Customer success stories, not case studies
What makes for truly valuable content? What type of content do clients / customers truly crave?
This is a question that has intrigued me for over 20 years. I’ve learned that of course there isn’t just one content type that fits this bill, but I think there is a form of super-valuable content that most businesses either miss or badly misconstrue. Recent revelations on a research project have opened my eyes to this content opportunity (a bit of a content marketing Road to Damascus moment, if you will).
The content that customers crave is the success story.
Now, you’ll notice I didn’t say case study. There’s a reason for that. Let me give you a bit of backstory to explain.
Your clients want to learn
I’m currently working on a consultancy project for a brilliant UK engineering firm. To help them position what they do and devise the right content strategy, I’ve been speaking to a selection of their best clients to get their input and feedback. One of the questions I ask in the research is: “What kind of information can this company provide that you’d find valuable?” A senior leader in a UK utility company answered like this:
"I’m keen to understand the bigger picture. Who's doing better than we are in this field? As customers, we’re always keen to understand what’s going on in other businesses around the world. What’s best out there, and what can be learned?"
What he’s asking for is insight from others going through similar challenges.
Who is winning? What has worked for them? How have they tackled the problem and successfully made change happen? What have they learned? What can he take from their experience?
He’s not alone. I’ve heard this desire expressed in different ways many times over many years of gathering feedback. But it’s never hit me quite as strongly as it did on this project. It made me realise that success stories are a type of content that customers truly crave.
You are in a position to take the lead in your area of knowledge and expertise for the benefit of your clients. One way to do this is to take responsibility for collecting and sharing success stories from businesses tackling similar challenges.
Success stories, not case studies
This is a shift in focus from the traditional case study. Most case studies I read are focused on the supplier company and what they did well, to show how good they are, rather than a focus on the customer. Less of a learning opportunity for the reader, more of a credibility pitch.
Case studies = self-focused
Success stories = customer-focused
Success stories shift that focus. They’re a form of case study that puts the customer in the limelight, spotlighting real life stories of the journey to progress. They make for compelling reading, and are a fast track to trust.
Success stories in action, for UiPath
Interestingly, some of the best success stories I’ve read barely mention the company doing the work.
Just take a look at the success stories from billion dollar automation leaders, UiPath. I’m a huge fan of UiPath’s content marketing approach, and customer success stories are at the heart of their strategy. They shine a light on their customers’ journeys, letting them talk about the impact of UiPath’s products and service, sharing lessons learned and enticing others in the process. This is a fast track to trust - the perfect ‘show not tell’ approach to marketing.
“Success stories are the holy grail of our content strategy. Justifying the WHY is easy, the ROI of this technology is compelling and easy to prove. Which makes the HOW question even more critical. Many of our customers are generously sharing their experience with automation, which in turn helps new adopters learn fast.”
Mina Deckard of UiPath’s content team
I wrote up UIPath’s story of success here. There’s a quiet confidence and humbleness about their approach in the way they step back and focus on their customers’ experiences. Their success stories are all about education and celebration, not a pushy sales pitch - a great example of the valuable Help, don’t sell; Talk, don’t yell; Show, don’t tell motto in action.
Learning from good teachers
Good teachers use success stories and examples intuitively, to build understanding. These teaching tools connect the dots for the learner, translating abstract concepts into real life.
“Many students are more inductive than deductive reasoners, which means that they learn better from examples than from logical development starting with basic principles.”
As content creators, there’s a lot we can learn a lot from good teachers. We need to tell stories, share examples of others’ success, and so paint a picture for the reader of how our ideas/services/products can make a difference, enabling them to make up their own minds, and recognise the value of what we do.
Set up an awards scheme
When running Valuable Content I came up with the idea of the Valuable Content Awards, spotlighting stories from companies and individuals who had success with the valuable content approach. We even gave out real life badges!
Winners ranged from huge corporates - like the Met Office and the expat services division of HSBC Bank - to mid-size agencies and consultancies, to one-person bands, a resort on the island of Lanzarote, a surf school, and even a social media savvy policeman on the Isles of Scilly! With valuable communication and content lessons for any business from them all.
The aim was to show people what was possible if they committed to creating and sharing valuable content, to excite them about the opportunity, to inspire them to produce ever more valuable marketing information, and of course to recognise all the hard work that goes into creating this stuff.
The Awards interviews have been widely read, shared and appreciated, and have proved the most useful teaching tools for Sharon and I in our work.
With this new insight into the power of customer success stories, Sharon and I have decided to revive these awards for the School of Valuable Content. Watch this space.
Collecting success stories for an awards schemes like this makes for powerful marketing. You can do this too. Spotlight those doing well, following the approach you recommend, and reward them for their efforts.
Tips for creating customer success stories
So what does a good customer success story look like? How can you create one?
The best ones I’ve found share a simple format. Here’s a good structure to follow:
Summary of the story - who this is about, what they’ve achieved and why it’s likely to be of interest to the reader
The story:
Background, context, challenge
What they did, and why they arrived at this
The ultimate outcome - the results they saw
What next - next steps on the journey
Lessons for others - what they learned along the way
Yes, of course this is similar to a case study, but it’s the lessons and the firm focus on the customer’s story that lifts this from the traditional sales case study, and makes for more compelling content.
From ‘look how great we are’ to ‘look how great our customers are, look at the shift they’ve made (with a bit of help from us), you can do this too.’
Customer stories are based on real life interviews and infused with their words and quotes. If you’re looking to create a good success story, interview your client or customer. Here are some good interview questions to ask:
Please tell me about you and the challenge you were looking to tackle
Why was it so important for you and the business to solve this? What was the opportunity?
What options did you look at?
Why did you choose the route you took?
What did you do? What was your solution?
What results have you seen?
What was hardest about this? How did you succeed?
What are you most proud of?
What did you learn along the way?
Main lessons for others looking to tackle a similar challenge?
What’s next?
Customer success stories are a super valuable form of content. Creating success stories, over traditional company-focused case studies, will fire up your marketing by shining a spotlight on your customers. I hope these ideas and tips help.
[NB: This post first appeared on the School of Valuable Content site.]