This is the first of a series of about 3-4 posts dedicated to the topic of securing and producing business-to-business (B2B) customer case studies.  This blog series isn't really focused so much on the mechanics of producing the written deliverable itself, but more about the insights I've gathered over the years about how to make the effort go more smoothly, overcome obstacles, etc., especially with respect to customer and channel dynamics.

These tips will be most useful to B2B case study 'newbies', though I hope they are helpful to others as well.  I especially invite seasoned corporate marketers, PR pros, and professional marketing writers to weigh in with comments and feedback, and also with links to specific case studies they think serve as excellent examples of the finished product.

Here's the intro, plus the first 7 of about 20 total tips in the series.


Case Studies in the Overall Marketing/Sales Collateral Mix

The customer case study can be a powerful element in any company's marketing collateral mix, and is particularly prevalent in companies and industry segments where a purchase commitment involves a 'significant' element of risk.  In other words, people engaged in the buying process are looking for social proof that the contemplated purchase makes sense (especially as judged by their peers), and the case study, as a marketing communications tool, is intended to convincingly and credibly deliver that proof.

The customer case study is very common in B2B technology environments, since these purchase situations typically involve:
  • A relatively expensive and complex solution that can carry significant organizational risks and  professional career risks if the implementation doesn't go well or deliver the expected benefits.  Remember the old phrase "You can't get fired for choosing IBM"?  That basically sums up at least some of the buyer concerns here.
  • A general lack of complete trust in the claims made by corporate marketers, product marketers, etc., who create all of the product/service/solution collateral we see every day on vendor websites, in printed form, etc.  We marketers make lots of claims about features and benefits, but solution validation from a real customer carries far more weight.
  • A relatively more complex buying cycle, with a need for different types of solution information at different stages of the cycle.
The best and most credible B2B customer case studies involve direct permission to name the customer, describe the actual implementation in some detail, and quote an involved customer executive.  Unlike most product/solution marketing collateral, a case study effort is not completely under the control of the solution vendor's marketing team.  It typically requires sales team sponsorship and support, customer permission and involvement, and possibly also channel partner support.  These additional dynamics can make a high-quality case study much tougher to produce than the more common types of marketing collateral, such as data sheets, solution brochures, and white papers. 

A case study is usually also harder to produce than a customer-approved press release, since there's more depth and detail involved, and the knowledge and insights required to inform a well-written case study may reside within many people's heads.

The customer case studies I typically see (and have written in the past) often follow a somewhat formulaic approach:  Background - Challenge - Solution Approach - Results/Benefits - Conclusion.  This outline is fine in general, unless the writing is sloppy and the piece devolves into a thinly-veiled marketing slick disguised as a real case study.

So with that intro, here are some tips and insights that I think may be helpful to other B2B marketers out there.  I appreciate any constructive commentary or other related pointers from readers.


Tip #1 - Select the 'right' target accounts

Just as your company may choose to be picky about selling to specific target customers and clients, you may also want to be very selective when it comes to targeting a customer account for a case study marketing deliverable.  For example, do you want to develop a reputation for selling into small 'mom and pop' accounts, when in fact you'd rather prove that you can sell to and service a 'Fortune 500 class' customer? 

There's the rub:  it's often relatively easy to get small customers to agree to support your case studies, and more difficult or seemingly impossible to get the really big boys in your target segment(s) to grant permission and information access for these.  So, taking the path of least resistance, your marketing team may produce a series of case studies that all fall into the 'small fry' category, which in turn may not help your sales team convince the larger strategic accounts to do business with you.

Of course, if your business strategy is largely or wholly dependent on targeting smaller companies, then you are in luck when it comes to pursuing and securing case studies, as you should have an easier time with the effort.  You may still want to proactively focus on specific industry verticals, but at least the account size issue isn't a show-stopper for you.

As a general statement (coming from a tech vendor background working with pretty large customers), I'd rather work 5x harder to secure one or two Fortune 500 class customer case studies, vs. having a diet that is exclusively focused on the little guys.  But again, this really depends on your company's target segment strategy. 


