what is the difference between case study and success story

We recommend using case study templates to help turn your customer story into a coherent, well-organized publication.

2. Lightico: A1 Comms

3. Hourly.io: Izzy's Brooklyn Bagels

What do they all have in common? When you get to these landing pages, key details are immediately prominent: The issue the company was facing and/or the results they generated.

This is a great way to hook in the reader and get them interested to read on.

By showing the results, you highlight the benefits of using your brand. By emphasizing the problems, you can help prospects identify issues and understand why you’re the solution.

Both strategies can generate positive results, it’s just a matter of figuring out which method converts best with your audience.

How to Leverage Customer Success Story on Social Media

1. figure out which case studies will translate well..

The "right client" will vary from brand to brand.

Samuel Mironko , associate marketing manager on the HubSpot brand marketing team, says that this is what they look for: brand recognition, buzziness, and relationship.

The bigger the brand, the more buzz it can create to share its story. This doesn’t mean that you should only highlight stories from recognizable brands. However, it could be a way to prioritize them.

The second is buzziness – how much interest will this story generate? Is the brand in a booming industry? This is another plus for you.

Lastly, and perhaps the most important according to Mironko, is your relationship with the customer. Building a customer story requires a lot of collaboration between the two companies. If your relationship with the client isn’t solid, you may face several obstacles as you attempt to deliver the product.

"You get a better story knowing more about the customer. You know what questions to ask, how to guide the story, and more details," said Natalie Gullatt , marketing manager on the HubSpot customer marketing team. "The customer tends to trust you more if you have a relationship with them so it makes the process better for both parties."

To narrow down a list of options, you will likely need to work with customer advocacy and/or customer success teams at your company to connect you with the clients.

They can also offer some insight into the problems that the company faces and the issues they were able to solve with your product/service.

2. Write a script.

Once you narrow down your list, it’s time to write the script for your social media campaigns.

While you follow the same format as the case study, you have to adjust it for social media – taking only the key details that will help you tell a story in an engaging but concise way.

          View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by Hellopeter.com (@hellopeter_za)

Mironko says that this format works well for customer success stories because it tells a story. You leave knowing the problems the company faced before, how they attempted to solve the issue, their new experience, and how that has addressed their main pain points.

3. Get feedback from the client.

Once you have a draft, you’ll need to send it to the client for approval.

They may provide feedback on anything from the visual design to the way they’re portrayed.

We are delighted to launch our customer success story series with @GaryWidger , Head of Change at @mercuryeng - about how Mercury leveraged #nocode / #lowcode technology to connect their people through shared knowledge. Read more here: https://t.co/BDvRjRxVgd #innovation #tech pic.twitter.com/9qe7dmEART — Kianda (@KiandaBPM) March 30, 2021

Because this is a collaborative process, it’s essential that both parties are satisfied with the end result.

"Make sure to have the customers approve the drafts before publishing - that's so important," says Gullatt. "Customers may have to ask their marketing teams, legal teams before they say certain things publicly so you don't want to burn bridges."

This is why having a good relationship with the customer is key – this will make addressing issues with the content so much easier.

Gullatt adds that flexibility is key. 

"Be flexible even when it's inconvenient because customers doing stories is a favor to you and your organization," she says. "Making it easy for them and being patient goes a long way."

4. Post and measure success.

Once the content is finally ready and published on social media, you’ll want to track its success.

How are people responding? Are they engaging with the content? Did it help you generate more leads?

Establishing KPIs before publishing on social media allows you to gauge your success accurately. From there, you can review the data to assess improvements for future success story campaigns.

Case studies work to showcase a company's function to the fullest degree. They represent the facts of what happened, who was involved, and what the outcome was.

The main goal of a case study is to earn prospective customers' trust and motivate them to choose you over your competitors.

Turning a case study into a customer success story is done through a meticulous and investigative process.

Now that you have everything you need to get started, design a visually appealing piece of content that gives the reader more than just words, but sparks their imagination of what it would be like to work with your company. They'll want to reap the benefits of your services — and may even become the star of your next customer success story.

