Creating Unique Customer Testimonials & Case Studies

Sharing your customers’ success is all about creating a story. 

Case studies are a great way to develop a story for a particular product, service or strategy by showing measurable results that support your key performance indicators (KPIs), such as sales and return on investment (ROI). Sharing these results in a real-world case study is an effective way to demonstrate how your product or service can solve your customers’ challenges. 

Similarly, testimonials can also be used to create a story from the client’s point of view. Using client quotes builds credibility and allows your target audience to hear about your clients’ successes from the clients themselves.

Why Testimonials?

Using a testimonial—a recommendation or review from a client—helps showcase your product or service through a credible third-party to further tell your story. Storytelling in marketing grabs audiences’ attention and allows them to form connections with the content. These connections help your brand gain trust and credibility with your target audiences. Storytelling also helps build customer relationships, eventually urging them to buy into your company.

Why should you use testimonials? 

• Showcase reviews of a product or service
• Create a connection to a customer
• Develop credibility

Getting Creative with Case Studies

When writing a case study, you want to create a story that is interesting or inspiring. The goal is to draw the prospective customer into the product, service or strategy that the client has to offer. 

For a unique case study presentation, consider a video showcasing a challenge your solution solves and the measurable results to support it. Video gives you the opportunity to share footage and/or photos of your clients and your experts. Allowing your audience to put a face to the name further humanizes your brand and tells your story.

Another interesting way to present your case study is as an infographic. Infographics allow you to visually share bite-sized data and information to portray measurable outcomes of a product or service.

While you can always add your own unique branding and formatting, a case study should include these basics:

• Introduction of the product or service and relevant information on the company using it
• Identifying the consumer’s needs
• Examining the challenge the product is used to solve
• Demonstrating the solution and how the product worked 
• Exhibiting the final results

Effectiveness of a Case Study

Many times people think that creating a case study means naming a specific customer as an example, but this can be difficult when clients don’t want to share their name and/or product information. Oftentimes you can position a case study and successfully portray the issue a product or service addresses without having to name the customer. Rather, focus on showcasing different prototypes that solve common problems.

Case studies can be used for:

1. Content on your website
2. Posts on social media
3. Resources at trade shows
4. Paid or earned media placements
5. Tools for your sales team

Get Started

Case studies and testimonials are an art that increase brand exposure and can help gain customer loyalty. Ready to get started developing case studies and testimonials to support your brand? Contact Mitch Robinson at Mitch@colinkurtis.com or call 815-965-6657 EXT. 1 to learn how food, beverage and nutrition brands like yours can use storytelling to their advantage.

 

Blog post from:

Matt Hensler
Chief Marketing Officer