[Part 1] 3 case study myths that are costing you time and money

Introduction

Does a case study actually produce benefits or are people just peddling myths?

Are case studies really worth the hype?

There are some B2B SaaS companies out there that believe they aren’t.

Some reasons include:

• Customer reviews are more effective
• Too hard to write; nobody has the time
• One-trick ponies (i.e., case studies can’t be used again)
• Zero return on investment (ROI)
• My industry doesn’t need them

One thing brings all of these reasons together:

Time.

There doesn’t seem to be enough time to really and truly craft case studies on a regular basis. According to a survey conducted by Uplift Content, on average, it takes about two months to create one case study.

TWO MONTHS.

For ONE case study.

And I can tell you with a straight face that the writing part takes the least amount of time. There’s the strategy, planning, convincing the client (this part is especially challenging) to do an interview, interviewing the client, gathering other information and then writing.

Oftentimes, just one person is assigned to do this work.

(I can hear the collective sighs at that thought of having to navigate this, especially if you’re that person)

If you’re a B2B SaaS company, you’ll want to keep reading

I know: You’re probably thinking that this is precisely why you shouldn’t invest in case studies. I’m here to tell you that you should.

Think about it: If your company sold smartboards, would you sell ones that didn’t work?

If your answer is yes, I’m not sure this post (or a job in schools) is for you.

But if your answer is no, what would you do to avoid that scenario?

You would obviously have smartboards that actually work and then tell your clients all about how they work, right?

But wouldn’t it be better if you could show them?

This blog post will tell you all about common case study myths and how believing them is actually costing you time and money you could be saving and making.

NOTE: This is part one the case study myths I’m debunking. Part two is coming next week!

Quick refresher: What are case studies?

Case studies are in-depth analyses of a business problem (i.e., the “case”) and how your company products or services provided a solution to that problem (i.e., the “study”).

The overall goal of a case study is to persuade prospects and other clients about why they should work with you and how you will work with them.

Let’s break down an example:

DoorDash Shortens Time to Produce Email Campaigns by 3 Days with HubSpot

This is case study that HubSpot created about their work with DoorDash, the popular food delivery service.

The “case” is an in-depth exploration of how DoorDash was struggling to communicate with their B2B clients, costing them sales and client retention.

The “study” is the explanation of how HubSpot’s expanded marketing solutions helped DoorDash automate key steps of the email campaign creation process, ultimately reducing the usual time it took for DoorDash to create email campaigns.

The case study includes many important elements of a case study:

This case study follows the famed case study sequence created by expert B2B case study writer Steve Slaunwhite:

Keep in mind that this sequence applies to some case study formats better than others. Also, some elements the DoorDash case study are not included in this sequence, such as call-to-action. Nonetheless, it’s a pretty solid sequence to follow.

Now that you know the elements that make a great case study plus a sequence you can follow to make one, let’s move onto exploring the first of three myths about case studies.

Case Study Myths: #1 Customer reviews are more effective than case studies

Many B2B SaaS companies believe one of the most popular myths: A customer review is more effective than a case study at increasing sales.

This isn’t a far-fetched notion. According to G2, the go-to software marketplace that displays verified reviews, 92.4% of B2B buyers are more likely to purchase a product or service after reading a trusted review. Furthermore, reviews are shorter, easier to scan and seemingly unbiased.

So, why invest in case studies, the most challenging of the three to create? The answer is simple:

Case studies show you the whole story, step-by-step and detail-by-detail.

They follow a specific approach to showing you how a problem was addressed. They’re comprehensive, evidence-based and complete. Additionally, they are often preceded by a content brief that outlines requirements, ideas, expectations and sometimes goals a writer needs to produce the content.

Unfortunately, SaaS companies tend to believe that this is clear proof of the bias.

Here are a few quotes from the “B2B Buying Disconnect” report from TrustedRadius, a well-known research and review platform for business leaders:

Let’s address these comments one by one:

Case studies can be altered and fluffed to look better; reviews are raw opinions about the business

To alter any details about a case study would mean that the story wouldn’t make any business sense.

Why?

Three reasons:

• It loosens the alignment between the case study and the goal for the case study
• The target audience for the study is no longer clear
• It’s now unclear how you can use and repurpose the case study (more on this later)

In addition, to later details about a case study would mean that you might have to deal with the legal department. The last thing any business wants to do is make unfounded claims about their own business or another business.