Editor's Note: This post was originally published in Oct. 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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The 6 Elements of an Effective Case Story

By Jenny Gatchell   |   March 17, 2021   |   Content Marketing

A good case study describes the value and impact of the services you offer from your client’s perspective. This article outlines the six components of a compelling and effective case study.

“Do you have an example of that?” It’s the most common question we ask when interviewing companies for a thought leadership article. We’re looking for stories that bring the value of solutions and offerings to life. Specifically, we want to hear the details of how a client successfully used your services to drive tangible, measurable results in their own business. There’s really no better way to validate your company’s point-of-view than with a case story. And peppering thought leadership content with relevant examples makes for a more interesting and memorable read.

Of course, client stories can and should stand on their own in addition to being referenced in your content. Having these stories readily available on your website helps prospects vet your services. By building effective case stories you give potential new clients the chance to stand in your current clients’ shoes and see what it’s really like to work with you.

Here are the six components every good case study should use to make your clients’ successes as relatable as possible:

• Summary Statement
• Organizational Summary
• Problem Statement
• Solution Description
• Call-To-Action

Summary Statement: Give the Cliffs Notes Version of the Story

Provide a brief snapshot of your client’s story—problem, solution, and outcome—in a few sentences or brief paragraph. Readers can get the key points and decide if they want to dive in and read the full case.

Organizational Summary: Position Your Client as the Hero

In a sidebar or callout, tell a little bit more about your client and their story. What industry do they operate in? Who do they serve? Where are they located? And how big is their organization? Note that your client is the ultimate hero in this story. You want to showcase the client’s wisdom in choosing to leverage your solution to solve their challenges.

Problem Statement: Setup the Situation

Use this section to frame up the challenges facing your client. Be sure to include details or context around any issues complicating the situation. Aim to do this in about 50 to 100 words and be sure to tell the story from your client’s point-of-view. This will help your prospects better relate to the story, especially if they are facing similar challenges in their own businesses. If possible, include a client quote or even a brief video snippet where the client describes the challenges in his or her own words.

Solution Description: Describe the Resolution, with Your Client Leading the Way

This is the meat of your case story and will include the details about how your solution was developed and delivered. Aim to keep this section to about 200 to 300 words.

This is where it’s trickiest to keep your client positioned as the hero since you’ll obviously want to include specific details about the unique aspects of your solution and emphasize the merits of your company’s approach and point-of-view. You can do all those things—and still keep your client front and center. The key is to celebrate the client’s smart choice in selecting you and your services. Again, a quote or video snippet will work well here to highlight your client’s rationale for believing your solution would be the right answer to his company’s problems. You can also talk about any collaboration between you and the client. And, if possible, you can discuss how your services fit into the client’s bigger picture strategy for tackling the issue.

The solution section is also a great place to ensure your case story is visually interesting. Include images, graphics, visuals, or flow charts that help paint the picture of how the solution worked for your client.

Outcomes: Make the Results Pop

Finish your case story on a strong note by emphasizing the results. Include data to quantify the impact—such as how many dollars were saved or new clients won. We like to use bullet points here to give the information in bite-sized fashion and make the numbers and their significance really pop. You can also include another client quote or a video that helps validate your client’s decision to hire you.

Call-to-Action (CTA): Keep the Conversation Going

Finally, do not forget to invite your readers to continue exploring your solutions. For web versions of case studies, include a contact form for the organization. For print versions, include information about your organization along with contact information for your team to make it easy for your prospects to connect with you.

Closing Thoughts: The Proof Really Is in the Pudding

Client success stories are arguably one of the most important tools you have in marketing your services. Showing how other companies have leveraged your expertise and point-of-view to drive tangible results in their own businesses validates your claims and makes it much easier for potential clients to understand how you work. Plus, showcasing your current clients’ genius is good for your existing relationships, too. If you have stories you haven’t shared yet, now’s the time to put them out there. And give your clients’—and yourself—credit for the great work you do.

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Jenny Gatchell is a Contract Copywriter for Rattleback. She helps clients find their voices, articulate their points of view, and tell their stories in ways that resonate with all audiences they need to reach.

