How do people come to trust a product or brand that they’ve never heard of?
One word: reviews. They need evidence that your product or service is worth investing in.
In fact, 92% of customers read online reviews before buying and 88% of consumers say reviews influence their online purchasing decisions.
And people are buying online now more than ever.
According to Statista, in 2020 alone, over two billion people purchased goods or services online, and during the same year, e-retail sales surpassed 4.2 trillion US dollars worldwide. If you want a slice of this lucrative pie, you need more than just catchy marketing campaigns.
If you’re looking to lure a good chunk of this audience to buy your product or service, you need to convince them that your product and service is an excellent investment. You need to instill FOMO in them. You need to illustrate the sheer value of your product.
And nothing does this better than video.
To be specific: case study videos.
Case study videos are powerful online-marketing tools for businesses looking to attract new clients, for brand awareness, and to drive revenue. They create trust and trigger an emotional response in the audience, encouraging them to click the ‘Buy Now’ button right away.
What makes a good case study video?
First things first, what exactly is a case study video?
A case study video is essentially a video testimonial from a happy customer or client. It outlines the problems the customer went through, the solutions they considered, their journey towards choosing your product, and then the results obtained after using the product for a certain amount of time.
Sounds technical?
The best case study videos are anything but. They’re engaging, tell an excellent story, and are super persuasive.
And they’re highly effective at boosting sales.
Why?
Because, word of mouth recommendations and testimonials are more relevant and important than ever, as most people nowadays aren’t inclined to make purchases without consulting reviews online.
So what are the ingredients required to create an effective case study video?
- Include on-camera interviews with customers. The more personal, the better. Try to keep away from scripted interviews as much as possible, because in today’s world, authenticity sells. Check out this article if you want to know more about personalized video marketing.
- Show how your business solves a specific customer problem, for example in a how-to video. Weave a beautiful story around your customers' pain points and how your business solved them.
- Use stats and figures to back up the customer’s story. Numbers are always a great way to back your point and increase conversion rates.
- Focuses on the benefits, not the features. Nobody wants to hear what your product does - they want to hear what it does for them! So focus on that.
Check out this article if you want to know more on how to make a professional video.
Which types of case study videos can you create?
Now, there are several different types of videos you can create for your business. Creating the same type can get boring for your audience so try to experiment with different kinds. Use them in your marketing strategy and on various online video platforms. Or have you ever thought about video prospecting in your sales strategy to make your information more snackable?
Curious about how to create corporate videos? Look no further! PlayPlay offer you an easy way to craft professional content that captivates your audience and elevates your brand.
Testimonial video
The simplest way to create a case study video is really just to create a testimonial video. Ask your long standing, happy customers if they'd be willing to create an online testimonial video for you or they’d be happy to come into your workplace and create a testimonial video in person.
Testimonial videos are usually very simple to create; they do not require any extravagant set preparations or a long, complex script.
Q&A style interview video
Another popular case study video type is a Q8A (question & answer) style interview video.
You prepare a bunch of specific questions beforehand and ask your consumers to answer them honestly.
There are several ways to conduct this kind of video.
You can conduct a live session on social media (this works really well as a digital-marketing tactic, too, since consumers watch live video 10–20 times longer than on-demand content!)
Review video
A simple review of your product or service makes a great case study video, too.
To add some extra oomph to the video, consumers can demonstrate how the product or service works.
Narrative video
And finally, you can create a beautiful story around your product and service and have consumers pitch in and present their feedback.
A lot of bigger brands are investing primarily in narrative case study videos and it’s usually a huge hit with their audience.
PlayPlay Pro Tip
These different types of video don't have to be mutually exclusive. A best practice in content marketing is to reuse high quality content multiple times. So why not repurpose your video content as well?
For example, you can include your customer testimonial in a demo, use it as an ad, or include it in a video slideshow when showcasing the highlights of the year.
How to make a case study video: a step-by-step guide
Now let’s learn how you can create a case study video to further your marketing goals.
Define your audience and their pain points
First and foremost, understand and define your audience.
- Who are you creating this case study video for?
- What are their pain points?
- What solutions are they seeking?
- What demographic and geographical location are they from?
- Have they bought from you before or this is their first time?
And so on.
