winning business. In fact, 40% of B2B marketers said that case studies are the #1 type of content for converting late-stage leads.

But if you’re part of a small marketing team, you might not have the time to develop all of the case studies you need to turn these prospects into customers. It can be hard to squeeze case studies on your calendar between Zoom meetings, launches, and day-to-day fires.

Here are five keys to publishing a steady stream of case studies—even if you don’t have the time:

1. Work with the right customers.

Finding customers who will agree to a case study interview—and then approve the final story—can take a long time.

If you need leads now, you can’t waste time on dead ends. Look for customers who are the most likely to agree to a case study. For example, you can reach out to customers who rave about you on social media, in online reviews, or via email. Chances are, these customers will be more than happy to share their stories.

For more tips, be sure to read, 3 Time-Tested Ways to Get Customers to Say “YES!” to a Case Study.

2. Use video testimonials.

Ask your customers to share their stories on camera. Schedule a Zoom call with them and guide them through a handful of questions.

A short interview will require minimal editing and allow you to quickly publish new content. You can even turn the interview into a podcast or YouTube video.

Another option is to invite your customer to share their story in a webinar. They can answer audience questions during the live event. Then, you can repurpose their interview into other forms of content afterwards.

3. Send your customer interviews out for transcription.

Most marketers record their customer interviews. Recordings are helpful, as they give you something to refer to when you want to know the exact words your customer used in a quote.

But it takes a long time to listen to a recording and find an ideal sound bite—especially if you spent an hour on the phone with your customer. Transcriptions allow you to search for key phrases and quotes. Then, you can copy and paste your customer’s exact words into your case study and other marketing materials. You may still need to do some editing but working from a transcription will save you a lot of time.

4. Develop a case study formula.

Don’t re-invent the wheel every time you create a new case study.

Go through the process once and document everything so that your team can repeat it. When you have a proven process, you’ll produce high-quality case studies faster.

I recommend that you create a list of questions to ask customers during case study interviews. That way, you won’t need to spend a lot of time preparing for an interview.

Also develop a template for your case studies. What information would you like to include? Strong case studies usually contain the following sections:

The customer: Include a sentence or two about the company. I often pull this information from the boilerplate at the end of a customer’s press release.
The challenge: What challenges did your customer try to solve before they started to use your products or services? How were these challenges negatively impacting their business?
The discovery: How did your customer find out about you? Why did they choose you over your competitors?
The implementation: How did they implement your product or service? Did you help them overcome any challenges during this phase of the project? If so, how?
The results: What ROI did your customer achieve? Insert as many numbers related to their success as possible.

Be sure to include these sections, or some variation on them, in your case study template.

5. Get someone else to write your case studies for you.

If you are swamped, you might benefit from hiring a freelance copywriter to write your case studies. They can handle everything from interviewing your customer to the final edits. The only thing you’ll need to do is get approvals.

Next Steps

Case studies are one of the best marketing investments if you need content that engages leads and converts them into customers.

But case studies can have a lot of moving parts, which makes them a daunting project if you are part of a small, overworked marketing team. Using the tips outlined above will help you get case studies off your “to-do” list and into the world where they will work overtime to bring you business.

Planning a case study but don’t know where to start? Get Your FREE Case Study Planning Checklist: A step-by-step roadmap that will keep your case study project on track.