Marketing 101: Video Case Studies

What do most people do before buying a product? They look at product reviews! Likewise, in addition to having testimonials from happy customers on your business website, video case studies are an incredibly effective way for your customers to convey their happiness for others to see!

While preparing your first case study may seem like a daunting task full of hidden costs and difficulties, our Case Study Checklist will guide you through the process and show you just how simple it can be to create effective video case studies.

With modern technology, creating a video case study is easier than ever before. You can use virtual meeting software such as Zoom and Skype, which gives you a lot of freedom in scheduling the case study interview with your customer. There is no need to be in the same city or timezone when using virtual meeting software.

Make sure you prepare your happy customer prior to the interview. Provide them with the list of questions you are going to ask to allow them to prepare. Giving them time to prepare will help focus them on the key aspects and benefits of your product, and how it has changed things for the better on their end.

Another key to creating useful video case studies is to ensure the happy customer is recorded in the highest possible quality. This means informing them of basic recording tips, such as proper lighting in front of them (not behind!) and using good computer audio for easy listening and transcription purposes.

On the day of the interview, keep in mind the tips below: 

• Select someone from your team to be the host/interviewer
• Get a few takes of different host/interviewer introductions and outros that can be cut/pasted in the editing phase
• Make sure all other attendees that are not going to be in the video are muted
• Do as many takes as necessary (both the host/interviewer and happy customer) to help avoid stutters, coughing, etc.
• Make sure the host/interviewer smiles and stays positive throughout the video

You should consider transcribing the final edited video case study using a service. A transcript can aid in the editing phase and can as well be used as fodder in creating content that supports the marketing of the video case study (blogs, website landing pages, etc). These can be organized rather easily through websites such as rev.com for around $1/minute.

The next step is to make a landing page for the video case study to reside. A landing page is used to allow you to capture contact information from the prospective customer before you allow them to download/stream the video case study for free. It is then recommended that you create a blog post the advertises the video cast study and links to your landing page.

Now, you are almost done! The landing page is complete, the video is edited and free from errors and mistakes (make sure to TRIPLE check!), and the blog is ready to post. Before posting all of this great content, make sure you get permission to post from everyone involved in the video. And that’s it!

Video case studies are a great way to provide potential customers with insight into how your product has benefited another company. They also can be used by your sales team as something they can send to leads that helps support their claims on the performance and quality of your product.

Download our Case Study Checklist to help create your next video case study!  Includes bonus Case Study Questions to help you with your interview!