What is the difference between a case study and a testimonial?
Who cares?
Regardless of what you call the document, a case study or a testimonial allows a firm to attract new customers by showcasing the successes of existing customers.
(If you’re really interested in differentiating the two, see these pieces by Juliet Platt and Donna St. Jean Conti. But I really don’t care. If you want to call a three-paragraph qualitative piece a case study, fine with me. And if you want to call a 3,000-word piece with detailed quantitative ROI data a testimonial, fine with me.)
A case study or testimonial…actually, from here on in, I’ll refer to this as a casetimonial…usually presents a problem, how a firm was able to provide a solution that solved the problem, and the results of the firm’s solution. Results can be quantitative (“we now solve crimes 80% faster”) or qualitative (“I really like the way you styled my hair”).
Casetimonials are useful content to place on a company website, because the casetimonial can passively act as a “secret salesperson” to continuously promote the company. A library of such documents can have a positive impact on the company, provided that the library of documents is kept up-to-date. If a “company resources” page hasn’t been updated in some time, or if the resources have outdated content (“Our widget was the Product of the Year in 1994!”), that’s a problem.
Casetimonials can be repurposed in other formats. For example, a portion of a casetimonial can be repurposed as an online post, or it may be reshared as a series of blog posts or as one or more LinkedIn articles. Alternatively, blog posts, Facebook posts, or LinkedIn posts can link to the original casetimonial.
Which companies can benefit from casetimonials?
If you include a three-paragraph blurb as a casetimonial, then all companies, and even non-companies such as vending machines, can benefit from casetimonials. (“My water bottle was deilvered cold, refreshing my thirst!”) As long as there is a problem that the company (or vending machine) needs to solve, a casetimonial can make the, um, case.
Here are a few examples (out of many) of firms that can benefit from casetimonials:
- Multinational firms. Many multinational firms, including Bredemarket clients, use case studies to win business.
- Local Inland Empire firms. Your company doesn’t have to enjoy multiple billions of dollars of revenue to benefit from a case study. Bredemarket can provide case study writing services to your Inland Empire business.
- Biometric and identity firms. Since I am the biometric content marketing expert, I am very familiar with this. I have written more than a dozen case studies that describe how an entity (such as a police agency) faced a problem, how a solution (such as a biometric solution) could solve the entity’s problem, and the results that occurred when the entity used the solution.
- Technology firms. Similarly, a firm can provide a technology that solves a client problem, and a casetimonial can describe the results of using the technology to solve the problem.
- Accountants, bookkeepers, financial advisors, insurance agents, and tax advisors. There are a number of people who can help businesses and individuals with their money in all sorts of ways, and their results for existing clients are easily quantifiable.
- Consultants. There are all sorts of consultants out there. Bredemarket has not only worked with biometric consultants, but is also a consultant itself. If you contract with a consultant, you want to know how the consultant has helped others, and how that helps the consultant help you. (For a Bredemarket casetimonial, read on.)
- Hairdressers. While using a particular hairdresser or barber may not yield a quantifiable return on investment (unless you can say “After Melinda cut my hair, I landed a $300K vice president position”), there are certainly some opportunities for testimonials for these businesses. Hair care can be a complex enough service to warrant a casetimonial, especially for people who have been dissatisfied with other hairdressers until they arrive at your salon or barbershop.
- Realtors and real estate agents. (Know the difference.) Real estate purchases can be complex, with numerous variables that can make the buying experience wonderful, disastrous, or somewhere in between. Casetimonials for these professionals can feature both qualitative and quantative data.
- Airports, car rental companies, and other travel and shipping providers. I was going through my CRM and found some airports in there. Airports and related travel and shipping companies certainly offer quantifiable benefits to shippers and passengers alike.
- Building contractors. I have some personal familiarity with this, since I had to replace my roof in early 2022 due to age and wind damage. The roofing contractor definitely solved my problem, now and in the future.
- Bredemarket. I’ve used this testimonial a few times to promote my services, and I don’t mind the excuse to reprint it yet again.
“I just wanted to truly say thank you for putting these templates together. I worked on this…last week and it was extremely simple to use and I thought really provided a professional advantage and tool to give the customer….TRULY THANK YOU!”
How can Bredemarket help you create casetimonials?
To create casetimonials, I can use the Bredemarket 400 Short Writing Service (for shorter documents) or the Bredemarket 2800 Medium Writing Service (for more detailed documents).
Bredemarket uses a collaborative process with its clients to ensure that the final written product communicates the client’s desired message. Often the client provides specific feedback at certain stages of the process to ensure that the messaging is on track. I combine the client’s desires with my communications expertise to create a final written product that pleases both of us.
I can be flexible in my service offerings. For example, one of my case study clients has requested that I interview the client’s customers directly to gather the necessary information to write the case study. Alternatively, I can use information provided by the client to create the case study.
While I can provide my content creation services to general technology and other business firms, I can provide expanded services to biometric and other identity firms because of my status as a biometric content marketing expert.
If you need case study or testimonial text, contact me.
Bredemarket 