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• Improving Performance: Identifying Areas for Success
• Benefits and Limitations of the Model
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• What is Porter's Five Forces?
• How to apply Porter's Five Forces model
• Using Porter's Five Forces in strategic planning
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• How to conduct a PEST analysis
• What is PEST analysis?
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• Measuring progress and making adjustments
• Introduction to strategic planning
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• What is strategic planning?
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• Developing strategies and tactics
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• Setting goals and objectives
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• Industry-specific case studies
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• OKR (Objectives and Key Results)
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Discover the Essential Elements of a Winning Case Study and Improve Your Success Rate

Are you looking to improve your business strategies and learn from successful examples? Look no further than case studies and success stories. These powerful tools allow us to dive deep into the experiences of others and extract key takeaways and lessons learned. Whether you are a marketer, entrepreneur, or student, case studies provide valuable insights and practical knowledge that can help you excel in your field. In this article, we will explore the art of crafting a successful case study. From identifying the right subject to highlighting the most important lessons, we will guide you through the process of creating a compelling and informative case study.

So, if you're ready to take your skills to the next level, read on to discover how to create a powerful case study that will leave a lasting impact. In today's digital age, case studies have become an integral part of marketing and business success. Through real-life examples and success stories, they showcase the effectiveness and benefits of a product or service. However, creating a successful case study goes beyond just highlighting numbers and statistics. It requires a deep understanding of the main purpose of a case study - to provide value to potential customers. The focus of a case study should not be solely on promoting your product or service, but rather on solving a problem or addressing a need that your target audience may have.

This means that your case study should be relatable and engaging for readers, rather than just listing features and promoting your brand. For example, if you are promoting a project management software, your case study should highlight how it helped a company streamline their processes and increase productivity. This not only showcases the benefits of your product, but also provides valuable information for potential customers who may be facing similar challenges. When crafting a case study, it is important to focus on the key takeaways and lessons learned from the real-life example being presented. These takeaways should be actionable and applicable to potential customers, showing them how they can achieve similar results by using your product or service. By including these key takeaways and lessons learned in your case study, you are providing value to potential customers and positioning yourself as an expert in your industry. This can greatly increase the effectiveness of your marketing efforts and contribute to the success of your business. In conclusion, when creating a successful case study, remember to focus on providing value to potential customers through relatable and actionable examples.

Identifying Your Target Audience

Crafting a compelling story.

It should tell a story that resonates with the reader and evokes emotions. Make sure to include quotes and testimonials from your client, as well as before and after scenarios to showcase the transformation that your product or service brought about. This will make your case study more relatable and credible. Crafting a compelling story is crucial in capturing the attention of potential customers and convincing them of the effectiveness of your product or service.

Choosing the Right Format

In this article, we will discuss the key takeaways and lessons learned from crafting a winning case study. In conclusion, crafting a successful case study requires a thorough understanding of your target audience, choosing the right format, and telling a compelling story. By following these key takeaways and lessons learned, you can create a winning case study that not only promotes your product or service but also provides value to potential customers.

• if you're ready

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Success case method

The Success Case Method (SCM) involves identifying the most and least successful cases in a program and examining them in detail.

This approach was developed by Robert Brinkerhoff to assess the impact of organisational interventions, such as training and coaching, though the use of SCM is not limited to this context. It is a useful approach to document stories of impact and to develop an understanding of the factors that enhance or impede impact.

The Success Case Method deliberately looks at the most, and least, successful participants of a program. The purpose is not to examine the average performance - rather, by identifying and examining the extreme cases, it asks: 'When the program works, how well does it work? What is working, and what is not?'. 

An SCM study can be used to answer  any,  or all, of the following questions: 

• What is really happening?
• What results, if any, is the program helping to produce?
• What is the value of the results?
• How could the initiative be improved?

Brinkerhoff, 2003, p. 6-7

The immediate results of conducting a Success Case Method study include documented stories of impact that can be disseminated to stakeholders, and a better knowledge of factors that enhance or impede business impact. 