Since all case studies should centre the client (more on this later) vs. the company, there isn’t a lot of room for fluff to begin with.

The other thing is that you can verify some claims and details about the company (e.g., quotes, numbers, employees etc.) by going to their website. If the idea is that the company looks better in a case study, then it’s reasonable to expect to find several discrepancies on their website.

But that’s not usually the case.

Remember: TWO MONTHS FOR ONE CASE STUDY.

No company is going to waste time with fluff and lies that will cost them two months’ time and money as well as a well-produced case study.

Furthermore, would a client approve a story that doesn’t accurately represent the experience (and the company, by extension)?

Let me put it this way: Would you want to generate more business for a company that failed to deliver on their service or product?

Of course not!

You would make sure that the case study remained non-existent; no myths allowed!

However, you might write a review or consult some. Because they can’t be altered, right?

Or, can they?

Is the review even real?

The most you can say about a review is that a real person bought the product or service.

…or did they?

Contrary to popular belief, B2B fake service or product reviews are a thing. Specifically, there are fake review generators and companies out there that buy them to make themselves look good.

Even Forbes has a story from 2020 all about it:

In the article, the CEO of TrustRadius, Vinay Bhagat lost $200,000 purchasing enterprise software in large part because of fake reviews.

TWO. HUNDRED. THOUSAND. DOLLARS.

That settles it: Reviews can be faked and can cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars. Case studies, not so much.

Therefore, myths like the idea that a case study can be fluffed and altered to look better aren’t true and don’t help anyone.

Case studies favour the company vs. the purchaser; they have less credibility than reviews; they’re inherently biased vs. reviews;

Without a doubt, this is a mistake I see a lot of B2B SaaS companies making.

If you remember nothing else from this blog post, remember this: A well-written case study is not supposed to be all about the business in the first place; that’s one of many case study myths all on its own.

Instead, it should be focused on the client’s story right away, from the very beginning.

Many case studies start with some kind of boilerplate copy about the client.

(I’d argue that the vast majority do)

It’s not “bad”, per se. Rather, it just isn’t the most relevant part of the story.

The keyword here is “story”.

A story starts with a beginning of some kind that sparks your interest immediately so that you keep reading.

Let’s look at the HubSpot example again

Notice how HubSpot is not mentioned in this entire introduction. Instead, the first few sentences provide context, identify the first character of the story and what stake they have in solving their business problem of manual integration and time-consuming related tasks. The last quote drives this point home.

In just a few sentences, you can see many what I call “entry points” for people to see themselves.

In other words, the introduction is relatable. Whoever reads this (most likely someone with an executive role, on the sales and/or marketing team) can relate to:

• Coming to a company and learning that it doesn’t automate certain tasks
• The job title
• Using a single form for lead capture
• Noticing something isn’t right about your business activities

There is very clear intention with this case study introduction. No fluff necessary.

Case studies have built-in credibility

Here’s the thing:

Generally, a case study strategy is built into the creation process precisely to ensure credibility. The strategy usually includes:

• clear details about your goals
• objectives, target audience
• a mini marketing plan (i.e., how you’ll use the case studies)
• details about who to interview.

This documentation ensures that the story you want to craft is legit. Furthermore, it creates a path for you to centre the client in the story vs. the company.

It makes for a better story.

Your company already has an entire website dedicated to showing how great it is. Conversely, your client has maybe a quote or two. So, when you make the story about your client’s journey, you give people something to relate to that they can associate with your brand.

That’s automatic credibility.

“What about the fact that many reviews often come with pros and cons by default? Doesn’t that make them more credible?”

Not at all for one reason: That pros and cons list is almost equivalent to the client interview stage of the case study creation process.

Let me explain.

If you’ve found the right client to interview, then you know that this client has a stake in this story being accurate and engaging right alongside you. So, you’re going to ask them questions that really show the trajectory of the problem from beginning (problem) to end (solution).

Here’s an example of some case study questions (out of 100) from Hubspot you might ask:

Do these look like questions that you can provide fake answers to?

Nope!

Legal teams are involved in the process of approving case studies for a reason.

These are questions that embed credibility into the case study.

