"I’m so glad we’re finally doing this interview because maybe I won’t have to take as many calls." " That’s an actual quote from a customer being interviewed for a case study. Across all the projects I’ve done, I’ve heard this several times from customers. Imagine how many thought that but didn’t say it? Add this to the list of motivators for customers to be featured in case studies. Customers, even the ones that love the vendor the most, have their limits when it comes to taking time to be a reference. It’s "reference fatigue." MORE >>

Copywriters: Today’s the first day back to school where I live. Neighborhood kids are donning their new backpacks, books and shoes. Homework isn’t just for school kids. Now’s the perfect time to talk about the studying you have to do as a case study copywriter. Say you’ve just signed a new client for case studies. How do you get started? By being studious. Don’t just jump into the actual case study, no matter how much of an urgency there is for that story. The risk? Your story may not deliver maximum sales potential. Find out where these materials reside. MORE >>

"I could sell this for you." " That line, coming straight from the mouth of a happy customer, is music to a company’s ears. Not only is the customer satisfied with the solution, but the customer has become a true evangelist. heard this just a couple of weeks ago while interviewing an IT manager at a hospital about their new help desk system. He was genuinely a fan, and in the heat of talking about what he loves about the software, added the line above. He went on to give me powerful quote after powerful quote. If only all customer interviewees could be so pumped. MORE >>

Ever heard this popular expression regarding presentations? "Tell them what you’re going to tell them. Tell them. And then tell them what you told them." " Or something along those lines. Why should we repeat ourselves? Because people have short attention spans. By repeating, audiences hopefully go away having heard your most important points at least once, if not more. In a written story, repeating ensures that skimmers catch your main ideas. So how do you apply the "tell ‘em, tell ‘em, tell ‘em" advice to case studies and success stories? MORE >>

Picking up from my last post commenting on Hubspot’s " 27 Marketing Lessons B2B Marketers Should Know ," here’s another tip from Hubspot that ties directly with customer case studies: "Content is precious. Repackage existing content into different formats, such as blog posts, podcasts and webinars to drive more leads." " You can easily repackage customer case studies and success stories into valuable, reusable content throughout your sales and marketing communications. Here are just a few ways: 1. Blogs. An estimated 77% of active web users read blogs. MORE >>