How to Write Better B2B Case Studies
Third-party endorsement is powerful.
As marketers, we know that customers are our best salespeople. Their reviews and testimonials build credibility and trust.
Congrats if you’re among the 73% of marketers who publish customer case studies to win hearts, minds, and pockets. In a world of fake news and fake reviews—only 37% of B2B buyers trust vendors—genuine customer success stories are precious assets.
Yet, a 2018 B2B content marketing report found that case studies, while frequently created, aren’t always persuasive:
This is a missed opportunity. According to LinkedIn’s Demand Gen Report 2018, case studies are the preferred content format of B2B buyers, with 79% of respondents consuming them in the past 12 months:
They’re also the second-most shared type of content among B2B buyers (after blog posts).
Many buyers rely on social proof. In fact, 94% of buyers go online to evaluate what their peers say about a product or service before deciding. So what’s going wrong?
Having worked with dozens of B2B companies, I’ve seen way too many case studies consigned to the content graveyard before they’ve even drawn breath. Franken-jargon, weird acronyms, loopy narratives. It’s no wonder they get ignored.
Two psychological concepts—cognitive fluency and narrative transportation—can turn yawnsome case studies into hard-working persuasion assets.
Ignore either one, and your case studies are likely to fall flat.