In industry, everything revolves around products and complex services that need to be explained. This regularly presents marketing with a major challenge: How do I convince the decision-makers on the customer side of my company and how do I best package the information? How much technical know-how must I include in my marketing texts so that I convert leads and retain my existing customers in the long term?
Case studies are particularly well suited as a basis for all your communication. For 79 % of decision-makers in B2B companies, case studies are decisive for the purchase decision. Why? They tell the advantages of your company and your services from the customer's point of view. This makes them one of the most trustworthy and thus most popular formats for the purchase decision of B2B companies.
1. What must Your Case Study everything be able to do?
A convincing case study not only tells about a challenge that your company has mastered in the past, but above all explains what added value you offer to the new potential clientele. Since experts make the buying decision, you must of course also make your professional expertise clear. It is crucial that a case study is easy to understand and involving - it should also be fun to read. Furthermore, the reference to your company story must not be missing: what makes your company unique and how does this solve the customer problems?
In order to reconcile all these aspects, you need the input of engineers, designers, etc. on the one hand, and the textual confidence of marketing or sales staff on the other. You can find out how best to proceed in our guide.
2. The Guide to optimal Case Study
- Brainstorming to find topics
Gather colleagues from different areas and think about which projects are suitable as case studies. Do you have any milestones coming up in the next few months, such as new products, personnel changes, trade fairs or other events that you can use as a thematic hook? Assign topics to these milestones that pick up all relevant target groups. - Schedule
Plan when you want to publish which case study. Do you want to flank the respective publication with media (via social media, newsletter, etc.)? If so, it is advisable to keep this in mind while writing the text. This way you can simultaneously formulate shorter texts for other purposes. - Creating a questionnaire
In order to collect the relevant information, it is advisable to create a questionnaire. Structure it in such a way that it is easy to understand and to answer. We recommend dividing the questions into the following categories: Challenge, Solution, Expertise and Customer Benefit. Formulate questions in such a way that your experts can assign relevant information and relevant added values to the individual categories. - Interviews
Often the answers from the questionnaires are not enough to formulate a first-class case. You often need additional information to be able to charge the case. Go through the questionnaire again with your colleague. Also ask for peripheral information that you can use to make the case come alive and emotionalise it. - Text creation
Experience teaches us that a perfect text cannot be formulated at the first go. Stay in close contact with your experts during the writing process and have your texts proofread. This continuous exchange will help you reach your goal quickly. In addition, make sure that each case study focuses on your company story. What do you stand for as a company and how was this demonstrated in this specific case?
3. Worry you for the maximum reach of your Case Study
The contents of case studies can be optimally prepared in different formats. For example, you can also use the content for your social media channels. Small sections can be used perfectly as a short post. If you have more in-depth information on the topics covered, link to it. In this way, you create more depth in the content and offer readers the opportunity to find out more about you.
4. Conclusion: With customer experiences New customers convince
Case studies are an important source of information for decision-makers in B2B. They also provide you with a sustainable content basis. If your case studies not only focus on the technical details of your solution, but also on the added value for your target groups, you have the perfect content basis. In addition, make sure that your company story runs through each case like a common thread. It doesn't always have to be in the foreground, but it should resonate in every case.
Marie Great
The strategy and creative teams at Blaupause are passionate about creating relevant and creative content for our B2B blog. Do you have a topic related to B2B marketing, innovation management, employer branding, etc. that you'd like to learn more about? Bring it on!