«Return to Blog List 6 Ways to ‘Place’ Prospects in Your Case Studies
Storytelling in business is powerful – but only if it resonates with your audience.
That was one of the messages on a free story telecall put on by Michael Margolis of Get Storied last week.
Michael recently released his insightful book, Believe Me, on the power of using story in reinforcing your vision, brand and leadership.
“It’s your responsibility to tell a story that people can locate themselves into,” he said. “How do you get people to identify with your story, to locate themsles in that story and feel like they’re a part of it?”
In customer case studies and success stories, it’s about reflecting some of the traits of your prospective customer in the story you’re telling.
As we’ve discussed before, you have to mirror the audience and the customer you’re featuring in some way. In other words, the customer needs some sort of apples-to-apples association from your case study.
But that doesn’t have to mean the exact same kind of company/organization.
Here are six different ways to help your audience better identify or place themselves into a customer story:
Same industry – Many prospects want to know that you are familiar with their type of business.
Same size – Small biz prospects may feel better seeing other small businesses with your solution, while large businesses identify with large businesses.
Same title – Quote someone with a title similar to the person who might read/view your customer story.
Same “pain” – We all feel a connection with those going through something we’re going through. Share a customer case study that touches on the same problem the prospect has.
Same goal – We can understand and rally around others that have the same goals we do. Match your prospect’s goal with the goal set out (and achieved) by a current customer. One customer might use a piece of software to achieve regulatory compliance while another might want it mainly for productivity gains.
Same geographical area – What your audience respond better to a customer in the same city, region or country?
You can use one or more than one way to line up with your audience. Just make sure you do it somehow.
Any other ways you would add?