There are five key steps in the SCM method (Brinkerhoff, 2003, p.29):

1. Focusing and planning a Success Case study

2. Creating an “impact model” that defines what success should look like

3. Designing and implementing a survey to search for best and worst cases

4. Interviewing and documenting success cases 

5. Communicating findings, conclusions, and recommendations

In a guest blog on BetterEvaluation, Liz McGuinness discusses the implementation of the Success Case Method as part of the USAID Complexity-Aware M&E Trials. In this example, the Success Case Method was adapted and applied to a multi-country capacity building project funded by USAID. The program provided training and support to a small number of professionals who were placed in new positions within government departments. The objectives for using this method were to support the donor and implementer to adaptively manage the project and to discover the, as yet unknown, development pathways from the project activities to the desired outcomes. The trial surfaced several key lessons that are applicable for those considering using this approach. You can read Liz's reflections on the challenges encountered and the results here:  Lessons from a trial of the Success Case Method

The following is taken from Liz McGuinness' guest blog:  Lessons from a trial of the Success Case Method .

Advice for CHOOSING this method

• When you know the long-term objectives of your program and you have identified your program activities but you do not know the causal pathway from activities to impact.
• When you can identify both the program participant and at least one individual who oversees their work and can vouch for both the participant’s actions and the outcomes of these actions.
• When the M&E team can be given authority to directly communicate with, and collect data from both the participant and supervisor subjects.

Advice for USING this method

• The M&E team who are to conduct SCM evaluations should include at least one member who can design, administer and analyze surveys and at least one member who has strong qualitative data analysis skills.
• Ensure that the evaluation is included in the project design, workplan and budget so that does not become added work for the staff.
• Use an online survey platform (ex. SurveyMonkey, Survey Gizmo, etc) to make data collection and consolidation more efficient. Find out in advance what kind of internet access your respondents have before deciding on the survey approach.
• Create an Excel database to consolidate the survey data, to analyze the closed questions, and to automatically identify success and non-success cases.
• Create templates for analyzing the open questions to serve as guides.
• If the Success Case Method results are to be used to support adaptive management of your project, ensure that the schedules of the evaluation and of management decision-making are in sync. That is, make sure that your results will be reported out sufficiently before decisions are made about annual workplans, to be taken into account.

This book by Brinkerhoff runs through the entire process of conducting a Success Case Method Study and includes a number of examples of use

Identification and reporting of critical success factors and program impact in an efficient, yet comprehensive manner is an inherent difficulty facing many evaluators of large-scale evaluations. This paper details how two evaluators encountered such problems in the initial review of a large-scale initiative and then successfully addressed these issues through the application of the Success Case Method in a subsequent evaluation of the same program. (Catherine Bell and Diane McDonald, Paper at Australasian Evaluation Society International Conference, Darwin, 2006).

A brief, downloadable e-book on using the method. It includes suggestions for pairing the approach with other methods.

This post discusses the author's use of SCM as compared to the Kirkpatrick evaluation model for evaluating learning.

This method note demonstrates how SCM was modified and extended to a social service context, in which the program evaluated was aimed at reducing chronic homelessness and unemployment.

This study employed Success Case Method to understand how 3 performance improvement CME activities contributed to implementation of tobacco cessation practice guidelines in 9 outpatient practices.

In this guest blog, Liz McGuinness shares her lessons from trialling the Success Case Method as part of the USAID-funded Complexity-Aware M&E Trials. 

Brinkerhoff, R. O. (2003). The success case method: find out quickly what’s working and what’s not. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler

​McGuinness, L. (2017). 'Lessons from a trial of the Success Case Method' [blog post].  BetterEvaluation.  Retrieved from:  www.betterevaluation.org/en/blog/lessons_on_SCM

'Success case method' is referenced in:

• Lessons from a trial of the Success Case Method

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4 Examples of Companies Doing Incredible Customer Success Stories

Jonathan Crowe

July 19, 2013

Soundtrack for this post: Marvin Gaye’s “Can I Get a Witness” These days, storytelling is all the rage (you might even say  storytellers are the new marketers ). But as Geoffrey James points out, finding compelling ways to tell your company’s story isn’t enough. In fact, you should be telling your customer’s story, not your own . With that said, I think there’s a solid case to be made that no piece of marketing content is more powerful than an inspired customer success story. It’s an example of what my colleague Devon McDonald recently called “the pudding” content — proof that the solution really is going to add value. And best of all, it comes from someone other than you. Those two factors make customer success stories an invaluable tool to put in the hands of your salespeople. As Devon puts it, “it is one thing totalk about value — it’s another to truly demonstrate it.”

