Case studies can be a great tool in solution marketing. Especially, when your products and services may be intangible, highly technical, expensive, or provide benefits that are not instantly achieved.
Marketing collateral that tells the stories of other customers' beneficial experiences with your product or services are very powerful. Why beat your own chest when you can turn to your successes with current and past customers to market those solutions to others? Chances are if they had a problem - others do too. So get the solution out there for others to learn from. A prospect is much more likely to investigate a solution farther if it applies to his situation. He wants to know what the product is. Sure. He needs to know the features. BUT he really wants to know what it will do for him. Use the words of your customers to describe their problem and how you solved it for them.
As an engineering manager at a Fortune 200 company, I always checked with my peers when seeking a solution. I called also to follow up on sales professionals. Why? I took what the sales reps said with cautionary reserve. After all, their job is to paint a rosy picture and tell me all the wonderful features and the money I will save. I need to know about the real world. I need to know the benefits and any hiccups that may occur before, during or after its use.
How much time could I save if I had a solutions driven document that already presented the problem and result? I would not have to call peers and hunt for answers on the internet. It's a complete waste of time.
When presented with a case study that tells a compelling story - laced with the pertinent details...I am much more likely to call for follow-up literature and possibly a live sales call. It's laid out for me. It saves me time. It's effective.
This is why I advocate a solution marketing campaign that uses case studies as the cornerstone.
So what makes a great case study?
The point of writing a great case study is to show your reader a definite perspective. You do not want to recite a list of features or just fill the page with words. This is marketing and every word either makes money or loses money. So use each word to make money by painting a story in your prospects mind. It needs to become tangible in their mind.
An effective case study highlights how a specific situation was initially identified, which solution was selected to fix the problem, and a summary of the final results. Many case studies tend to be short. One to two pages in length. As a general rule, aim for one graphic per page. A graphic can be an effective tool in relaying information through a visual medium. It also breaks up the copy. But more than one tends to skew the page and make it hard to read.
The Title
Like any good advertisement, your title should include a benefit of the product or service solution. For example, "How XYZ Company saved over $512,712 this year in labor costs by utilizing ABC solution software"
A good case study will include:
- The challenge.The Case Study Solution Marketing Reward
The mileage of a great case study is hard to measure. Decision makers will use them as references and sources. Sales reps will use them to make a point and get their foot in the door. When brochures at trade shows are lining the floors and waste baskets your case study will be read and kept on hand. It's not uncommon to rewrite a compelling case study into a press release, magazine or ezine article, use in annual reports, or send in emails. It is a great start to a marketing campaign.
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Plants are shaped by cultivation and men by education. .. We are born weak, we need strength; we are born totally unprovided, we need aid; we are born stupid, we need judgment. Everything we do not have at our birth and which we need when we are grown is given us by education.
(Jean Jacques Rousseau, Emile, On Philosophy of Education)
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