Potential customers aren’t necessarily impressed with your product – until they realize what it can do for them. So rather than tout all the terrific features it provides, a better marketing strategy is to illustrate how it will benefit them and solve their problems. A good case study is a powerfully persuasive way to achieve this without your prospects feeling "sold to."
You know the story. Perhaps it’s yours.
Your business has developed a terrific product that’s ready for launch. But your PR campaign isn’t stirring up the kind of buzz you envisioned, and you’re struggling to gain much marketing traction.
What gives? Why isn’t your exciting, new offer selling like hot cakes?
It could be because your PR blitz gave TOO much attention to the product itself, with too little focus on what it can do for the buyer
Use software as a example. Sure, the developer wants to trumpet all the great features of this latest version. But then your message tends to come off like more of a sales pitch, often a slippery slope considering the majority of consumers don’t want to be sold to.
This is where a good case study could work wonders. Assuming you’ve distributed plenty of free versions of your software, contact some of those customers. Query them on how your product has helped them, what problems it has solved, how it’s made their lives easier, and so on.
If they agree to be profiled, you’ve just added a powerful marketing tool to your arsenal.
Case studies are invaluable to helping promote sales and convince potential buyers. Let’s say your product is a new version of personal organizer software. You can target various segments of the market, ranging from busy executives to soccer moms to students and all demographics in between.
None of these people are necessarily interested in the great technical advancements offered by your software (as you so proudly announced in your press release). Instead, their main interest is in how it can simplify their chaotic lives.
Case studies provide real-life examples that real people can relate to. By having your customers detail the challenges they faced and the problems they needed to address, their stories will sell your software. Because case studies are more than just a bunch of pretty prose. Unlike a press release, which showcases your product, a good case study details real solutions and benefits your product provides.
White Papers vs. Case Studies: What Works Better?
White papers and case studies are highly effective marketing tools. But is one better than the other? Here’s some educational marketing on how combining these two can provide your business with customer success stories.Using Target Marketing to Create Spot-On Campaigns
Target marketing is a simple philosophy. But there are many complexities to the process as well. Matching the right message with the right audience can produce a marketing home run. The key is addressing the unique needs of each market with a message that resonates. Here’s how ...Put The Focus on Target Marketing to See Clear Results
Quality trumps quantity when it comes to generating leads and moving prospects through the sales funnel. Rather than cast a wide net in search of a big catch, targeted marketing is much more productive. Here’s why ...