The Case for Creative Customer Success Stories (in Addition to Your Case Studies)

Prospects want to see what success with your solution looks like. They want to see companies using your product to solve the problems they’re currently grappling with. And if you can present them with examples of how companies they respect and admire are doing amazing things with — and owe part of their success to — your solution then, well, when it comes to decision time let’s just say you have a great chance of being golden. To clarify, we’re not talking about your boring, run-of-the-mill case study. Case studies can be incredibly valuable, too, diving into more depth and providing plenty of solid context, details, and statistical evidence of your solution’s impact in action. They certainly have their place, and they’re fantastic for providing buyers with ammo they need to justify a decision or a purchase towards the end of their buying journey. But there’s no reason why your customer success stories have to follow that tried and true (but quite frankly a little dull) pattern and format.

The Big Differences Between a Case Study  and a Success Story

In the examples below, four companies are breaking the mold by combining the “proof power” of the case study with the brevity and easy accessibility of the testimonial. In addition, they’re focusing more on making an emotional impact via compelling storytelling than making a comprehensive argument for their solution via research-backed data (though convincing stats certainly do make an appearance). Specifically, they’re leaning heavily on the power of video to deliver a quick emotional win that can be supported and bolstered with more thorough info further down the line in the customer’s buying journey. The result is easily consumable, highly sharable, big-impact content that sticks with prospects and can make a real difference in their decision making process, not to mention their perception of the company’s values and brand. Here are three things I love about these companies’ approaches:

• Turning the spotlight on the customer: First and foremost, these pieces of content tell the customer’s story. They each highlight something that makes the customer special or something incredible that they are accomplishing, then they get into how the product or solution is helping to make that possible. As a result, many of these videos can serve as marketing content for the customer as well as for the product/service provider. That’s a big plus when it comes to requesting time/approval for future testimonials — it makes the proposition much more of a win-win rather than a pure ask.
• Centered around shared values and high-level goals rather than specific features: Another thing many of these customer success stories have in common is that they really concentrate on highlighting how the solution ties into the customer’s core beliefs, mission, and vision. It’s a great approach because things like “building deeper customer relationships” and “operating smarter and more efficiently” are highly relatable/accessible entry points that can capture a lot of general top-of-the-funnel interest. Again, save diving into the weeds for more in-depth content further down the line.
• Highly visual and focused on people: Not only are these videos high quality, the layouts of the pages they live on are also visually rich and appealing, with an emphasis on not only customer logos but — even more importantly — people. Being able to put a face to the names goes a long way towards humanizing these companies’ brands and making the stories that much more personal.

4 Incredible Customer Success Stories Examples

1) exacttarget.

One thing you notice right away when you navigate the “Clients” section of ExactTarget’s website is that it is segmented. The company has created landing pages with customized messaging directed at each of ExactTarget’s customer segments:

• Mid-Sized Business
• Small Business
• By Industry

Right off the bat, that’s a fantastic way to ensure prospects can easily find content that’s relevant to them. Visitors find a list of solutions/value propositions tailored to their specific needs, along with a featured success story video. The quality of the videos is spectacular. You can see two examples (one enterprise client and one small business client) below:

Microsoft: Discovering Email Marketing Solutions

Feeding Your Kids: Cross-Channel Marketing Client Success

2) Monetate

4) Salesforce.com

GE’s Social Story

Facebook’s Success Story

Senior Content Manager

<strong>Jonathan Crowe</strong> is Senior Content Manager at <a href="https://www.barkly.com/">Barkly</a>. He was previously the Managing Editor of OpenView Labs.

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The Ultimate Showdown: Use Case vs. Case Study

Just like Marvel and DC superheroes, use cases and case studies both come armed with an impressive set of powers. But as with their comic book equivalents, they each come with different strengths. Sometimes saving the day calls for someone faster than a speeding bullet, other times you need a superhero with spidey-sense. It’s the same with use cases and case studies: different needs call for different approaches. 

