How a case study can become a great marketing tool

Industrial or business social media, and printed magazines, often publish case studies − sometimes called application stories − highlighting how a manufacturer’s product or service has been of benefit to one of their customers.

So, why do they do this, and how can you generate your own case studies as effective marketing tools?

Marketing benefits
Prospective customers become interested in your products if:

1. They know they exist
2. They understand the benefits they could enjoy through using them (Lower energy use, reduced manufacturing cost, faster time to market, reduced size & weight…..)
3. They trust you as a company; believing that your products are best in class, and live up to the claims made for them, while your company can be relied on to deliver on schedule, and provide prompt support when needed.

While advertising and AdWords can handle the first point effectively if expensively, case studies can do a great job in addressing the other two. The fact that another company − especially if it is well-known in your target market − is using your product successfully gives it great credibility in the minds of your prospects. It’s tangible proof that your product provides benefits, and that you can be relied on to meet or, better, exceed expectations. It becomes easier for your prospects to visualise themselves profiting similarly from taking on your product.

A case study also boosts credibility because it has at least a flavour of journalism, compared with paid-for and explicitly promotional adverts.

Some useful pointers

1. Firstly, decide which customer’s experience best showcases your product’s capabilities, and what it can achieve for its users.

2. Approach them to find out if they like the idea of the article, and will be happy to provide their full support in its generation. When you pitch the idea to them, be sure to point out the advantages to them; it will be written to promote their company as well as yours, and they can use it as a sales and marketing tool accordingly.
Also, remember to assure them that you will send them any content you draft for approval before releasing it − and make sure that you do so!

3. While it’s naturally tempting to approach any large, well-known corporation or government department that has used your products (and you should certainly do so) many such organisations have policies and marketing plans which prevent them from being able to work with you.
You have two solutions to this. You could write a generic case study as applied to the market sector; however, this will clearly have less impact. A better alternative is to contact a smaller SME, which is far more likely to see value in the case study, has more freedom to act, and will lend their enthusiastic support accordingly.

4. Planning the story
Having signed up your willing partner, the next step is to plan the story, which broadly comprises the Heading, Sub-heading, and Body Content. The Headline and Sub-heading are your chance to grab your readers’ attention, deliver the overarching message about your product, and establish the theme for the body content.

Example:
Company X’s next-generation product takes on previously inaccessible applications Integration of Company Y’s subassembly allow Company X to achieve a 15% size and weight reduction, meaning their products are now being installed into smaller robot arms than previously possible

Notes:

• Company Y is your company, and Company X is your customer
• The Headline grabs attention because it describes a significant step change/improvement for the industry
• The Sub-heading adds credibility and weight to the case study by adding the tangible value of 15% to the product improvement

Body content should tell the story to your readers:

• Broad context: What exactly does Company X do, and within which industries? Maybe include a brief anecdote, if an interesting one is available, for example about how the company came to be formed or how it became involved with this particular product. In any case, explain why they are leaders in their field − after all, the case study must work for them as well as you.
• Focus in on the particular challenge they had, which led them to look for a new solution
• Explain why they chose your company and product over your competition
• Describe their experience of integrating your product into their product or infrastructure
• It’s great if you can obtain as many statistics about improvements achieved as possible
• What are their future plans for working with you?
• If possible, obtain a testimonial from one of your customer’s employees describing how you provided design support, operator training, or rendered other assistance − and, in general, how they have benefited from the relationship and look forward to ongoing collaboration.

5. Gathering the best information
Usually, information that enables you to write the best possible headings and story comes from an onsite or Teams meeting with your customer. Ideally the customer will field representatives from both their Marketing (or Business Development) and Engineering/Technical departments. The Marketer will likely describe the business benefits to them of the relationship and your product, while the Engineer can fill in the details of how the new product was developed and how it works, along with its key features and benefits.

It’s useful to prepare a list of questions designed to prompt the answers you need, and send it to your customer before the meeting. This gives them a chance to do any research needed to provide the appropriate answers. Then you can structure the meeting by walking through the questions with them.
In any case, it is frequently necessary or helpful to have a couple of consecutive meetings to obtain the full story. In my experience, it typically takes a couple of iterations to build a complete picture, and ensure it accurately reflects the customer’s experience − and meets with their approval.
It often also helps to obtain as much written content from the customer as possible, from data sheets to recent editions of the company magazine. You may be surprised at the valuable data that these sources sometimes provide − which for whatever reason was never mentioned during the briefing sessions.

6. Images
The visual appearance of a case study will be greatly enhanced by a couple of images, and magazine editors will usually require these. Your customer will most likely be happy to supply a couple of relevant images on request.

Conclusion
By approaching the right customer, obtaining their enthusiastic co-operation, and taking steps to obtain great content and images, you can write up a compelling case study that will contribute to brand profile both for your company and your customer.

You will also have collateral out there which did take time and effort to prepare, but unlike an advert, need not cost you money to place.
If you would like more help or advice on this or any other technical copywriting or content marketing topic, feel free to contact me.