Customers like to see proof that your products and services really work before spending a dime. Case studies (customer success stories, customer case histories, testimonials) are a great way to get more from your marketing and show prospects the solution to their problem. Customer success stories help you generate publicity, assist your sales force in closing more sales, and solidify your company as a solution provider.

Customer Success Story / Case Study

A case study or customer success story is one to two pages long. This can be used to support the sales and publicity efforts of an organization.

Success Briefs

These success stories are only a few paragraphs long. Usually three or four paragraphs total. They work well as stand alone sheets to support your offline marketing efforts as well as online articles to support your Internet marketing efforts. You can hand them out at trade shows or as stuffers with other marketing mailers.

Success Synopsis

Use a cleverly crafted one paragraph synopsis of a customer’s success using your product or service to promote your business when space is limited. They are useful in blogs, banner ad campaigns, or on your website to link to more detailed customer success stories or related services.

Testimonials

Testimonials are two to three sentences long. Contact your customers and ask them for feedback. If they like your product or services they will tell you. Be sure to ask if they are not satisfied too. This information is key in building a strong business. You can publish testimonials online, in case studies, and other marketing material. Be sure to present them in an engaging format.

Customer Success Story SEO

Optimize your customer success stories, success briefs, testimonials and synopsis for search engines using targeted keywords. Strategic placement of those keywords and phrases throughout the customer success story will help in rankings and make them easier to find by customers and search engines alike.

Using the above formats in your solutions marketing will increase your response rates and ROI of your advertising budget.