THE STRAIGHTFORWARD

GUIDE TO

CASE STUDY
VIDEO
CONTENTS

1 Achieving your goals with case study video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2 Honing in on your target audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

3 Identifying the problem, solution & your message . . . . . . . . . . 6

4 Choosing the right client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

5 Getting your client onboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

6 Crafting the story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

7 Developing the right interview questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

8 Establishing your visual style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

9 Ideas for more advanced videos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

10 Repurposing, reusing & making the most . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

11 Distributing your case study video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

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“Am I ready to say yes?”

The last thing you want your potential customers to think before purchase.
But you can’t help human nature. It’s the one thing they’re almost always going to ask themselves.
So the question is: how do you push them over the edge?
From not-quite-sure-yet to undoubtedly convinced?
The answer is by stepping away. It’s time to let somebody else do the convincing.
Case studies work because they’re honest and authentic. Potential clients love hearing about real
experiences from your existing clients, because it’s a chance to get input from a third party.
(As great as you are, your customers need to go through this vetting process before they can totally
trust you.)
In fact, there’s no more powerful way to give yourself external validation and build trust in your
business or brand.

So why video?
Case study videos take things a step further. They contain all the logical reasoning of a text-based case
study, but also the sincere human feeling necessary to guide a lead towards sale.
The power of video in a case study allows you to communicate both:

The authentic emotion of your interviewees. You can show body language, facial expressions
and tone of voice all lost through written words.

How you helped your customer and what the end result was. Give visual proof of the difference
you made, or use graphics to educate the viewer on how to do it too.

Plain text, and even images, just can’t convey the same feeling and honesty as case study videos.

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1
ACHIEVING YOUR GOALS WITH CASE STUDY VIDEO

Let’s get more precise.

You want case study videos to help you reach your business and marketing goals.

Specifically, case study video content is best for encouraging leads down the funnel and boosting sales.
It can help to shape more effective sales conversations that lead to happier customers, with more
potential for up and cross-selling.

You should set specific objectives for your case study videos.

For example, are you expecting your new video to help close 100 sales in 3 months?
Or increase upsell by 50%?
Or make your sales team happier and more efficient?
Working out what success looks like makes it much easier to measure that success and prove ROI. Which,
in turn, allows you to make a successful argument for more case study video content in the future.

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2
HONING IN ON YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

To create an effective case study video you first need to know which section of your
audience you’re talking to.

Which ideal buyer are you trying to convince?

The more specifically you can narrow this down, the better. If you try to make a case study appealing to
all your buyer personas, you’ll end up appealing to none of them.
Instead, decide early on who you want to resonate with out of all your personas.
For example, say you’re a company that sells marketing software. You might have several different buyer
personas: marketing managers, small business owners, and consultants.
But you decide you want to create a case study video to speak specifically to marketing managers in
large businesses. (This will be important in step 4, when it comes to picking the client whose story
you will use.)

Once you know who you want to encourage towards sale, you can make sure you know enough
about them to create an effective and compelling case study video.

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3
IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM, SOLUTION
& YOUR MESSAGE

It’s time to delve into any persona or customer research you might have done already
and dig out those audience insights. If you need assistance, a good video agency can
help you with this step.

The two major questions you need to ask:

?
What is your target audience’s problem?

And how do you solve it?

Basically, what do your customers really care about?

Why do they turn to your product or service?
What are you giving them that no other competitor can?
People buy things to solve problems. You need to identify which problems your buyer persona is most
concerned with, and prove that you’ve solved them before for others.
Returning to our marketing software example: you might find that marketing managers mainly buy
the product to save time.
Whatever you identify, that’s the core message you need to get across in your case study video.
You might find several problems that your product or service solves and your target audience care
about. You can cover more than one problem in a single case study video, but try to keep it to no more
than 3 for the sake of simplicity.
Lastly, in your case study video you should always include a blend of both the benefits and features of
your offering (with a greater focus on the former).
For example, your marketing software might include an interconnected blogging and email platform. This
is a feature: a surface fact about your product or service that doesn’t explain the end result for a user.
Benefits, on the other hand, show the positive outcomes people can expect.

One benefit of the marketing software is that it means users don’t have to waste hours getting
all their separate marketing tools to communicate properly.

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4
CHOOSING THE RIGHT CLIENT

You know which buyer persona the subject of your case study video needs to belong to. And you might
already have an idea of their core problem that your product or service helped solve.

Ideally we want to choose a client from the right buyer persona so that they’re similar to the people
who will view your case study. This allows your target audience to relate to the subject of the video
and project themselves onto them.
First, you should filter by the job titles and industries of your clients to make sure you’re selecting
from the ideal buyer group identified in step 2.
If it’s relevant to your personas, also look at how your customers use your product or service.
For example, in the marketing software example you might split your users into groups based
on the software tier they’re subscribed to.
Then it’s time to select your client based on the following criteria:
They should belong to the relevant buyer persona
They should be as similar as possible to the
target audience of the case study video
They should have an interesting,
emotional story to tell
They should be natural in front of a camera
They should be willing and able to discuss how
your product or service helped them
and/or their business
If they work for a successful and recognisable
business or brand, even better

So now you need to screen all your customers to find the perfect candidate for the video.