A use case vs. case study — how will you know which to use in which situations? Let’s take a deep dive into the distinct powers of use cases and case studies then look at the scenarios that each are best suited to. I’ll share some effective formats to consider for each type of content and offer tips for each.

What’s the Difference Between Use Cases and Case Studies?

Before we dive in, let’s define our terms. A use case is written for a particular type of customer, such as buyer type (technical or strategic, for example) or industry. It describes how a solution solves challenges the buyer faces and helps them reach their goals. It paints the picture with a broad brush, encouraging prospects to envision how your product could meet their specific needs. 

A case study focuses on a single customer’s experience with your product or service. It describes quite specifically the challenges the customer needed to solve, how the customer implemented your solution, and exactly how they benefited as a result. A case study requires finer brushwork. It details how the customer deployed your product to solve a specific problem or set of problems. And it quantifies the results the customer achieved because of it.

Benefits of Use Cases

The power of use cases lies in their flexibility. They allow you to show how a particular type of user will get the most out of your product. Use cases give you the freedom to describe problems solved, benefits, and features for buyer types with different priorities. (For example, business leaders vs. technical users or organizations in different industries.) 

Unlike case studies, use cases don’t constrain you to describing how a specific client chose to use your product. Use cases let prospects fill in the details unique to them. They’re great for demonstrating how processes work, highlighting value for specific industries or roles, and showcasing increased efficiencies. 

Benefits of Case Studies

The case study’s twin powers are social proof and the ability to quantify results. When it comes to making purchase decisions, buyers want to hear the experiences others have had with a product. Case studies tell a unique story of a company’s experience with your product and how their investment turned out. 

Since you’re sharing an actual customer’s experience, the case study format allows you to go into more detail. You can include percent of cost savings or time savings, dollar amounts of new revenue brought in, etc. Being able to see the real-life application of your product and the results a real customer achieved is highly persuasive. 

Ideal Formats for Use Cases

You have many options for what your use case can look like. I’ve seen effective use cases take the form of multi-page documents or a single graphic. You’ll want to first identify what information you want to convey, then choose a format that’s well-suited to your purpose. Here are a few popular formats for use cases.

• White paper — White papers make an ideal medium for longer form use cases. If your intended readers are technical prospects, this format allows you to include lots of detailed information.
• One-pager — Single-page sell sheets are perfect for presenting a narrowly-defined use case. Since they’re so short, you can develop multiple one-pagers to target different product features and individual solutions. 
• Graphic — Many people are visual learners. For very-narrow use cases or high-level overviews, infographics give prospects a visual way to process the information.
• Video — A well-produced video gives you a host of options not easily included in a written format. Video use cases have the advantage of being able to show your solution in action. You can also share a bit about your company’s culture, or introduce key members of the product team to prospects. 

Ideal Formats for Case Studies

The core strength of the case study is its ability to tell an engaging story of how an actual company used your product to solve a problem or experience growth. These formats work particularly well when used to present a case study.

• Feature story — The feature story format makes the case study look like a magazine feature. It allows you to make full use of storytelling to weave a narrative. You’ll also include compelling statistics, direct quotes from the customer, and describe the pain they experienced before using your product.
• Q&A — Customer interviews that are heavily-infused with quotes providing specific details lend a feel of authenticity to a case study. The Q&A format also allows prospects to quickly scan and find the information that’s most compelling to them.
• Video — Video is like a chameleon. It blends in well with just about anything. When using video to present a case study, include an interview with the customer. You may also want to demo the product features that directly contributed to the client’s success. 

How to Write Better Use Cases

While use cases can take a variety of forms, these best practices will help boost their effectiveness.