For example, take the results section of a case study from Folks HR:

None of these numbers can be faked without risking an audit or a lawsuit.

Case study information is collected, compiled and presented for the purposes of accuracy. I mean, why wouldn’t you want to be accurate?

Overall, great case studies demonstrate that the company can deliver AND that the client is a hero for the work they can now do as a result of investing in solving a problem their company was facing.

(Consequently, the client gains more brand awareness, since their story now lives somewhere beyond their online platforms.)

This is proof of two-way credibility.

Reviews are also biased

The thing with case studies is that they’re supposed be persuasive. Case studies are sales assets that are to be used to generate leads and increase sales. Therefore, they’re going to be biased in this respect.

While this isn’t one of the case study myths the idea does hold some weight…until you consider what reviews are used for. Reviews are supposed to drive home points that influence people to buy or not.

And remember: some of these reviews can be fake.

So, the idea that reviews are not also biased, perhaps because they present as either “good” or “bad”, is simply untrue.

Real reviewers have just as much stake in making sure that their opinions are understood clearly as companies that produce case studies have in making sure that they are credible.

This is all to say that reviews are not inherently objective or truthful and certainly not anymore so than case studies. So, it’s unfair to assume that there are no stakes or reasons for reviewers to exaggerate.

Let’s look at the Forbes story example again.

A CEO lost $200,000 in large part due to fake reviews. If the CEO were to leave a review on the product owner’s website, they would most likely warn other people not to buy the product because some of the reviews are fake.

That review would likely be very scathing but may also might leave out some details and context.

This is important for one reason:

As reported by the New York Times, people tend to trust negative reviews. However, a 2016 study cited in the same New York Times article shows that there is little correlation between online reviews and objective quality.

The reason is that reviews are generally subjective and the people who leave them don’t reflect the average consumer.

In fact, only 15 out of 1000 or 1.5% of people leave reviews. That leaves 985 people to rely on a few people to make a decision.

How likely is it that these reviews would be highly subjective?

Very likely.

While this is one study that focuses on consumers vs. B2B purchasers, the message is still clear:

Just because real people write reviews, doesn’t mean they don’t have any bias.

Companies also post reviews and testimonials and on their websites.

Look at any company’s website. Here are some examples, all from home pages:

They are clearly using reviews and testimonials that favour them. That’s not a bad thing! In fact, this is what every company should do.

So, why are reviews acceptable on third party websites and the company’s own pages, but case studies aren’t?

The reality is that overall, reviews and testimonials are not very different from case studies in terms of the way they’re used and displayed.

Case studies are mostly flattering and successful; reviews can be good or bad

Well…why wouldn’t case studies be?

(That’s what makes this idea one of many case study myths that cause a lot of confusion)

Let me rephrase the question.

Why would you put anything online that doesn’t benefit you?

A company’s entire online presence serves the purpose of gaining more business, among other goals. Therefore, anything that takes away from that shouldn’t be available.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Doesn’t that prove that reviews are more honest?”

Not at all.

Sure, reviews can tell you what “works” and what should be improved. That is certainly valuable information.

However, how useful is that information without context?

Context-less vs. contextual stories

For example, take a look at this review from on Software Advice about Yapla, which offers nonprofit organizations an all-in-one management platform:

Two things are clear:

1. There are pros and cons to the product
2. The customer rated the product five stars
3. There are some helpful details

Now, based on this review, are you convinced that you can solve your business problem?

Maybe. But you’d probably want more information about:

• what business problem Nicholas was experiencing
• what the pros meant for their organization
• what the Yapla solution allowed Nicholas’ organization to do
• how Yapla decided to work within the price range and perhaps why
• what other organizations are similar to Nicholas’ organization

Also, what does this review say about the company?

A little bit (that I’ve underlined in green), but not much.

This matters because ideally, you’d want to know how they think through and about your business challenges. You also want to know that the values they believe in as a company are embedded in the way they work with their clients. In other words, you want to know if you can trust their brand.

The great thing about case studies is that they show you trust explicitly.

Now, take a look at a sample of a case study from Yapla:

This case study clearly shows that there is an understanding between Yapla and their client: they want to make things easier for the client. In order to make that point relatable and memorable, Yapla outlines the specific challenges without sugar-coating the challenges.