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5
GETTING YOUR CLIENT ONBOARD

So you’ve chosen one or a few clients as potential case study subjects.

Now it’s time to approach them.

It’s always tricky to get customers to do you the favour of appearing in a case study, particularly if you
operate in the B2B world. Clients may be reluctant to share information or discuss details in depth.
However, the emotional power of the end result makes it all worth it. There are several things you can
try to encourage hesitant clients to get involved in your case study video.
(If you’re working with a video agency, ask them to also speak to your client so you can explain the
process together.)

Ease Concerns First of all, ease any concerns that your client may have. If they’re worried
about confidentiality, assure them that information under restriction won’t
be disclosed in the video. Work closely with them so you know which topics
are and aren’t off-limits.

It’s also easy for people to feel slightly uncomfortable about being filmed. Explain that they will be
helped to feel relaxed before shooting and makeup will be available if they want it.

Be Clear Secondly, make it easy for your client to say yes. Be clear about what they
can expect of you and what will be expected of them. Share another of your
case study videos with them (or a written case study if this is your first) so
they can get an idea of the final product. Plan exactly how long you’ll need
them for, and when and where — the more you handle organisation, the
more likely they’ll be to give the ok.

And if your client needs sign-off from a superior, send them a summary of everything the case study
video will involve in writing to pass on for approval.

Allow Involvement Finally, allowing your client to be more involved is an effective way of
getting them onboard. Send them the interview questions beforehand,
and allow them to have a say in the direction of questioning.

You can even suggest working with them on a case study video that emphasises the strengths, values
and brands of both your businesses. Give your client an incentive to jump in, and they will.
Don’t forget to remind your client that the video will help to spread awareness of their business too.
You could try running co-marketing campaigns with the case study to benefit you both.

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6
CRAFTING THE STORY

You’ve got a goal, an audience and a client. You’re well on your way to creating a great case study video.

Now it’s time to validate the problem and solution you explored in step 3.
Before filming your client, it’s best to have an informal chat to talk about them, their background and
how they use your product or service. This is when you want to tease out their core problem, how it
ties into your core message, and confirm that they’ll work as the subject of your case study video.
You might find that the biggest issue you solve for your client isn’t actually the one you identified
earlier. That’s ok — just treat this as extra customer research. But you’ll need to decide if that client
will work as the subject of your case study (is their problem relevant enough to your target audience?)
or if you need to choose a different customer.
Next, rough out the story behind your case study. All great case studies tell stories about real people,
their struggles and eventual overcoming.

They do so through 4 key parts:

The situation: This involves setting the scene, introducing your client, and explaining their goals.
The problem: Your client had an issue that caused them to come to you. This is where you
lay out their problem, how it affects them, and why it must be solved.
The solution: Now it’s time to introduce your product or service. Explain why your client
chose it from the competition, how they use it and how easy it was to implement.
The outcome: So how did you solve your client’s problem? In this section you want to
include as much detail as possible.

Most case study videos follow this simple structure. And for good reason: it’s the most effective way of
telling the story of your client and why they chose you, in a way that gets across both logic and emotion.
A professional video agency will help you craft the story behind your case study. They’ll help you speak
to your client about their situation before they found your solution, and after. And they will ask about
any difficulties or uncertainties your client faced along the way and how your offering solved them.

Your audience wants to hear a real human story, so don’t be afraid to identify real human
concerns and emotions. Did your client feel scared? Overwhelmed? Frustrated? Great. Use that
a compelling emotional hook for your story.

Specific details are gripping in any case study. If you can get relevant facts and figures from your client, be
sure to include them. But qualitative data can be just as powerful as quantitative. Don’t discount the fact
that you helped your client to reduce stress and improve efficiency in their marketing team, for example.

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7
DEVELOPING THE RIGHT INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

During your initial chat with your client, you should also think about the questions that will guide them
during the interview (and make sure they’re happy with them). If you’re working with a video agency,
they can help you craft these questions.

The right questions can make or break a case study video. They should elicit the desired responses
from your client to ensure the video covers all your core messages on both sides.
Essentially, the interview questions should set up your client so that they reveal the story and message
of the case study through their answers. There are standard questions that almost every case study
interview will include, but more specific questions should also be used when necessary to dive into
further detail.
The questions should also be open-ended, rather than yes/no, to get the most interesting and
revealing responses.
Here are some general questions that can work well to guide clients:
What is your business? What is your mission? What are your goals?
What challenges were you having before you found us?
Why did you choose our product or service over the competition?
How did you find the process of implementing our product or service / working with us?
How have you benefited from using our product or service?
What have you learned from using our product or service?