• Describe the challenges and goals common to this type of buyer — Answer two key questions in your use cases: What kind of challenges are they facing in the day-to-day operations of their business? At the start of each day what goals are most important to them to accomplish?
• Make a direct connection between your product’s unique capabilities and the benefits your buyer will experience — If you’ve done your homework with defining your ICPs, you know what’s most important to your audience. Explicitly make the connection between what your product can accomplish and the benefits that matter most to that buyer type.
• Be a problem solver — Show how your solution solves the challenges common to the type of buyer and allows them to reach their goals. Highlight the impact of the status quo and demonstrate how your product effectively resolves the issues.
• Keep it simple — There’s no replacement for brevity. People are busy, and time is precious. A tightly-written use case is much more likely to be read than one that meanders. 
• Weave in story — Even though the use case doesn’t take a narrative format, weave in storytelling techniques as much as you can. It will make the use case easier for prospects to follow. 

How to Write Better Case Studies

Case studies are more engaging and convincing if you include these elements.  

• Tell a story, with your customer as the hero — Everyone loves a hero, except when it’s someone else. Avoid the urge to make your company the hero when writing case studies. Instead, focus on the client as the hero, emphasizing how they overcame a difficult problem and achieved great things with the aid of your solution. Your client is the hero. Your product is their secret weapon.
• Dig into the pain of the status quo — No one likes to feel pain, and everyone wants to avoid it. Be sure you have a thorough understanding of the pain involved in your customer’s situation prior to your solution. And show all the facets of that pain.
• Tie your product’s specific solutions to the pain points — Define the pain points, and show how your solution resolved them. Clearly connect your product’s capabilities with how the client achieved their goals.
• Quantify the cost of “before” and the value of “after” — Stating hard numbers in a case study makes it more believable. And it also gives prospects ammunition for justifying their choice and getting budget. Include stats like dollar amount or percentage of savings, dollar amount or percentage of new revenue, amount of time saved and what was able to be done with the saved time, and improved employee happiness (leading to improved retention rates and performance).
• Include candid quotes — Quotes add a layer of authenticity to a case study. As you’re interviewing your client for the case study, jot down direct quotes. Look for how they capture the essence of their presenting problem, how your product has improved an aspect of their business, and how easy it was to integrate your solution into their business. 

For more on how to craft a compelling customer story, check out How to Write Customer Stories that Sell .

The use case vs. case study debate.

So which one wins in the use case vs. case study debate? They both do. Use cases and case studies are both powerful tools that can be called upon to demonstrate your product’s distinct benefits to prospects. A well-rounded marketing effort will include both. After all, sometimes saving the day requires the use of a cape and spider silk.

Put your case studies to work! Check out The Ultimate Guide to Using Case Studies in Your Marketing for 12 different ways to expand reach.

Schedule a call  to share what’s holding you back from better marketing content, and

Content Strategy Is Much More Than SEO

posted on FEBRUARY 4, 2022

Somehow, the term “content strategy” has become synonymous with SEO strategy. But SEO is only a tiny part of content strategy. Without getting the rest right, traffic may be plentiful but demo requests will be few (and the requests that do come through probably won’t be from best-fit prospects).

Let’s look at four crucial components of content strategy to see exactly why this distinction matters.

If a company’s content looks and sounds like everything else online, no one is going to sit up and take notice. Sure, prospects might find the answer to a question they were Googling, but they won’t remember the brand associated with the insight, and they won’t be highly motivated to share it. 

To make ideal-fit prospects love your brand, you need standout points of view that are connected with what your prospects care about most. Your POVs could include a contrarian stance on the industry status quo, a commitment to fight against a  shared enemy , or an action-backed position on a social issue. 

If your POVs are truly aligned with your ideal-fit buyers and woven into your content strategically, they will not only differentiate your content from everyone else’s but also spark word-of-mouth. 

Value Prop Alignment

Effective content — even top-of-funnel content — will lead prospects to conclude that your solution is uniquely qualified to meet their needs. The way you structure your content and the points you make can create a clear connection between your value props and your prospects’ pain points and priorities. 

Where your brand POVs engage prospects on an emotional level, your value prop alignment engages prospects’ logical side and helps them to understand the ways your product will make their working lives better. 

Of course, this logical journey should be an enjoyable one for your prospects. There’s no need for content to be dry as you’re leading them down this path of thinking. But prospects must be taken on this thought journey to grasp why they should choose your solution over your competitors’.

