THIS is How to Organize Case Studies Online
In sales and marketing, it’s the ultimate question. How do you get the right information in front of a prospect at the right time?
It’s especially tricky now that customers self-direct their learning online.
As you grow your stable of customer case studies and success stories, organize them so that a prospect can find exactly the type of story of interest to him.
That usually means sorting – and enabling search of – your stories by industry, type of solution, product and maybe geographic location.
Here are a couple of examples.
Major software company SAS organizes its customer successes by industry, solution, technology, country, alphabetically, and with a "Search All" capability. If they have a particular case study, the searcher will find it with this thorough approach.
Oracle organizes theirs in a similar way, by applications, technology, services, industry and alphabetical.
Both companies also feature a few of their best stories on the search page for quicker access.
Such a search function may be too much for organizations with a handful of case studies. If so, create a list of your stories by headline and include a few descriptive words about industry, product, type of solution, location or anything else relevant to your audience.
Put yourself in the searcher’s chair and make it as easy as possible.
Have you seen any great examples of how companies organize their stories online?
Writers: How to Referee Style Rules
During the NFL playoffs, referees' calls can ultimately decide a win or loss.
Their job is to know the rules and make sure that players follow them. But sometimes their calls inspire boos from the coaches, players and fans.
Freelance copwriters are not unlike referees.
On a project, writers are often in the role of referee - enforcing STYLE rules.
Depending on the types of projects you work on, anywhere from two to maybe 8 people may be reviewing your thoughtfully written copy.
There's at least one marketing manager, if not more, and perhaps a PR or sales person. Then there's maybe a product manager.
If you work on customer case studies, an additional three to four people at the customer's organization may review your story.
Chances are, there will be differences of opinion about whether "website" is one word or two, whether titles should be capitalized or whether a comma goes before the last "and."
To solve these differences - and maintain consistency across all communications - you need a set of rules.
And if you're the writer, be the editorial style referee.
But how do you do so diplomatically?
Throw the book at 'em
Newspapers and magazines have long followed style guidelines, whether Associated Press style, Chicago Manual of Style or their own versions. Companies need such guidelines as well for all their communications.
Freelance writers should usually follow the style of the companies they write for, unless those companies have no specific style guidelines.
If the organization doesn't have its own editorial guidelines, bring your own style. When you send first drafts to your contacts, let them know that you follow style X.
When questions come up during the editing process, simply refer to the specific style guidelines as your reasoning for doing something like leaving out that extra comma before the last "and" in a sentence.
Company-created style
Several companies I've written for over the years have had their own style guidelines. They set down in writing exactly how they want certain aspects of their copy to go.
In many cases, their style is a hybrid. They mostly follow a standard style guide but have modifications for their communications.
Learn and follow those guidelines closely.
Earn your stripes
As you merge edits from multiple reviewers, make sure that the copy follows the established style. If someone makes changes that conflict with those rules, just let them know you follow company style.
It's like saying, these are the rules we play by on our turf.
It can be hard to be a ref, but it's part of the writer's job.
Have you ever been boo-ed for refereeing edits?
In a Visual Industry? Tell a Visual Case Study
We tell stories with words. But also with pictures.
In fact, depending on your industry, images can be just as important as the narrative.
If you're a graphic designer, or create a product that people can see or hold, then your prospects clearly want to see examples of that.
An Australia design firm, Toast, found a compelling way to present its case studies visually.
Toast showcases high-resolution images of a client project in a Flash slideshow, with explanatory copy about the project underneath.
Each image shows a different angle or element of the work.
Here's how Toast tells a case study about packaging designs for a new coffee brand.
It's a sharp visual presentation with talk about how Toast approached the project. The only thing I would add is more text around the end results of the packaging design.
Seen other examples of case studies presented in compelling visual ways? Let me know and I'll highlight them here!
The “Stories That Sell” B-Day Give-Away
Today's a big day! It's the first anniversary of the release of the book, Stories That Sell.
It's been a great year, and in honor of the occasion, I'm giving away a 43-page PDF excerpt of Stories That Sell, which covers the whys and hows of creating, managing and using customer stories.
This meaty chunk of the book comes straight from the chapter on ways to use customer success stories and case studies in sales, marketing and PR.
Tons of real examples will inspire you to use your stories more extensively and creatively to grow your business or cause in 2010.
Wishing you all you hope for in 2010!
Coming later this week: The top 5 ways to use your customer stories in '10
What’s Your Favorite Case Study?
I'm always on the lookout for stellar examples of customer case studies and success stories.
When the ClickInsights blog asked me and four others to answer the question, "What's your most favorite case study?" I was eager to share, and see the cases that others named as well.
In the post, five professionals experienced with case studies name their favorites and explain why.
How about nominating your favorite case study here?
Order from this site and get TWO bonuses!
Companion ebooks to Stories that Sell!
Get the most out of Stories that Sell with The Marketer's Toolkit AND The Writer's Toolkit. These additional resources provide proven tips to help you succeed with success stories.
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