- In this video, you'll learn nine easily actionable tips
for creating case study videos that deliver results.
It's no secret that good case study videos
can really help skyrocket your sales
by giving you that much needed extra edge,
especially when it comes to customers
who otherwise may remain on the fence.
So, make sure you stick around!
Hi, I'm John here at Spiel Creative.
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Ok, so, let's get straight into our nine tips,
starting with tip one, manage objections.
Before going ahead with a purchase,
especially if it involves a substantial investment,
we all have concerns about whether
we are making the right choice.
And your customers are no different.
If your case study video helps address
the specific concerns that your prospects
most commonly raise before making a purchase,
then they can really help boost your conversion rates.
For example, if an objection that you often face
is, the price is too high,
then creating a case study video where
one of your existing customers describes
how your product provided a brilliant return
on investment can be great for convincing
them that your solution offers good value for money.
Or, if your prospects are often unsure
about the quality of your offering
compared to your competitors,
then creating a case study video showcasing
how you delivered excellent quality
for a client and surpassed their expectations
can be a great way of getting past this objection,
and gain an edge over your competitors.
What makes case study videos so effective
at managing objections is the fact that
it is far more believable when real customers
endorse your offering and the value it can provide,
compared with you alone making those claims.
The first step however in accomplishing
this is to actually know what are the most
common concerns that your prospects have
before proceeding with a purchase.
Some great ways to uncover these
include conducting focus groups,
surveying your existing customers
and speaking with your sales team,
who are the ones most likely to be on the
front line of receiving them.
Ok, now, on to my next tip,
tip two, differentiate yourself.
It's rare for a customer to look at just
one provider before making a purchase.
More often than not, you will be in competition
with a number of similar providers
and you will need to differentiate yourself to win the sale.
Case study videos provide a great opportunity
for you to accomplish this
by showcasing what sets you apart from your competitors.
Think about what makes you really stand out
and then highlight this in your case study videos.
To do this effectively,
make sure your get your customers to explain
why your unique selling points are so important to them,
rather than just simply stating what they are.
For example, if you provide technical support
seven days a week but your competitors don't,
a case study where your customer talks
about how they often need
technical support on the weekends
and you never let them down can really work wonders!
Tip three, choose the right customers for your case studies.
Now, this one might seem obvious
but choosing the right customers is key
to the success of your case study videos.
So how should you decide who to include?
Well, firstly you should aim to include customers
who are genuinely happy with your service
and as a consequence, enthusiastic about endorsing you.
If they have given a written testimonial,
or promoted your product by word-of-mouth, even better.
Your customer should have a good story to tell
which is relatable to your most typical customer.
For example, if you are an accounting firm
and your typical clients include small retailers,
but you get a case study from a
multinational oil company for whom
you did some one-off auditing work,
on first glance it may appear that this will
help boost your credibility.
But in reality, this case study may
actually serve to alienate your typical prospect
who most likely won't be able to see themselves
in the shoes of this much larger company.
Lastly, make sure the customers you choose
for your case study videos actually look good on camera.
Now, this may seem a bit shallow but unless your
chosen customers that are comfortable
speaking clearly on camera,
you may end up with a series of case study videos
which appear unconvincing,
despite what you actually accomplished for that customer.
Once you've picked your customer,
it's time to think about what you want them to say.
Which moves me nicely onto tip four.
Have a good structure.
Creating any high quality video
needs proper planning and case study videos
are no exception to this rule.
Having a good structure to follow can really help with this.
What works really well for us here at Spiel
is an easy to follow four-part structure
which I'll break down for you now.
Part one, introduce your customer.
This basically involves giving a
general overview of who your customers are
and what they do.
This part should not only include an overview
of your customer's business
but also properly introduce the people
featured in the video
and their respective roles which will
make them more relatable to your audience.
Part two, life before.
Your main goal here should be to describe
how life was for your customer
before they went ahead with your product or service.
The more specific you can be with describing
their challenges, the better.
Part three, life after.
