If someone just talks about themselves all the time it's boring and you switch off.
So why would it be any different for our own B2B marketing?
To connect with buyers in a more impactful way, making your clients the heroes of marketing stories could well be the key.
The Hero of Your Story
If you switch to making your client (or clients) the heroes of your marketing stories in the form of a case study - it's no longer all about you, it's about them.
It's also much more appealing and relatable to your target audience, here's why...
The Attraction of Someone Else's Story
In the case of your target customers or buyers...
What you have to say about your product or service is ok.
But they would invariable love to hear a story about how someone like them had a similar problem or need which they were facing and what they set about doing.
We place great value on the experiences of others because we're able to learn from and benefit in the short cut to success it offers.
In a B2B context buyers are very much drawn to hear about:
- The challenges they were up against
- What they were having to factor in and account for
- What they learned along the way
- What they felt was important in making the right decision
- Why they chose who they chose
- What life is like from now on
The Same End Result
If you take this approach you still arrive at the same point at the end where the product or service you offer is presented as the ideal choice of solution.
But it's how you get there is what counts.
Re-energising Your Marketing
When you make your client the hero of your marketing stories you will find it hard to run out of different angles to cover.
The case study becomes a centre piece of your marketing assets.
It's the story told in full, it's the main feature!
But... (and here's the cool part)...
Your entire marketing funnel can be shaped so that every post, email newsletter, status update and more drives people to watch the case study in full.
Every marketing piece can relate to or cover the problems or symptoms which your client was experiencing and the journey they went on to solve it.
You'll shift from marketer to story teller.
It's what movie promotional teams do all the time - they pique interest in all sorts of ways to get you to want to go and see the full movie.
The Added Bonus
Focusing your social content onto the problem or symptoms your hero was experiencing comes with an added bonus.
And that is through your content becoming much more appealing content in the process.
People are fundamentally driven to avoid pain and attain pleasure.
The window of opportunity to capture someone's attention online as you know is getting shorter by the day.
Which is why if the hook you use is about something which your target audience is experiencing too - you have a much greater potential for success.
In short, your social content will get improved initial engagement.
And most importantly, higher levels of conversions.
Summary
By making your clients the heroes of your marketing stories told through case studies you stand to shift from pitching 24/7 to engaging and educating.
Buyers are naturally drawn to hear the stories challenges of others who were in a similar situation to they are now.
Which is why strategically shifting how you get your value message across in this way can be so VERY effective.
People hate to be sold to but they love to buy.
So if a buyer is able to learn the FULL STORY behind how someone else ended up with a successful outcome, it's an incredibly natural process to set about copying them and using the same supplier as they did (your company!).
James specialises in producing video case studies. He is a three-time published author in video production and marketing. As presenter of the Win Clients With Case Studies podcast he has a unique understanding of the latest best practices and techniques.