The 5 Biggest B2B Case Study Mistakes

71% of B2B marketers use casestudies.

Source: B2B Content Marketing 2013 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends-North America Report

However, many B2B marketersturn what can be a compellingstory into a boring sales pitch.

Here are the five biggest B2B casestudy mistakes:

Telling the storyfrom yourperspective, notyour customer’sperspective

Yes, scheduling customerinterviews and getting approvalscan be a pain.

You might be tempted to writesomething yourself (or publishsomething that was submitted froma sales representative).

However, every time you writea case study without inputfrom your customer, a unicorndies.

Image from tvtropes.org

A case study without quotes fromyour customer lacks credibility andkills your marketing magic.

Not getting acustomer’spermission tofeature them ina case study

Customer approvals …

One minute all looks well, and thenyour customer calls the whole thingoff hours before your deadline.

As frustrated as you may be,you can’t egg your customer’shouse …

Or Saran-wrap their car to atelephone pole in the middle ofwinter.

But you can take steps to increaseyour odds of a fast approval, suchas …

Seeking stories from customerswho have expressed excitementabout working with you.

And asking for approval when youwant to feature them in a casestudy …

Record their interview …

And finalize the copy in the casestudy.

Jammingyour casestudies withuselessdetails

You may find every detail abouthow a customer implemented yourproduct fascinating …but yourleads may not.

Focus on a few key points – onesthat will resonate the most withyour target audience – and leavethe rest out.

Not sharingyour casestudies onall of yourchannels

To get the most bang from yourbuck, share your case studiesacross all of your channels.

Just remember that what works asa PDF may not work on your socialnetworks.

Modify your case studies so theyfollow best practices for eachchannel.

Not creatingcase studiesfor all of yourproducts andverticals

Are some of your products orservices lacking social proof?

Compare your existing casestudies to your current offerings tosee where you need to createmore content.

In addition to different products,think about customers from yourdifferent verticals. They havedifferent needs.

Show how you can help them bycreating case studies that aretailored towards their problems.

And finally … what is the biggestB2B case study mistake of themall?

Not creating any case studies!