Since the case study is based on an interview with the client, it’s safe to say that nothing in it is an exaggeration. That adds a level of credibility and trust to the company and reassurance for you, the reader.

From this sample of the case study, it’s clear that their company commitments are the real deal.

The solutions show a clear understanding of client needs for automation (relevance), the importance of smooth transitions (affordability) and providing additional value by helping the client turn the newly automated memberships into a marketing tool (expertise).

This added context gives you a better understanding of how Yapla works. You get details that tell you about why the client’s business challenges were impacting their ability to grow and how Yapla used that information to make decisions that created results the client is happy with.

Context matters.

Reviews can be good or bad, just like case studies can include the good and the bad

Every story has a beginning, middle and end. Reviews tend to show you the end whereas case studies show you the beginning, middle and end. That is context.

Context shows potential clients that behind every success is a journey of the good and the bad worth sharing.

However, that doesn’t mean they are neat and formulaic. Rather, it means that even though every story shows some kind of success, it’s the details that give readers something valuable to take away.

Like I mentioned earlier: That pros and cons list in reviews is most equivalent to the client interview stage of the case study creation process.

A great case study won’t gloss over how the good and bad led to the great.

So, how does this myth about case studies being less effective than reviews cost you money and time?

Let’s start with money.

Uplift Content, a content writing company for SaaS companies, surveyed 121 SaaS marketers in February 2022 to better understand their experiences with case studies. The results showed an unsurprising detail: Case studies are number one at increasing sales:

This should tell you that case studies are worth it.

However, it might not be enough proof for you.

Here’s more proof that you lose more money investing in reviews alone vs. case studies.

You have to constantly compel people to leave reviews.

People have yelled into the void about the barriers to leaving reviews, which include:

• Too many steps
• UX makes it hard to find where to leave a review
• No incentive to leave a review
• No responses to the actual reviews
• Companies never ask customers

So, what happens if customers just keep saying no or don’t respond? You lose out on potential leads and sales precisely because your main source of social proof is non-existent or lacking.

And if you’ve already set a precedent that your company doesn’t engage with its customer reviews, it’ll be a journey to begin.

Not impossible, but hard and costly without a clear return on investment.

If you sell technology solutions to nonprofits, this loss seems bigger to me for one simple reason

Nonprofit professionals talk all the time.

They talk at conferences, network meetings, through email blasts, comments sections on websites dedicated to nonprofit tech solutions, through partnerships, sponsored events and then some.

Also, nonprofits notoriously have limited budgets. This has especially been the case during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are a few insights from Imagine Canada, a charity that supports other charities and nonprofits via programs, assistance and resources:

So, a review from another nonprofit about the viability of a product or service carries A LOT of weight. This is especially true because nonprofits don’t generally have such differing experiences when it comes to funding. In other words, you’re likely to get reviews are truly reflective of the purchasers of your product.

Therefore, if there are no reviews to consult…

Huge losses.

There are less barriers to creating case studies

Case studies are not easy to produce and take a long time. TrustRadius reported that while 91% of vendor marketers make investments in creating case studies, they also found it challenging to produce them.

Remember: TWO MONTHS FOR ONE CASE STUDY.

However, the capacity to create case studies lies with your team, not people who have used your product or service.

In other words, it’s a matter of starting with case studies (or leaving money on the table) vs. waiting with reviews (or bringing money to the table).

As per the previous reports, people are not making case studies in abundance, despite the proof that they’re very persuasive sales content.

The lane is wide open for you to take advantage and make yourself stand out. No matter what case study you write, no other company can duplicate it because it’s an original story.

That’s a cost-effective win!

Reviews are most effective at the top of the sales funnel

Recently, the Content Marketing Institute reported that the number one pain point for B2B companies is creating content that appeals to different stages of the buyer’s journey.

Think about reviews for a moment.

You’re likely to use them to determine who is in the running for your business, right?

But when you start to compare products or services, it’s unlikely that you’d want to use reviews alone. After all, you’d be getting the exact same information.

At this point, you probably want to see examples. It’s probably the same with B2B companies considering purchases from your business.

So, if you only invest in reviews, you’re leaving clients to exit the buyer’s journey early without an incentive to come back. That’s a big financial loss.

Furthermore, you’re spending more money trying to secure reviews that you could be saving by creating case studies that will get you faster results.

