At One Floor Up, we believe Case Study videos can be a cornerstone to your marketing plan. They can help you build your sales pipeline, and prove ROI. We’ve collaborated on a lot of case study videos for our customers. These videos are great tools for showing that products and services work and they have proven themselves in the marketplace.

A case study video (sometimes called a testimonial video) is the perfect way to show potential customers that your product actually works for real people just like them. Better yet – it gets your current customer base selling for you. In sales, nothing is better than a warm lead from a contact that knows you and your prospect well. Chances are that some of the customers you are targeting will be familiar with your current client base. At the very least, they may hold the same title within their business or be tackling some of the same problems. If your product or service has been successful for somebody else in a similar position, it stands to reason it will work for your new prospect too. A case study video allows your prospects to picture themselves having the same success as your current client.

It’s not hard to build an effective story for a case study video. Here are a few tips that will help you build customer stories using on-camera interviews.

Create the basic storyline before you interview the client. It’s not a scripted video, but you should know the story you want to tell ahead of time. To keep it simple, break the storyline into 3 main parts.

1. Set up the problem
   Introduce your customer and talk about what they do and who they serve.
   What was it like for your customer before using your product or service?
   What was the problem they had that prompted them to look at your product?
   Explaining the problem your customer faced is important because your audience may have the same problem.
2. How did they find out about you?
   You’ve already set up the problem – and hopefully made a connection with your prospect in the process. Now you’ll want to talk about how your client found you and what the sales experience was like. Your sales reps are super easy to talk to, and your customer service is unparalleled. Make sure to cover the ongoing relationship – why does your client love doing business with you – make it personal!
3. How did your product or service change things?
   Get to the ROI – why is life better with you, your product, your service (or all 3). Talk about on-boarding, results, and how much they love it. This part of the story will help your audience visualize themselves using your product or service and having success with it. Prove the value, get some real numbers in there! Don’t forget to ask your client why they recommend your product or service. Let them recommend it directly to your audience.

Now that you know the storyline – write up your interview questions. Remember to start off with personal stuff that’s easy to talk about. Warm up the client and get them comfortable with a camera in the room. If they get nervous during the interview, bring it back to something that’s easy to talk about – ask them about a specific event they remember well. Throwing a few softballs will boost their confidence. Once they’re feeling comfortable again – don’t just ask the same question. Ask it in a new way, lead them to the answer you’re looking for.

Want help creating an awesome case study? One Floor Up can help you. No need to do all or any of this yourself. Let our team of experts help! Contact us today.

Check out this series of case studies we created for our partner Webroot – they create award-winning security products for endpoints and networks, as well as cloud based threat intelligence services.