Tip #2 - Understand the permission chain

Customer case studies, like customer-centric press releases, involve an approval process that can be multi-layered.  If your case study target is a small company or organization, you may be able to go straight to the top (e.g., president level) to secure permission, and everything (including other customer personnel) generally falls into line from there once you have the green light to proceed.

In a large organization, you'll typically need a departmental head (e.g., MIS director) to sign on as a willing sponsor.  In most cases, this person knows your company, your solution, and your sales and support teams very well.  They will ideally act as your internal 'salesperson' and sponsor your case study effort forward if the solution is performing as expected.  Note that they may not be totally comfortable or well practiced in this advocacy role, so it's up to you to assist and coach them forward as needed. 

Then you'll need the customer's marketing communications or PR department to give you the nod.  This is trickier, as the people (or key individual) here have probably never heard of your company, and really have no vested interest in allowing you to incorporate their company name and image into a vendor case study.  In fact, their default stance may be one of suspicion, where a flat and cursory 'no way' may come flying back at you (often via your technical or departmental sponsor, who was totally in your corner on this just yesterday.)

Also, if you sold the solution via a channel partner - maybe a VAR or systems integrator - you will likely need their support as well.  And don't forget your own sales team.  The account manager may be totally supportive of your desire to do a case study with 'their' customer, or they may have good reasons for wanting to hold off.

So the typical permission chain for a large customer often looks like this:

Your (the vendor's) sales team >> [channel partner] >> customer functional exec/manager >> customer marketing communications director or VP >> [customer Sr. VP/president/CEO/COO]

It's a sales and coordination process at every step, and it can take weeks or months to get everyone in alignment and agreement to go forward.


Tip #3 -  Decide how much time to invest prior to requesting formal customer support

I've seen at least two schools of thought on this topic, and they go something like this:

a) Ask the customer at a very early stage if they would consider and/or support your desire to develop a case study based on their implementation of your solution.  The advantage of floating this trial balloon is that if the answer is an absolute 'No way!', and/or the company has a strict, 'non-negotiable' policy against allowing their vendors to do this, you will uncover this unfortunate roadblock early, without wasting your marketing team's precious time.

The disadvantage of this approach is that you may still get some unspecific, semi-squishy negative feedback that isn't a firm 'no', but that puts a bit of a damper on the opportunity and sets the stage for a more definitive rejection later.

And then there is...

b) Prepare a detailed outline (minimally), or better still a decent initial draft of the case study to use as a talking point and sales tool when first approaching the customer for permission to proceed with the full-blown effort.  The advantage here is you can better prove to the customer that you'll be delivering a quality piece that will reflect properly on their implementation, protect their brand, etc.  They'll hopefully see that you're not up to something suspect, and reward you with permission to proceed.

The downside here is of course the up-front time involved, using up marketing cycles before knowing you'll get what you want in the end. 

If your company's relationship with the account is very solid, or the customer is smaller and less formal, or you have many potential accounts to approach for case studies, you may be better off using the first approach (a).

If you sense the customer may be a tough nut to crack, especially if their marketing people are an unknown quantity in this area, and/or if they are of significant strategic importance to you as a case study target, then the second approach (b) can be worth the extra up-front effort.


Tip #4 - Research the customer's history with respect to vendor-related marcomm
One useful early-stage task is to research your target customer's activity with respect to other vendors' announcements.  This can give you a sense for their willingness to 'go public' in the context of vendor-driven marcomm.  Most of this research will uncover vendor press release activity rather than case studies, but it may still be useful to discover any precedents that you can leverage with the company's marketing management.  (This research is usually more productive with large company targets.)

The trick here is that you are not looking for press releases issued by your target company.  You are looking for evidence that Vendor XYZ successfully issued their own press release that mentions your target company.  The theory is that if your target company will authorize a full-blown press release from another vendor, you should stand a fighting chance of getting their marketing approval for your case study effort.

