Copy Tip 45: Building Trust Via Case Studies
A short post today (short for me … 915 words).
(We farewelled a member of our Brunswick Rotary Club last night — a loooooong night, so today’s a day of brevity.)
Needless to say … it doesn’t matter how many words you use, what’s more important is the value delivered!
Case Studies
In our last tip, I covered a hefty amount on using testimonials.
They’re perfect when you already have that information from clients and their permission to use their testimonial.
Sometimes, when you don’t have that information ready to use — case studies become the substitute player … who comes in off the bench and helps you score a goal or two.
(I’ve got the Aussie Rules football pre-season game between Geelong and Adelaide on in the background … so footy’s on the mind a little!).
Now you can use BOTH testimonials and case studies … but sometimes case studies can have that substitute role while you go about collecting useful customer testimonials.
They build trust because they help persuade customers that your product or service is already working for other businesses. You can show a prospect how it worked for “someone just like them” — meaning they’re more willing to believe you that it can work for them too.
An Example
On a project I finished writing this week for a client (for B2B lead generation), we used case studies within a “tear sheet” marketing piece to highlight successful results the client had in their business.
Case studies fitted in quite well and were appropriate in the style of writing used on the tear sheet (more of a journalism style, more factual than high-energy/sales based).
In this piece, the article included an “interview” with the business’ corporate sales manager (not directly with clients of the business) — so several case studies were used in a sidebar to highlight specific results.
This approach also kept the client’s wishes of keeping their clients a little private — as in this particular market the competition is fierce (telecommunications) and they’re protective of their customer’s privacy (also at this point they don’t have direct testimonials or permission, so that’s keeping them safe too).
So, for example, instead of XYZ Company Pty Ltd, an example construction business located in Tullamarine (a suburb in Melbourne), I could use in the wording: “A Tullamarine-based construction company with 18 mobile phone services …” in my case study.
This way, the copy still shows the locality, the type of business (which readers may relate to) and the number of services (case studies covered results for businesses who had just a few services right through to much higher volume users).
Believable?
Yes, I think so. Sure, it’s not as specific as a personal testimonial. But it is — especially in tear sheet style marketing — very plausible and an approach that’s been used many times.
Getting Content
This is pretty easy with case studies … you’re simply researching your own files to find examples you want to use.
In this case, the client had a meeting of their sales team with their sales coach/consultant — and simply recorded the session. Once I had that copy, I could extract the relevant details and use them in the tear sheet.
No Results Yet?
If you don’t have your own customer examples to draw on … you can still use case studies!
So long as you’re upfront and transparent about it (credit your source), you could always show a case study you’ve seen elsewhere in the news or online.
If you know of a business or person who has used this particular product or service, you might want to include that as a case study. You could even interview them to confirm their results (even if they’re not your customer) … or get a testimonial/endorsement from them! For example, if you have a specific system for getting clients via classified ads, but haven’t started using it, you might know of a business who successfully uses classified ads in their marketing strategy. That’s a source for a “case study”.
Here’s an example of how I do this …
In my presentations I’ve talked about the power of direct mail — by showing examples of successful and famous campaigns (eg the Gary Halbert Coat of Arms letter — the most mailed letter of all time).
It’s a “case study” example I use from the stage. It’s not my letter, but it does clearly prove and reinforce the value of direct mail.
Now I also show the successful results of my own campaigns for clients in the presentation, and have my own client testimonials — but the example is good additional content within my presentation.
It also has a couple of added benefits: for example, the audience gets to know that “I know my stuff” about the history and background of my subject matter; and my research and background knowledge means they get to discover important examples without taking the time to find them themselves — I’ve found this on their behalf and eliminated the time it takes for them to discover it too.
Important Tip
Just like testimonials, case studies should be used strategically.
The case studies should cover relevant objections, benefits and fears … and relate as much as possible to the ideal prospect/s you are targeting.
They should also include specific details — the more specific, the better.
As like I used in my Testimonial example yesterday, if a client saves $932 per month using your service, that’s better than saying “almost $1,000″.
So there you have it! A short, concise overview of using case studies (even if you have none of your own).
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