How to Choose Customers for Case Studies

Case studies are extremely powerful marketing tools. But how do you choose the right customers to profile for case studies to make the most of limited marketing dollars?

Here are some of the criteria companies use to identify the most strategic case studies:   

Star Power

If the customers you’re going after Fortune 500 companies, you’ll certainly want the legitimacy that having case studies from big name customers will provide. Certainly, I have plenty of clients chasing after these big names.

However, beware that these are the most difficult to line up and can result in wasted resources. Many large companies have policies that prohibit them from endorsing other vendors’ products—thus be prepared to expend much more time and effort finding big companies willing to do a case study. Even if a company says they do case studies, approvals may be withheld at the last minute, often with no explanation. This can result in wasted money for stories that are never approved. You can minimize (but never completely eliminate) this risk by determining in advance the company’s policy on case studies, who’s in charge of the project, and ask their permission before beginning the process.  

Target Industries

Often, customers are concerned about whether you understand their specific industry—whether that’s manufacturing, retail, or life sciences. Creating case studies about customers in all of the industries that constitute your target markets will ensure you have the right materials on hand to alleviate those concerns.   

Product Line

Clearly, you’ll want case studies for each product in your product line so you can demonstrate your success in delivering promised benefits for each product.

Geographic Area

Some companies target case studies geographically. For example, one client that markets to physicians  highlights customers practicing in each region of the country.  

ROI

ROI can be extremely difficult to quantify. In many cases, companies that want a lot of case studies will produce some that highlight qualitative benefits. Still, make sure that some of your case studies demonstrate strong quantifiable ROI. 

Momentum

In many cases, quality will be more important than quantity. If resources are an issue, you don’t really need dozens of case studies that illustrate the same point. It’s better to make sure you have at least one case study for each key product, target market, or other initiative. At the same time, some companies find it very important to demonstrate momentum and adoption in their marketplace. One way to meet these requirements is to create customer press releases; short and sweet descriptions about your new customers and why they’re choosing your products and release them on an ongoing basis over the wire services. 

Miscellaneous

Every once in awhile, I’ll come across a unique reason to create a case study or customer press release. For example, one company produced customer press releases and case studies specifically about customers who had come to them after defecting from their main competitor. This was an interesting exercise because no customer will allow you to directly say that they dumped a previous vendor in your favor.  What you can do is produce a standard case study or press release about these customers. And presumably, the sales rep can fill in the missing details in one-on-one conversations.

Another customer had come from a business that had evolved over time from a document printing company to one that automated document processes. A prize case study for them was one that covered the entire automated process, rather than individual automated capabilities.

Companies produce case studies for many reasons. When you’re looking for customers to profile, chose the ones that are most strategic for your business.

How does your organization select customers to profile with case studies?

 

Comments

[David Moon]

I'd add to your list what I call "reference fatigue." Some clients are great references in sales situations but can get burned out if asked to do too many favors. Segment your references so the most valuable are used for the highest purpose of endorsing your product/service with another potential customer.

Also, don't forget the personal angle. Finding a CIO who is interested in advancing in his career can also be a big plus. I've taken clients on tours to Gartner and Forrester and gotten them press coverage. Suddenly they start getting calls from headhunters. In the best case, they'll take a new job and then hire your client again.

[SmyrnaGirl]

Great tips. I'd also have to agree with David in his comment. In my marketing initiatives for Billian's HealthDATA/Porter Research, we found ourselves reaching out to the same folks too often, and so put the brakes on that outlet for a bit. We then scratched our heads, thought about it, and came up with a few new case study options. Fortunately, we found a customer that was ready and willing. I'd also add to the list above that you're more likely to get participation from customers that you've had longer relationships with - often even through multiple companies.

Once you've found that "golden" customer willing to participate, you can sometimes take it even further. We've not only written feature case study articles, but have built webinars around the same material.