Making a Better Case for B2B Case Studies: 5 Tips To Get Customers On Board

In the world of B2B marketing, customers aren’t just looking for products, they’re looking for results. They want to know that whatever they’re buying is going to pay off for their business. That’s why customer case studies that provide real-world examples of success play such an important role in B2B marketing. Not only do they demonstrate results, but they also provide rich content that can be repurposed for a wide range of marketing tactics.

And according to NetLine’s 2024 State of B2B Content Consumption and Demand Report, “Case studies are linked to purchase decisions. In 2023, compared to 2022, users requesting case studies were 78.5% more likely to make a purchase within the next 12 months.”

But there’s a problem. Getting customers to sign off on B2B case studies can be a serious hurdle to developing this valuable content. Sometimes legal departments have concerns; other times customers view the products and services from their vendors as a competitive advantage that they don’t want to publicize. This leads many marketing teams to fall short of their marketing case study development goals, despite investment and best efforts.

As a B2B marketing agency with decades of experience coordinating, creating and publishing case studies for our clients, we’ve come up with a few strategies for getting them across the finish line. Here are 5 tips for getting your customers on board for making case study content.

1. Have a clear value proposition
This one seems obvious, but companies don’t always give the full picture on what customers stand to gain from a case study. Let them know you want to feature the great work that they’re doing and the time and effort you’re willing to commit to making the B2B marketing case study successful. As a result, the customer gets free marketing content they can use, prominent marketing exposure and the potential for positive publicity.

2. Leverage PR to maximize exposure
Fostering good relationships with media and trade publications will go a very long way to get more customers on board for case studies. While featuring customer stories on your company website might be attractive to some companies, being able to land them coverage in their favorite trade outlet will make it an offer they can’t refuse. The process will also give customers contact with editors that could lead to long-term exposure in the future.

3. Make your customer the hero
It’s not all about your solutions. Highlight the innovation of your customers, their employees, the impact they have in the industry and the success you achieved together. By presenting your customer as the hero, you’ll not only have an easier time getting them to agree to a marketing case study, you’ll also be able to tell a more compelling story with a broader appeal.

4. Be transparent about your process
Setting clear expectations upfront is key to getting case studies across the finish line. It’s also an important step for uncovering and addressing your customers’ concerns. Let customers know what information you’ll want from them, how much or how little effort the process will require and their involvement in the approval process. You’ll also want to be clear about how the case study will be used — where it will live and how you will use and promote it — in your communication strategy. This will give them the chance to flag anything they see as a blocker, which you can then address through negotiation.

5. Share your past case study success
Once you have a few good case studies under your belt, you can highlight their success for other prospects. Track the results and make a better case for your case studies. How many people saw or downloaded your past case studies? Which publications ran your success stories? What’s the readership of those publications? The more you build out your case study content, the easier it will be to get more customers to participate.

Of course, there will always be customers who will say no to a case study. But with these strategies, you’ll have more wins to point to and more reasons for customers to say yes to your next success story.