For example, suppose you want to know if any vendors have announced solution deployments with Boeing (obviously a very credible customer). Try a Google search on the phrases "today announced" "Boeing has selected" (both together, with the quote marks), and you'll see a handful of potentially useful hits.  These and similar text phrase snippets are very common in vendor press releases, and trying various combinations via web search is your best bet.  

Finding PR activity in this way doesn't guarantee you'll be successful with your case study request, but at least it's a potentially useful indicator.


Tip #5 - Make sure the customer understands the 'case study' vs. 'press release' distinction

When approaching a customer to request their permission and participation in a case study effort, be sure to make it clear that your request does not automatically imply that you also intend to issue a formal press release on the topic.  While you may in fact want to also issue a press release on the topic at some point, this approach of separating the two topics/deliverables may be more acceptable to a skittish customer, resulting in quicker and simpler support for the case study.

What's the difference to the customer?  A case study can be 'constrained' to live its useful life simply as a web-based deliverable (PDF) and/or a print piece for sales usage, whereas a press release typically implies a formal communication via a wire service (e.g., Business Wire or PR Newswire ), thus potentially making the customer's marketing team more sensitive to the broad and very public exposure.  This is primarily a perception issue.

Your technical/departmental advocate within the account may not completely understand or communicate this distinction accurately within the customer environment, so it's up to the solution vendor's marketing lead to clarify this point if needed to move the case study forward.

Of course, if you think you can nail down permission for both a case study and a formal press release all at once, definitely go for it.  But be clear about the differences and employ this separation strategy if needed.


Tip #6 - Pick the right timing

This aspect really just gets down to understanding the optimal timing for approaching the customer with a permission request for your proposed case study effort.  Your well-connected sales team/channel should be able to advise you on this, assuming they have their ears to the ground within the account.  Things to be sensitive to include:
  • Is your solution fully working to the expectations of the customer?  Are there any major influencers or potential technical road-blockers that are unhappy with your solution and/or company at the moment?  Broach the case study topic only when things are working reasonably well, otherwise hold back until the timing is better.
  • Has there been a significant change in the customer's technical or departmental management recently (this includes their marketing department)?  How about within your account team?  Account relationship strength and continuity can make all the difference when trying to secure customer cooperation on a case study.  And a new marketing contact / decision-maker at the target company can also change the situation in either direction.
  • Is the customer's marketing team especially bogged down at the moment - perhaps reacting to a crisis PR situation, swamped with a product launch, heavy trade show/conference schedule, etc.?  While their involvement in your case study efforts may in fact be minimal (aside from granting permission and later blessing the final draft), it's better to approach with the case study idea when they're not in overdrive on something else.  In general, this may translate into the quieter summer or year-end months as best times to engage.

Tip #7 - Customer permission = shades of gray

So you've secured your ideal customer's blessing to do a case study on them.  Excellent!  Now what does that mean, exactly?  Here are some elements of 'yes' to consider more specifically: 
  • Permission to use customer's company name in headline/title of the piece
  • Permission to use customer's official logo and official corporate images, such as photos of buildings, etc.
  • Permission to create and use custom photographs of the solution installation (including before/after shots if applicable)
  • Permission to create and use custom photographs of system administrators or end users
  • Permission to include customer-approved quotes from customer executives
  • Permission to use customer-supplied diagrams, software screen-shots, etc.
  • Permission to use customer-supplied solution ROI data, analyses, etc. 
  • Permission to develop and issue a related press release

The goal of course is to get blanket permission on all of the above.  The reality is that you'll have to decide - probably on a case-by-case basis - how best to approach these various permission elements.  Give way on anything you deem non-essential if it helps to overcome an objection and keep the ball moving forward.     

That's it for the initial post on this topic.  The next post will pick up where we left off here, with more focus on case study content considerations.  Thanks for reading all the way to the end of this post, and for any feedback/comments.