Guest post by Bill Achola.
Ned J. Blogmore is a gifted writer, but his blogs never make it past the spam email folder of his clients. One day, he decides to try something new. He sends a small, yet powerful, email message along with his blogs to the clients. As a result, his business flourishes. His blog’s search engine ranking improves by 15%. His work is recognized. His ROI increased by 34%…. And so on.
According to psychologists, the human mind feels emphatic to emotional appeal but ends up placing reliance on facts, figures, and statistics. Think about it: if the above paragraph did not mention anything about Ned’s search engine ranking and ROI, would you still feel “compelled” to read it?
This is the power of a simple Case Study. Effective user acquisition strategy is the new Holy Grail for all small business owners and marketers. By sharing case studies, the objective is to build up trust and confidence with your users. So instead of investing in expensive growth hacking strategies, you can simply share a few case studies to make your blog business look authentic and to-the-point.
The Power of a Case Study
Forget about what you’ve learned in the classroom. Case studies work differently.
Case studies make up for excellent promotional material, for any small business. They provide an in-depth look as to how your company has helped a client. A typical case study describes how a customer has benefitted from using your product or service, which can be in written or audio format, and attracts and acquires new clients.
Crafting the Right Case Study
Sometimes, creating contagious (viral) content isn’t enough. As a freelancer, your blog may contain the most useful tips. Unless your blog is tied with user benefits, the content will probably run in circles and fail to get enough clicks and leads.
A simple case study can help restore their faith in your blogs and you’ll have fresh hot leads in no time. Here are a few simple tips and tricks for creating a compelling case study:
- Use a First Person Format: All great content needs to sound like its coming from an actual human being, and not some figment of imagination. Make sure to use first person format (I, me and myself) in writing a case studies.
- Pay Customers: If satisfied with your service, your customers can be your best salespersons! If you’re providing them any product or service, make sure to ask them for a testimonial in return (offer them a token of appreciation or reduction in fee if they agree).
- Use Statistics: If you have a success story backed by numbers and figures, do use it. However, make sure that the statistics are not made up (Google is smarter than you think).
- Avoid clichés: In the world of e-commerce, every business is “unique, offers the best services and has 100% customer satisfaction ratios”. Try not to use any of these terms in your case studies.
- Get it Approved: Before posting it on your website or attaching in your blog, do share the case study with your customer and seek their approval. Get a photographer and ask for a picture of your customer that could be attached to the case study (for building up credibility).
- Hire Freelancers: If you only have a few customers who are unwilling to offer reviews and testimonials, it is best to hire the experts for this job. Freelance writers are good with words and can create believable content for case studies, without going overboard with marketing terms.
What Makes your Readers Tick?
The purpose of case studies is to generate qualified leads. So how can you get a case study written that appeals to your readers and target audience? In other words, what makes your readers tick? Brian Dean offers a valuable insight in this regard. He says, “The structure of your content is just as important as the writing itself.”
A well-written case study has three basic components: a main business challenge, the solutions proposed and implemented, and the benefits gained in the process. Engage your readers in a believable story and provide a strong angle. Here is a small excerpt from Stinky Inc. to give you a better idea on how to write an effective case study:
Source: startupdonut.co.uk
Exactly how long should the case study be is a matter of judgment. If you’re hiring freelancers for the job, the normal word count for content should range from 500 to 750 words. However, case studies posted on Home Page on your website (written by your clients) need to be short and concise. In this case, 50-100 words should do the trick.
Case Study of a Case Study
Crazy Egg was reluctant to use case studies, but decided to give it a try. It found that case studies did not really generate targeted leads as such, but still grew revenue of the business by 185%. A client wrote a testimonial on how the business helped him grow his traffic by 26%. This 615-word long testimonial was presented as a case study on Crazy Egg website and the results were impressive.
According to data by Google Analytics, a person spends (on average) 2 minutes and 27 seconds to skim through the testimonial page. This means that a 600-word case study has a higher chance of being read than a 2200-word manuscript..
Over to You
If you haven’t experimented with Case Studies as yet, then you’re missing out on the biggest lead magnet of your business.
If you’ve any thoughts or feedback, feel free to share your story in the comments below.
About the Author
Bill Achola is a digital marketing consultant and a professional blogger specializing in content writing and marketing at Billacholla.com. He works closely with B2B and B2C companies providing the right content that generates social shares, comments, and traffic back to their business blogs.