Every business has a story to tell, and narratives are powerful tools for content marketers. They not only demonstrate your product or service’s value in action but also prove your company’s expertise. In this blog, we’ll explore how to create and market your success stories so they become powerful marketing assets that amplify your brand’s voice and grow your customer base.
Difference between a case study and a success story
The terms “case study” and “success story” are often used interchangeably. Although both highlight positive outcomes achieved through your product or service, their structure, tone, and purpose can differ.
Case studies are often analytical and formal in tone. They usually present detailed and objective information with data, metrics, and a step-by-step breakdown of the customer background, the problem, the solution, and the results. Case studies are often used in B2B sales discussions or technical presentations to appeal to technical audiences seeking in-depth insights and evidence.
In contrast, success stories adopt a conversational and inspirational tone, focusing on the emotional impact and overall transformation. These stories emphasize the human element to inspire and connect emotionally with potential customers. They’re often featured in blogs, social media, or video content to build trust and relatability with the audience.
Success story sections
When writing a success story, focus on creating a narrative that aligns with your target audience’s challenges and aspirations and is relatable. Be sure to include the following four sections in the format of your success story:
- Challenge: Briefly describe the customer’s problem, pain point or obstacle. Be sure to include what frustrated the customer or how the problem prevented them from doing what they wanted to do to help make the situation relatable.
- Describe the solution: Describe how your company’s solution addressed your customer’s challenge and which key features, services, or strategies were critical to the success.
- Demonstrate results: Include tangible qualitative and quantitative benefits that the customer now enjoys due to the solution. The more quantitative benefits you can provide, the better, as they help prospects build the case study to purchase your solution.
- Show the transformation: Use testimonials or customer quotes to humanize the story, add authencity and show the broader impact on the customer’s work or life after the solution was implemented.
Building a customer journey using a case study.
7 Questions to ask when researching for your success story
Whether you are building a case study or success story, these questions will help you get started on the narrative you need to build.
- Tell me a bit about yourself, your company, and your role
- What challenges/problems were you facing?
- What were you looking for in a solution?
- What made our solution stand out?
- How has our solution helped you or your team members?
- Has this solution saved money and/or increased productivity?
- Can you share any metrics/KPIs that show the success you have enjoyed with our solution?
How to market your success stories
Here are 20 ways to use your success stories to educate and build credibility with your audience.
Online and digital marketing
- Website: Add a summary or teaser on your homepage and relevant product/service pages and blogs. Include the full story in your blog, customer success story section, or as a downloadable asset behind registration.
- Social media: Promote your success stories on relevant social media platforms. Think about building impactful images or including video interviews to encourage your audience to click on the full story.
- Newsletters: Advertise new or existing customer success stories in your monthly customer, employee and partner emails.
- Promotional emails: Include customer quotes in your email campaigns, webinar invitations or sales promo emails.
- Webinars: Invite a successful customer to present their story to prospects or customers at your online events.
- Press release: When you announce a new sale, include a portion of your customer story, like a quote, in a press release.
- Online communities: Showcase success stories in online customer or partner communities.
- Videos: Create video shorts (less than 1 minute) and/or full-length videos of your success stories.
Advertising
- Direct mail: Highlight either a full story or overview in your postcards, catalogues, or flyers.
- Print material: Create brochures or booklets highlighting several key customer stories.
- Industry publication: Showcase your customer success in an ad in your crucial industry publications. You can also send a short pitch of the customer success story for a contributed article.
In-person event marketing
- Industry conferences: Invite customers to tell their stories at industry conferences or other events. The client can either be part of a panel, deliver a live presentation or pre-record a message.
Product marketing
- Sales training: Include your success stories in your sales training to educate and equip them with testimonials.
- PowerPoint presentations: Add slides into your sales presentation templates that showcase customer successes in various industries or with different products/services.
- Proposals: Include relevant success stories in your business proposals.
- Sales letters: Start your sales pitches with a compelling customer story.
Corporate marketing
- Industry award submissions: Include full or summarized customer stories with awards applications.
- Fundraising appeals/grant proposals: – Weave success stories into printed, verbal or other appeals for support.
- Annual reports: Showcase the people and companies behind the numbers to bring a human element to your investor communication.
- Public-service announcements: Use customer successes to deliver powerful stories of how nonprofits have helped the communities they service.
How to optimize your success stories for online presence and SEO
Here are some tips on how to get the success stories on your website to do well on organic searches.
- Internal links: Link to at least 3 pages within your site.
- External links: Link to at least 1 external source including authoritative sites or local places/websites.
- Headings: Relevant 3-4 headings (H1, H2, H3…) with relevant keywords.
- SEO assets: Relevant title tag and meta description
- Keywords: Key long-tail and short-tail terms sprinkled throughout the text
- Calls to action: At the end of the post, every few sections or pinned on the left or right navigation pane
- Length: At least 500 to 800 words per case study.
Other ways to collect testimonials
Success stories are just one way to collect and share customer sentiments. Here are some other channels that you should leverage.
- Social media mentions: Leverage positive comments or shout-outs about your brand on platforms.
- Encourage User-Generated Content (UGC): Run a contest or campaign asking customers to share how they use your product or service.
- Review or e-commerce sites: Check platforms like Amazon, Google Reviews, Yelp, Capterra, or Trustpilot for existing customer feedback.
- Customer Satisfaction Surveys (CSAT): Include open-ended questions like, “What did you enjoy most about our product/service?” in your customer surveys.
- Post-purchase feedback: Send a short survey asking new customers about their thoughts after a purchase or service completion.
- Focus groups or interviews: Invite customers to share their experiences in a casual setting. Record these conversations and ask if you can use excerpts as testimonials.
- Community forums: Use feedback from your customer forums or communities.
- Support calls or emails: If customers praise your product during a support call, ask for permission to use their comments.
- In-person events: Record testimonials at trade shows, conferences, or customer appreciation events.
Let’s build success stories!
Are you looking to build credibility with your customers by creating relatable and impactful stories? Let us interview your clients and build content that will build confidence and is optimized for organic traffic.