Status Quo Risks

It’s easy to overlook the status quo as a killer of deals, but it often is exactly that. Buying a new solution is a risk — we’ve probably all experienced a nightmare rollout of software that was a bad fit. No one wants to be the person who championed that hated software (and worry about the impact to their career as a result!). To overcome this resistance, the risks of the status quo must outweigh the risk of buying a new solution in the minds of your ideal-fit prospects. 

A good content strategy will identify the risks involved in the ICP’s status quo and the specific impacts that it will have if it doesn’t change. Digging into the dangers involved in the status quo (when appropriate) in your content will help motivate prospects to take action.  

Channel Considerations

Finally, we get to channels — SEO, paid search, organic social, paid social, email, etc. Channel strategy includes pinpointing which channels ideal-fit prospects prefer for their work-related activities (i.e. sure, you can capture prospects’ attention when they’re trying to relax and forget about work, but it’s probably counter-productive). It also includes how to best approach each channel for maximum results.   

Content must, of course, get in front of prospects before it can engage them. Channel strategy is vitally important, but it’s not worth much without the prior three components. And SEO is only one channel! 

Take a Holistic View for Effective Content Strategy

Content strategy can’t be siloed from the rest of a marketing strategy — it should be just as driven by ICP research, positioning, brand messaging, and product messaging as everything else. Content can be incredibly powerful if it’s created and distributed with a holistic perspective. You can rank content high in search  and  generate high-quality demo requests at the same time.   

Schedule a call  to share what’s holding you back in your content marketing, and I’ll let you know if I can help and how. If I can’t help, I’ll recommend someone who can.

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The Difference Between a Customer Story and Case Study

• July 23, 2012

When talking with home builders and remodelers, I often use the terms case study and customer story interchangeably, but they are actually two different types of projects because of the detail and depth required to write each one. Both are enhancements of a customer testimonial, so let’s start there.

A customer testimonial is a short, direct quote from your customer that expresses satisfaction for the product (new home or renovation) and service they received from you throughout the project. Testimonials are usually just a few sentences long, and although they express satisfaction and gratitude for a job well done, they often lack depth . Most homeowner testimonials sound something like this:

“Thank you to JL Smith Building and Remodeling Company for a beautiful job building our addition. Their team was professional throughout the entire process, and they were extremely courteous in working around our family’s crazy schedule. We’d highly recommend them. Thanks Jay and Linda for a job well done!” – R. Hackman

Testimonials are great to use in marketing, such as in newsletters or marketing brochures, as a quick blurb, but they lack the power of detail that can be found in customer stories and case studies.

A customer story (sometimes referred to as a customer success story) is a more comprehensive account of your customer’s experience. It is, in fact, a story and is usually written in article form. It contains details of the project, direct quotes from the customer, and paints a clear picture of the project – from start to finish. It is usually only 1-2 pages in length, and not only does it cover the problem, solution and results , it reveals why your customer chose you for their project.

Picture a customer story like an article you’d see in a magazine, such as Better Homes & Gardens , or on practically any HGTV show. It starts by providing some background on the homeowner and why their current home isn’t fitting their needs. For instance, if they built a new home with you, there is an explanation of why they elected to build a new home (instead of remodel), an account of the creative solution you provided to design and build their new home, and a detailed testimonial of why they are so thrilled with the results.

A case study provides even more details and specifics than a customer story. In addition to the above, it showcases the “how” – how a solution was delivered and/or how the solution works in the customer’s environment. Case studies will involve tangible measurements of results (such as cost savings or increases of efficiency). They are often written for use in the technology industry, or in the case of construction, manufacturers will use case studies to educate contractors about new building materials – and persuade them to incorporate these new materials in upcoming projects. Another application would be if a builder installs a high-efficiency furnace, for example, he may team up with the manufacturer to develop a case study for that particular aspect of the home.

As you can see, the detail is what distinguishes a testimonial from a customer story from a case study, and new home builders and remodelers will most often use testimonials and customer success stories in marketing their business. However, all have the same goal in mind: educate potential customers, gain credibility and validate your products/services.

Tess Wittler

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