How to create compelling B2B case studies
Getting your customer to tell their story in an interview is a key B2B case study best practice
Case studies are consistently ranked in surveys of B2B marketers as being one of the most powerful tools in their arsenal, and for good reason.
Done well, they leverage both storytelling and social proof - two of the most effective marketing strategies - by demonstrating how a product successfully helped a customer.
However, having a glowing testimonial isn’t enough to make a B2B case study interesting. You’ll need to follow some key principles to produce engaging and persuasive content.
With that in mind, here are the most important best practices for writing B2B case studies that convert leads into customers.
1) Take a storytelling approach
Storytelling is a popular concept in the marketing industry, and for good reason. Our brains are wired to respond with empathy to compelling narratives that have a human touch.
Presenting data demonstrating the benefits of your product is important (we’ll get to that later) but you should never assume that the facts will do the talking for you. A good story always captures people’s attention more effectively than a logical, neutral presentation of information.
As Donald Miller explains in his book Building a StoryBrand, a certain narrative formula is particularly effective in marketing - and mass media generally. This involves something along the following lines:
The hero (for example, Harry Potter) sets out on a quest;
They then encounter a challenge or a villain (Voldemort) trying to stop them;
A guide (Dumbledore) helps the hero to win their battle with the forces against them;
The good guys live happily ever after.
In the context of case studies, your customer is the hero, and you are the guide. For the story to be effective, the customer has to be the centre of attention, not you.
This is because the customer is the one whose struggles your audience will relate to on an emotional level, as they’re likely facing the same challenges that the customer did before purchasing your solution.
In other words, you need to show how you helped your customer achieve their mission. If the case study just talks about how great your product is, without turning the focus on the customer, it won’t resonate with your audience.
2) Conduct an in-depth interview
So as we’ve established, for the case study to be a compelling story, the customer’s perspective and voice need to be centre stage. To be able to really capture the customer’s journey and convey what your product has done for them, you should carry out a thorough interview with them.
Try to think like a journalist when you do this, and ask the right kinds of questions that prompt them to open up and share in-depth thoughts about how your product has helped them. If you take the time to do this, you should have a wealth of quotes that you can lace through the case study.
Having real quotes from your customer will not only make the case study feel more human and relatable, but it will also make it more credible by harnessing the power of “social proof”.
3) Keep it clear and concise
Being clear and engaging is vital in all forms of B2B copywriting, and none more so than case studies. This is because presenting your potential customer with a dense block of text makes it so much less likely that they’ll actually read the case study.
As with all forms of content, it should be easy to read, visually appealing, and scannable. Avoiding unnecessary, complex jargon is important, as is making use of clear headings and bullet points to break up the text.
You should also include images or graphs that are easy to interpret and clearly convey the results your product brings.
4) Use the problem-solution-outcome structure
There’s a simple structure I recommend using in case studies to keep things simple and punchy, as well as tell a story effectively:
Problem - a brief overview of the customer's business and the challenges they faced before using your product or service.
Solution - a description of how your product or service helped the customer overcome those challenges.
Outcome - specific examples of the results the customer achieved after using your product or service.
Using this structure forces you to boil down the story to the most important elements, preventing it from becoming convoluted and long-winded.
5) Use eye-catching statistics
As we’ve discussed, we want our case studies to be engaging stories that feel human and relatable, not a barrage of data and metrics with no cohesive narrative. However, you should still include some key data that shows the measurable results your product brings. The key? To do so in a strategic way that fits with the story, rather than drowning it out.
The problem-solution-outcome structure is a great format for telling a story. It allows you to hook the reader’s attention by first telling your customer’s story in a compelling way. Then in the ‘outcome’ section, you can provide the statistics that are most eye-catching and that strongly support the claims you’re making.
Are you looking for a B2B tech case study writer?
I hope these best practices have given you some clear guidelines for creating case studies that win the trust of prospects with a clear and convincing narrative.
But if you’re a marketer in the B2B tech space who doesn’t have the bandwidth or capacity to create case studies in-house, you might benefit from working with me. I’m a freelance B2B tech writer and content marketer who can bring dry, complex subjects to life with engaging copy and content.
If you’d like to discuss how I could help your business with my copywriting and content marketing services, enquire now.