Happy Friday, and welcome back to Marketing Qualified! Here are today’s topics:
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How to write case studies that DON’T put people to sleep. 5 changes to implement.
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Your competitor’s angry customers are your best copywriters. How to turn their 1-star reviews into your headlines.
😴 How to write case studies that DON’T put people to sleep.
Let’s be honest: most case studies are where good stories go to die.
They should be compelling proof of real business impact. Instead, they read like ChatGPT wrote them after binge-reading corporate annual reports: “Company X leveraged our innovative solution to drive unprecedented synergies…”
Yawn.
Case studies shouldn’t feel like a B2B Mad Libs. They should read like compelling business stories.
Here’s how to make that happen.
1) Lead with drama, not a business problem.
Most case studies start with some variation of:
“Company X needed to solve problem Y.”
For example:
“ABC Inc. needed to improve pipeline efficiency and optimize lead acquisition.”
Cool. But that’s not a story; it’s an agenda item from last week’s revenue ops meeting.
A better opening sets the stakes:
📉 “The sales team’s Slack channel had become a graveyard of complaints. Their top-performing rep was threatening to quit. After months of calling leads that were colder than a January morning in Siberia, morale had hit rock bottom. Something had to change.”
This isn’t just a problem statement—it’s a crisis unfolding. There’s tension. There’s risk. There’s something at stake.
Great case studies tell the moment the status quo became unacceptable.
2) Make the numbers tell a story.
Statistics are like vegetables—essential but better when prepared properly.
Instead of:
“Our implemented solution resulted in a 157% increase in qualified leads.”
Try:
“In Q1, the inbound pipeline was a trickle. Only 47 sales qualified leads. By Q3, after rebuilding their inbound engine, that number hit 121. But here’s the real kicker: their sales cycle dropped from 94 days to 51. Turns out, leads who come to you convert faster than ones you have to chase down.”
Notice how we’re not just sharing numbers—we’re connecting dots and surfacing insights.
A raw metric doesn’t tell a story. It’s a flex with no context. The best case studies connect the dots between the what and the why, so readers internalize the insight.
3) Show the mess behind the success.
B2B buyers don’t trust case studies that only show the highlight reel. They need to see parts of the blooper reel too.
Share what went wrong. What you tried first that failed. The unexpected challenges. Because that’s how real business works, and acknowledging it builds more credibility than an overly polished success story.
Example:
“The first campaign bombed. Conversion rates were stuck at 0.9%.
But that failure taught us something crucial: The messaging was too generic, and the targeting was too broad. Turns out, our ‘cutting-edge AI-driven messaging’ sounded exactly like everyone else’s. So, we rewrote it.
Instead of listing features, we framed the pain point as a before/after. AKA, how sales reps felt before and after using our tool.
Conversions jumped 4.6X in the first week.”
This kind of transparency builds instant credibility. No B2B buyer believes a case study that makes success sound easy. The real ones show what didn’t work first and then prove why the eventual solution was the right one.
If your case study only highlights the final success, it’s an ad. If it includes the struggle that came before it, it’s a true story.
4) Write for skeptics, not cheerleaders.
Most case studies assume the reader already believes the results. Big mistake.
Your audience isn’t only looking for proof that your product works. They’re also looking for reasons to doubt you.
That’s how B2B buyers think.
They’ve seen inflated numbers, cherry-picked testimonials, and overhyped success stories before. They’ll tune out if your case study reads like a press release.
So, how do you make people trust what they’re reading?
Let customer quotes tell some of the story. Weave transcriptions of what customers actually said about their experience into your writing.
Show the internal debates. Instead of pretending everything was obvious from day one, highlight the internal decision points. What seemed like the right move but wasn’t? Where did the team disagree? Showing the thought process makes the outcome more believable.
Contrast before vs. after in a way that feels tangible. If the transformation in your case study isn’t something the reader can picture, they won’t trust it. Instead of “We improved efficiency by 63%,” show what that means in real life: “Before, reps sent 40 emails to book one call. Now, they send 15.”
5) Use visuals that actually help (not just for decoration).
Great case studies have visuals. Not the “let’s throw in a stock photo of people in a meeting” kind.
We mean the type of visual evidence that makes results easier to understand or simplifies an idea.
For example:
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Dashboard screenshots showing the actual metrics (with sensitive data redacted).
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Before/after comparisons of what changed.
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Simple timelines that map out the journey.
Final thoughts.
When in doubt, remember that a case study is not just proof that your product works. It’s a story you tell your prospects. It should communicate how you think, what you value, and why your approach is different.
And most importantly, how all of those elements add up to create great results for current and future customers.
📰 In the news this week.
🤖 What to know about DeepSeek and how it is upending A.I.
💥 HubSpot’s SEO collapse: What went wrong and why?
📈 The evolution of Super Bowl ad costs.
💬 The complete guide to chatbots for marketing.
❌ TikTok is still on shaky ground.
😡 Your competitor’s angry customers are your best copywriters.
Want to know exactly how to position your product? Read your competitor’s bad reviews.
Customers don’t hold back in 1 and 2-star ratings.
They’ll tell you exactly what’s frustrating them: confusing pricing, missing features, lousy support, etc.
These reviews are goldmine insights for your messaging.
Example:
If people keep saying, “Great product, but terrible support,” your next tagline writes itself:
“Finally, a [Product] with Customer Support That Actually Responds.”
Your competitor’s biggest weakness is your biggest selling point. Steal their pain points. Sell the fix.
😂 Marketing meme of the week.
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