Savvy B2B marketers still believe—and will continue to believe—that an effective B2B Case Study is a critical tool for securing leads and closing deals. That’s because a Case Study is a powerful piece of short-form content that is effective at every stage of the buyer’s journey.
If you want your Case Studies to do their job, they must have the following:
- A striking headline
- A captivating story
- Strategically placed, authentic quotes
- Measurable results
- A featured quote
Let’s look at these essential qualities of an effective B2B Case Study in more detail.
A Striking Headline
If no one reads the Case Study, it can’t have the desired impact. You have an incredibly brief moment to capture prospects’ attention and compel them to read your Case Study. That means your headline is the most critical element.
In many forms of writing, it’s not a good idea for the headline to “spoil” the story. However, you always want to spoil the story in a Case Study headline. That’s because readers may not take in the entire Case Study. They might just read the headline and skip to the Results section. So, you want your headline to work hard to convince prospects to spend a few minutes reading your entire Case Study.
The hardest working Case Studies are those that communicate results in solid numbers. Here is a fictitious example:
Alamo Coffee increases revenue by 125 percent after leveraging TechSoft’s asset-tracking platform.
The headline states the result clearly. The more dramatic the result, the better.
The way the result is presented in this headline lets readers know that it’s possible to achieve the level of success that Alamo Coffee achieved if they just use TechSoft’s platform. With that realization, they’ll want to know how to replicate that success in their organization. They’ll read on.
Visit the Content Marketing Institute for another perspective on creating impactful headlines.
A Captivating Story
Many Case Studies are basic and uninteresting and, therefore, never get read through to the end. How do you get a prospect to read the entire document? Tell a fascinating story that causes readers to put themselves in the shoes of the featured client.
The content of the Case Study tells the story of your client’s experience using your product or service. To keep your story simple, use the three sub-headlines “Situation,” “Solution,” and “Results.”
The Situation section introduces the featured client—Alamo Coffe. It also presents the issues the company was dealing with or what opportunities it couldn’t attain before working with Techsoft. Here is where the drama begins.
Perhaps Alamo Coffee is a growing company that can no longer manually track its assets. It’s cost the company in terms of limiting its revenue growth. It needs a better asset-tracking platform.
The Solution section unveils TechSoft’s asset-tracking platform. And if it helps move the story along, this section might also explain a little about how it works. But don’t get too technical. Additionally, this is the place to describe how Alamo Coffee uses the platform daily.
The Results section highlights the results of Alamo’s use of the platform by painting a picture, one result after another. Alamo’s staff has more time to focus on growing the business now that asset tracking is automated. Consequently, revenue has increased by 125 percent year over year.
Just remember to keep the story concise and easy to read.
Strategically Placed, Authentic Quotes
Including quotes from the featured client is critical to creating an effective B2B Case Study. It’s always best to tell the story of the featured client through the client’s own voice. When you let your clients narrate their own success stories, that narration is what provides social proof. Here, in their own words, you have clients telling a prospect what you did for them and what great results they experienced.
An easy way to structure each Case Study section is to make a point, then use a quote to move the story along. For instance, state that the client was using an unsuitable customer relationship management (CRM) platform. Then, follow up on that statement by presenting a quote from the client that elaborates on the underwhelming CRM platform.
Then, make another point and use a quote to move the story further along. Your words, mixed with client quotes, make for an interesting read.
Measurable Results
When considering what results to include in your Case Study, ask yourself if you would be motivated to use your own products or services to achieve those results. Exclude the results that do not inspire action. Instead, focus on highlighting the results that made a significant impact on the business of the featured client.
Since your captivating story has put your reader in the shoes of your featured client, readers will understand they’re reading about are results they would likely experience if they purchased your products or services.
In the case of Alamo Coffee, the company experienced an impressive amount of growth. But there are related successes that you can highlight. An underlying success referred to above is that staff had time to focus on growing the business. That’s a direct result of using TechSoft’s platform. So, include it in your results section.
Additionally, as you search for results, remember to look for measurable ones. Perhaps Alamo coffee saved forty hours each week due to its use of the platform.
A Featured Quote
You need just one amazing quote to be showcased in the final layout of your Case Study. Whether your Case Study lives in a PDF or on your website, a featured quote is your secret weapon. Why? Because the quote might be one of the few elements of the Case Study that a prospect will read.
Scour the featured client’s interview transcript for glowing language that describes how happy the company is with your products or services. You can get a great quote simply by asking about the client’s level of satisfaction and if the client would recommend your products or services.
The Bottom Line
Writing effective B2B Case Studies can be difficult and time-consuming. Even though this is a roadmap to writing a killer Case Study, your organization may not have the capacity to conduct the interviews, draft the case study, design it, and get it approved for distribution.
If this sounds like your situation, then you should partner with a vendor that knows the ins and outs of effective B2B Case Study creation. That can be SuccessKit! Book a meeting with us today to learn more.