On the day of filming, interviewees will be reminded of the questions they’ll be asked and the
answers they’ve given before. Your client should talk about their experiences naturally, so while it’s
fine to give guidance on general topics, the direction of the interview will largely be handled by the
questions asked.
A good video agency will provide an experienced producer with the essential soft skills for your shoot.
They will also “listen for the edit”, gently directing your client to give relevant and detailed responses
that can be crafted into a smooth, engaging edit of your case study story.

The producer will put your client at ease and elicit authentic answers to the agreed questions.

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8
ESTABLISHING YOUR VISUAL STYLE

The wonderful thing about video is that your story can be told through visuals and sound as well as words.

When creating a case study video, you need to

consider how the final product will look and reflect
your brand. This means deciding on a visual style for
the video to follow.
If you have brand guidelines for video, that’s a
sensible place to start. If you don’t then you should
think about how the combination of colour, editing
and music can reinforce the story you’re telling and
the brands you’re representing.

Good case study videos use supplementary footage (also known as B-roll) to break up
interviews and keep viewers engaged. Interspersing interview questions with B-roll will add
texture and visual interest to ensure your video never gets dull.

When on shoot, your producer will capture important visual details that can turn any case study
video from okay to outstanding. Shots of company signage, the business and its employees in action,
and the product or service being used all ensure the message expressed via visuals reinforces the
narrative told through interviews.
A high production value will also communicate a sense of quality, authenticity and care. This is
something you should work on with the agency producing your case study video.

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9
IDEAS FOR MORE ADVANCED VIDEOS

At times you might want to do something a bit different with your case study videos.

Here are some ideas you can try to add additional interest or value while still sticking to the simple 4
stage case study structure:

Create a visual edge with animated graphics. These could be anything from on-screen
text to highlight key phrases from interviewees, or simple supporting visuals explaining
a complicated process. Got some outstanding data, numbers or results from your client?
Visualise them as animated graphs.

Offer your viewers key tips or takeaways so they can learn from the case study. This adds
an educational aspect to your video, and gives your target audience actionable value. You
can weave these tips throughout the case study or just offer them at the end.

Make a case study video focusing on the relationship between yourself and your client.
Put yourself forward for an interview too, and answer questions about how the problem
and solution appeared from your end. Then lace responses from you and the other
interviewees together. This can create a well-rounded case study that is ideal for services
where your working relationship is part of the offering.

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10
REPURPOSING, REUSING & MAKING THE MOST

Follow these steps and soon you’ll have an awesome case study video in your hands.

But don’t leave it at that. You’ve just created a piece of valuable and reusable content that many other
areas of content marketing can benefit from.
To get the best return from your case study video, think about how you can repurpose it across all
your other marketing efforts.

Here are just a few ideas to get you started:

Take the best quotes from your video, transcribe them and use them as testimonials on your
website and marketing collateral ( just ask permission first).

Edit the full case study video into shorter clips for use on social media. This could be a
subtitled intro to hook viewers and encourage them to watch the whole thing, or video
takeaways showing the major lessons your client learnt from their experience.

If your client has a particularly interesting story with strong facts and tips for your target audience,
consider turning your case study video into an educational how-to blog post or whitepaper.

Take screenshots and images from your video for simple pieces of visual content to be used
on your website, on social media, in blog posts, etc.

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11
DISTRIBUTING YOUR CASE STUDY VIDEO

Before you begin distributing your completed video, be sure to ask your client and all interviewees for
their feedback. Get their final confirmation (ideally written) that they are happy for you to use the case
study video.

Once you’ve got the go-ahead, you should make the most of your case study and create an effective
plan for where it will be used.
This is something else you can ask your video agency for assistance on. There’s really no limit to how
a good case study video can fit into your marketing strategy. Of course, whatever you decide will need
to be based on your original objectives for the case study, and your target audience.
If you want your audience to take action after watching your video, don’t forget to include a specific
Call-to-Action (CTA) at the end. This can be as simple as encouraging viewers to get in touch, or
directing them to a more specific landing page.

Here are some potential uses for your case study video:

Add your video to a dedicated case studies page on your website, maybe reinforced by a
text-based version of the case study.

If the case study video is particularly good at explaining your offering, try putting it on
your homepage with a CTA to find out more.

Incorporate the video into landing pages where the aim is to convert visitors that land
there as quickly as possible.

Email your case study to engaged leads to help convert them, or to existing customers to
try and increase their lifetime value.

Use your video on social media to highlight specific results you’ve helped your clients
achieve (tag everyone involved!).

Send the video to sales as a piece of collateral to help encourage potential customers
towards purchase.

Use the video in presentations and pitches as an engaging example of the problems you
help your clients solve.

Show the case study at relevant events your target audience will be attending.

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SUMMARY

An effective case study video uses the power of authenticity & emotion to help convince your potential
customers that they’re ready for sale.

Follow these 11 key steps and you’ll create video content that’s both convincing and compelling.
If you craft your case study in the correct way, having done the correct planning beforehand, you’ll
create a flagship piece of video content to help you build trust and convert leads for months and years
to come.

See how we helped Experian empower richer sales conversations with a flagship case study vide.

CLICK HERE to download our Experian Case Study PDF

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