What’s a good case study? A prospect’s perspective
/In part one, we discovered what makes a good case study from a casual reader’s perspective: an interesting story. But it’s not the casual reader who’s bringing home the bacon for you, is it? Nope! It’s your prospect. So although you want the casual reader to enjoy your case study, what you really want – for the bacon! – is to create a story that resonates with your prospects. As for your casual readers, your story needs to be interesting to your prospects, but what else?
It’s just so fascinating looking in the mirror
Your prospect needs to see themselves when they read or watch your case study. Remember, they’re not on your case studies page for fun or by accident; they’ve got a problem and they’re looking for a solution. Your prospect wants to see that your product or service helps people and businesses just like them. That gives them confidence that you could help them too.
This mountain likes what it sees
Who’s your audience?
To show your prospects a glimpse in the mirror, you need to understand the audience of your case study and what they care about most. This is where you’ll want to take a short-cut. Because half the time it’s the IT guy who makes the buying decisions and half the time, it’s the c-suite. Stop right there! I know what you’re thinking: “I’ll just add a little something nerdy for the IT guy and a little something visionary and innovative for the VP of Operations and my case study will kill two birds with one stone.” No. You need to choose your audience and speak to them. If you want to influence two types of prospects, create two case studies.
What do your prospects care about?
If your company does web design and your target prospect is a barbell gym owner who needs a new website, you’ve got to understand what’s behind that. You want your case study to touch on the realities of that barbell gym owner’s day-to-day experience and how your services make it better. That story will resonate. Let’s be real – if you’ve been in business for a while, you (or your sales team), know who your customers are and you know what they care about. Just make sure that knowledge is put to good use in your case studies.
Show me the money
It is so great that your product or service helps your client. But, if you could quantify that in some way, it helps make your case. People love metrics because numbers are easier to measure than gut feelings. So, if you helped a client reduce costs, save time or - the golden goose - boost engagement, put that data in the story.
Avoid avoidable distractions
It should go without saying but I’ll say it: make sure your interesting and on-point case studies are well-written. Anytime your prospect’s brain registers something clunky, out of order or just plain awful, it distracts them from the story. Why do that?
Okay folks, now you know what makes a good case study for a casual reader and a prospect. Go find a client chomping at the bit to be featured in your next case study and make their story interesting and relevant. I know you can do it.
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I'm Andrea Bassett, an executive ghostwriter and content marketing writer in Toronto and I’ve spent the last decade serving executives.
I write thought leadership content marketing for executives and/or their content marketing teams. My specializations are corporate wellness, benefits, employee assistance programs, leadership & coaching, encryption & cybersecurity and strength training for seniors.
To talk about a content marketing project, call me at 647-502-3187 or send a note to andrea@redsailwriters.com.
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