As with any marketing communications, the headline makes the difference between whether someone reads your piece or passes on it. And according to studies, you have less than a second to hook the reader.
How do you craft a case study headline that will grab the reader?
Here’s your formula:
1. Include the featured customer’s name or a brief description of the type of customer, as in “ABC Company,” or “A Top-10 Bank” if your case study must remain anonymous.
2. Choose a strong verb, one that expresses energy such as accelerates, drives, boosts, slashes, shaves, drops, etc. Avoid lukewarm, non-specific words like enhances or streamlines.
3. What’s the most impressive outcome that the customer experienced? Feature it in the headline. If it’s a number, that’s all the better. Numbers are like a little flag waving for the reader’s attention.
4. Keep your headline to approximately 10 words or less, as best you can.
5. Use present tense to imply the action is STILL happening, rather than in the past.
Check out a few solid examples:
Airstream Generates 78% More Leads at Scale with Hubspot
Insurer Cuts Internet Costs by More than $1.5 Million a Year
Time Warner Cable Fills Revenue-Generating Jobs in Half the Time
The top example includes the name of the vendor, but consider dropping it if you need to save space. After all, readers will be consuming the case study in the context of the vendor’s website or in a branded PDF, so they already know who contributed to the results.
Out of the context of the vendor’s website, such as in a press release, keep the vendor’s name in the headline.
Next time you’re crafting a case study headline, refer back to this simple formula and guidelines to generate more interest and engagement.