Be as comprehensive as possible in defining your target audience.
Define the key message and objective of the video
Next, what message are you giving via your video?
Essentially a case study video’s primary goal is to establish trust and convince the audience to buy your product. But depending on the type of case study video you’re creating and what stage of the marketing funnel you’re targeting, your objective will vary.
So your objective can differ depending on,
- Whether you’re promoting your entire brand and business via the video or a specific product or service,
- If you’re creating a case study video to give a marketing boost to your new product launch,
- Or if you’re simply looking to increase engagement with your audience on different platforms via social media marketing.
Once you’ve outlined the objective of your case study video, it’s time to decide on your key message. What narrative are you going for? What message would you like to give your audience via this case study video? What solutions would you like to highlight?
Be crystal clear.
Select your subject or subjects
To create an engaging video, you need to choose the right subjects.
Depending on your key message and objective of your video, select customers that will best work for your case study video.
When choosing customers to feature on your video, keep the following things in mind,
- Your target audience can resonate well with them
- They have a great, persuasive story
- They’re comfortable sharing their story with your audience
- They have a strong presence on camera
Write your video script
Now it’s time to work on your video script.
A great video weaves a beautiful, persuasive story. And a great story has 4 main stages,
- Outline the pain points of your target audience
What difficulties are they going through?
What challenges are they facing?
Opening your video by stating these challenges empathetically is a great way of getting your audience’s attention right away.
- Introduce the hero of your story
You can have one strong hero or you can feature multiple people in your video and they can all narrate their unique situations, experiences, and personal stories to add variety to the video.
This is where you illustrate via text, voice over, or even through your subject’s story how your brand helped the customer overcome their challenges. Make it succinct but informative.
- End with a call-to-action
Provide your audience with a resolution and end with a strong CTA to help them take the next step.
What would you like viewers to do? Like your page? Click on your landing page? Buy a limited edition product you’ve come out with? Or simply sign up to receive brand updates? Whatever it is, highlight it at the end of the video.
Include numbers and stats
A great way to add some oomph to your case study video and convince potential customers is by using numbers and stats.
While it’s always a good idea to ask customers to add numbers to their stories, you can also also strengthen your case study video by adding the following numbers,
- Quoting industry stats
- Mentioning the number of customers you’ve helped
- Your social media follower count (screenshots of raving tweets wouldn’t go amiss here!) if your goal is social media marketing
- YouTube subscribers if you’re targeting YouTube marketing
And if you’re posting this video on social media platforms, use hashtags to broaden its reach! Make it viral! You want your videos to be watched by millions of people? Learn more in this blog article about how to create your own buzzfeed video.
This is where you decide on the type of case study video you’d like to create.
If you’re filming it live with your subject, make sure to,
- Choose the right location. You can shoot it in your office, in an open outdoor space, or create a dedicated set for it.
- Always create a shot by shot storyboard, to make sure that your subjects, filming crew, and everyone else involved in creating the video know which shot comes when.
And if you’re conducting an online interview via webcam or everyone’s favorite Zoom (for live streaming), make sure to make a list of questions you want to ask. You can always email your subject a list of questions so they can prepare beforehand, as well.
Thinking about the cost of producing a corporate video?
Create and edit your video
Now once you have all the B-roll you need, the interviews all nicely shot, and all the extra bits and pieces required to create the perfect case study video, it’s time to start piecing it together and edit it.
However, when editing is concerned, there’s one problem - using complex editing softwares.
Marketers often stay away from using heavy duty editing softwares like Final Cut or Adobe Premiere Pro for several reasons; they're complex, the learning curve is massive, and they don’t always have guidelines available for non-technical individuals and laymen.
This hampers their video creation and editing process.
The solution?
Using an easy-to-use online video creation platform like PlayPlay. It has a huge library of ready-made templates that you can easily personalize with your brand's look and feel.
You can further add graphics (animated videos are all the rage online!), use interesting text styles, fonts and visuals, and play around with a range of other video editing features to make your video ready for social media!
Melissa Francois
Head of Global Content & Comms
With over 10 years of experience in the wild world of SaaS, Melissa cares about building great brand stories and driving community engagement through engaging content. Off the clock, she enjoys long walks and a pint in a cozy country pub.