Case studies can be used throughout the entire sales funnel

Case studies don’t have to stay stagnant on a lonely page on your website. You can use them in interesting ways that will encourage people to make the purchase.

At the top of the funnel, case studies can be shorter and more scannable. One or two page summaries, designed social media posts or slide decks would be great to generate leads and interest quickly.

Additionally, using a video or audio format can increase credibility and engagement no matter which part of the journey a buyer is on. Sendible, a social media management company, used a combination of written copy and video to create a case study about their client, Amelia Rose Media:

Those in middle or bottom of the funnel can be longer and more detailed. Stories that are a few pages long, Q&A blog posts or training material would be great to close the deal or retain clients.

The case study I started this blog post with is an example:

These are just a few examples of ways that investing in reviews alone vs. case studies can cost you big time.

This brings us to exploring how you lose time believing in the ineffectiveness of case studies vs. reviews.

Case studies are read more carefully than reviews

Unlike reviews, case studies have less barriers to completion. In fact, DocSend, a company that offers secure document sharing, did an analysis of 34 million sales content interactions.

34. MILLION.

They found that case studies have a completion rate of 83%, higher than any other content type. In other words, out of everyone who ever read a case study on DocSend, 83% of them read the entire thing.

People are more likely to scan reviews for something wrong. Like I mentioned earlier, people trust negative reviews. So, it’s plausible that they would also scan for keywords that suggest something is wrong. A lot of websites are already set up to make it easier for people to scan reviews in this way.

What this means is that any case study you create has a higher chance of being read thoroughly and completely than most other content. Doesn’t that seem like a return on investment worth your time?

No? Okay, how about this:

From the same TrustedRadius report: while reviews are more influential with administrators compared to case studies, case studies are more influential with executives AKA the people who make the decisions.

Again, doesn’t that seem like a return on investment worth your time?

You can repurpose case studies over and over again

To me, this is the biggest reason why you lose time trying to secure reviews alone over case studies.

You can take one case study and turn it into numerous other sales assets. For example, you can turn one case study into social media content, one-page summaries, PDF handouts, blog posts, slide decks, infographics and more.

This means that you can use this one case study on multiple platforms for different scenarios. Furthermore, you can use it over and over again because it’s always relevant as example of how you solved a business problem. That makes them evergreen.

Here’s an example of what it could look like to repurpose a case study. While it’s more generally about content, the idea is the same:

Imagine making all of this from scratch every week…

Now imagine taking one piece of content and changing its presentation every week.

One of these options saves you time (and is cost-effective by extension); the other option can stress you out and waste time you don’t have.

Case study myths: Conclusion

WOW!

This was probably the longest post I’ve ever written on this website! But for good reason:

In this blog post, I showed you how and why the idea that case studies are less effective than reviews at increasing sales is simply incorrect. I also showed you how and whyB2B SaaS companies lose money and time when they hold onto this myth.

I tried to explain, using examples, why case studies are credible, reliable and full of details that don’t spell “fluff”.

I hope I have convinced you that case studies are totally worth it.

But are there other considerations?

Sure!

The big one is that both reviews and case studies have a place in your marketing strategy and content production process.

While it is still one of the case study myths that reviews are more effective than case studies at increasing sales, that doesn’t actually mean that reviews are suddenly useless.

In fact, it means that both case studies and reviews are effective in different yet complementary ways. For example, reviews may work better at the top of the sales funnel and case studies may work better in the middle or end.

But don’t take my word for it. Here’s what some buyers have said about using both case studies and reviews in their marketing strategies:

Takeaways

1. Case studies are written or visual demonstrations of why and how your product or service works for a particular industry or for a particular problem
2. Reviews have use. However, their use is different from the use of case studies, especially when you consider the sales funnel.
3. The real conclusion here is not about declaring a winner. It’s actually that reviews and case studies are complementary items and you should have and use both to increase sales.
4. Case studies can be repurposed!
5. There is always a big picture worth taking the time to invest in.

And there you have it!

Use these insights now to tell your team that case studies (and reviews) are worth the investment.

No need to wait for the next campaign, fiscal year or new year to consider it.

But if you are going to wait, only take one week.

One week from now, I’ll be debunking the second of three case study myths about who can actually write a case study.

Stay tuned!