Next your customer should describe life
after they went ahead with your offering.
Basically, it's time to get into the results.
Now, the key thing here is to explain clearly
how your solution has improved the life
of your customer in a measurable way.
And finally, part four, your customer's recommendation.
Your video can conclude with your customer
giving their response to the question,
What would you say to anyone thinking about
proceeding with X?
With X being your offering
Okay, now that you have a good structure to follow,
let's move on to my fifth tip which is,
tip five, incentivize your customers to do the shoot.
How you do this is really up to you,
but you need to make sure that you make it worthwhile
for your customers to feature in your case study videos.
There is a substantial amount of work
involved in producing a high quality video,
and your customers will have to take time
out of their busy schedules to do the necessary work.
So don't be surprised if even clients
that are really happy with your service
and have given you glowing written testimonials
opt out from helping you create a case study video.
To make it worth their while,
you can consider offering them a discount
on their next purchase.
Or maybe you can make it a good
marketing opportunity for them.
For example, if you will be sending your video
to your mailing list, then this can also potentially
become an opportunity for your featured customer
to introduce themselves to new prospects
who may not yet be aware of their offering.
The key takeaway here is that you should
look for ways to create a win-win situation
where your customers will also benefit
from the work they will have to put in to create
a good case study video for you.
Tip six, make it short and sweet.
Make sure to keep your case study videos short,
relevant and to-the-point.
If your video drags on too long,
your viewers can easily become bored
which means they will not make it all the way to the end.
In our personal experience,
case study videos between five
and nine minutes generally tend to get
the best engagement levels.
A good rule of thumb to follow
when deciding on the length of your videos
is that the more complex
and higher priced your product or service,
the more in-depth your case studies will need to be.
This is because as the investment the prospect
has to make goes up in value,
so does the perceived risk associated with your purchase.
So your prospects are likely to want
a more detailed explanation
if they will have to make a substantial investment.
Okay, let's move on to our next tip.
Tip seven, make it believable.
Your prospects are much more likely
to trust your case study videos
if they are realistic and believable,
and don't seem to be exaggerated.
One great way to make sure your case studies
are more believable is by adding facts and figures.
For example, rather than your customer just
mentioning that they achieved a great return
on investment from adopting your product,
it's better to state the actual figure.
So, instead of a customer saying something like,
going ahead with this purchase
has reduced our printing costs.
Isn't as effective as saying going ahead with the purchase
has dropped our annual printing costs by 32.5%.
You get the idea!
And, make sure you don't exaggerate.
For example, if you sell custom designed office lamps,
your video doesn't need to include your
customer making comments like, buying this lamp
has been the best decisions we have made as a business.
Sure, your customer may totally love your custom lamps
and they should certainly mention this,
but at the same time,
they don't need to go overboard,
as claims that sound unrealistic
and too farfetched can break trust
and make your audience more wary.
Next up, tip eight.
Prepare your content properly before shooting.
You should carefully plan the content of your video
so that you know what questions
you will ask your customer
and have a sense of how they will respond.
However, we don't recommend scripting
this heavily so that your customer ends up sounding robotic.
Tip nine, use interesting visuals.
Just like you should prepare the verbal content
of your video, you should also give some
thought in advance as to the visuals,
in particular, the locations you will shoot at.
For example, if your video will be shot
at your clients offices,
it's good to have an idea of which parts
of the office will be available for you to film in,
who will be present there
and what kind of lighting will be required.
Alongside filming your video
at the best locations available to you,
consider using fast-paced editing,
and adding interesting graphics
to keep your viewers engaged till the end.
So that's it folks.
Hope you enjoyed the video.
If you have any further questions
regarding case study videos,
let me know in the comments below
and we'll do our best to answer them.
Also, don't forget to subscribe to our channel
for more such videos to help you with your video marketing.
And finally, if you need more further help
with your video marketing or production,
don't hesitate to get in touch with us here at
Spiel by visiting www.spielcreative.com.
Goodbye for now.