How to use the power of a video case study…….
As a business, you can’t argue with the value of a good case study and using video will help to substantiate your offering in a way that plain, static content just can’t do.
Having created many, many case study videos for all kind of clients over the 12 years we thought we would give you an insight and ideas for making good video case studies that actually have an impact – and show the difference having them can make to your business…..
The Story:
You need to think about the story you are telling and don’t try to say too much in one case study. If you have a great client and you provide 5 different services or solutions for them, don’t try to get across all of them in one video case study. Divide them up and talk about each one as a separate success story. Of course they can reference that you also provide other services when talking and that’s great, as it gives additional credibility – but if you try to say too much it will end up confusing, too long and less powerful. The main points you want to cover in each case study story are:
what service / product you provided
the problem it solved for your customer / how it helped them
what they achieved as a result
what stood out to them about your service / product delivery
Additionally if they can provide some points of interest about the service / product you provide that is always beneficial, as it engages viewers in your subject matter.
Testimonial too….
If you have time ask them for a testimonial comment too, and they will hopefully provide a generic, concise soundbite about your business as a whole. If you get a number of these from different clients you can have them edited together into a short montage of testimonials about your business that can be used on your website home page, in sales presentations and to help to close more sales!
Film more than you will need…..
I know I say above not to cover too much in an individual case study – but this is referring to the end edited version. When you are having the case study filmed, then film as much content as you can, with the time you have available with the client – as you will be editing it later. This may be your one opportunity with your client, as they are busy people and they are sparing this time for you now, so you don’t want to have to ask again next month! So the key here is planning – ask lots of questions to try and get the best answers and comments. Don’t be afraid to re-ask a question in a different way if you are looking for a slightly different answer or phrasing of an answer.
Remember to get your interviewee to contextualise the question by repeating some of it back in their answer – as when you edit the piece the viewer won’t hear your voice. This includes thinking about the wording of your question and asking an open question. For example if you have asked
“did we help you achieve more sales” they might answer “yes” which tells us nothing and cannot be used in a video.
But if you asked “how did our service help you to achieve more sales” they will be more likely to say “you service helped us to achieve more sales by…….”
Of course if you are hiring a professional production team to create your case studies then you won’t have to worry about all of this as they should capture the right comments in exactly the right way.(if you have chosen your video team wisely!)
One of the skills of a good video team, especially when it comes to capturing good case studies on video, is to be able to create a good rapport, quickly with the interviewee and be able to get them to provide articulate, concise answers. A good video producer will always be thinking about the edited piece and will know how a comment will be used and edited as soon as they are filmed.
Visuals….
If possible, plan some visuals that can be filmed to represent some of the points being made in the case study. This increase the power of your story massively, adds context and also establishes credibility. It may be that visual sequences need to be mocked up but this can usually be done reasonably easily. If you are unsure of what visuals you can film or short on ideas, your video team should be able to come up with creative suggestions – that’s what they do! So ask them for ideas and they will plan it and shoot it for them.
Strategy….
If you are planning to start using video case studies as part of your marketing collatoral, you should be thinking about the wider strategy that they will be part of. The main outlets for using your video case studies will be on your website, blog and via social media platforms. But you should also consider using them as tools to support presentations, whether bids or tenders or presenting to a potential client or when sending a proposal or quotation, you can attach a relevant video case study.
If you have a wider strategy then producing your case studies will have more impact and be cost effective. If you are hiring a video team you can plan with them to film and edit a bunch as a block, being more cost effective and giving you a series of case studies that you can then use over the coming months, roll out in blog, website and social media posts and use as promotional tools.
Just do it….
As with all marketing actions, you just need to do it to get it to start working for you. There is a huge amount of research that shows how many more people would prefer and are more likely to watch a short video than read a case study on a static page of text. So if you want to engage, persuade, impress and captivate your target audience, start using video case studies……..

Some recent video case studies for our clients: