How to interview for powerful case studies

7 May

We’ve all done it – seen an advert for something that speaks to us and headed straight to the reviews section to see if it’s really as good as it sounds. It’s in our instinct to want to hear from people like us, with nothing to gain from sharing their perspective. And in a world of AI fakes, covert drop-shipping and other rip-offs, it’s no wonder.

That’s why case studies with real people fuel conversions. If you’ve got a happy customer who is willing to go on record to sing your praises, that’s a huge win. Don’t waste the opportunity by winging it.

Try my approach and the questions I use to make the most of customer case studies.

Finding customers to talk to

Willing participants aren’t always easy to come by. We’ll stay on topic by assuming you have a customer lined up, but if you haven’t got that far yet here are some avenues to explore:

Messages to your social media or support team expressing gratitude.
Positive reviews.
Comments from people on social media – on your posts, on other people’s posts or in your community space if you have one.

Before your case study interview

If it’s possible, arrange to speak to your customers in real-time. In person or on a video call is fantastic. Otherwise, email can be effective if the customer is willing to put some time into providing comprehensive answers. If you’re doing email, you can skip the rest of this section.

Prior to speaking with your customer, prepare them by thoroughly explaining the logistics – let them know:

which platform you’ll use
whether it has a video feed
whether you will record it
who else will be there
how long it will take
what will happen afterwards
if they will get final sign-off on the material you produce.

Be sure to get them to sign a release form, especially if you want to use an image of them, video clips from the call, or examples of how they used your product or service. This will also give them the option to choose how and when their words and likeness are used.

Prepare yourself by ensuring everyone on the call knows exactly what product or service the customer bought and used, when they did so and any other information you have. Did they buy it during a sale, have they bought from you before, have they had any other contact with customer support?

During the call

Start the call with some chit-chat to break the ice. Find some common ground – pets, hobbies, etc. Switch the recording on immediately, so it doesn’t change the dynamic when you want to start talking about their experiences.

Once you’re ready, try some or all of the questions in each category.

Set the scene

What were you doing when you first encountered our product/service?

Dig into this answer. If they say they were on Facebook and they saw an ad, ask which ad they saw? Did they read the comments?

What did you think when you encountered it? How did it make you feel?

If they say they felt positively, move onto the following question on this list.
If they say something negative (sceptical, for example), ask why. This is where you could get a great soundbite like “Well, everyone says they can solve my problem. But no one has managed to so far.”

What situation were you in that meant our product or service appealed to you?

Encourage them to talk about this for a while. What was the problem, how long had it been going on for, how did it affect them and what else had they tried? This helps you uncover context that will be shared by other potential customers.

What nudged you over the edge and persuaded you to commit to the product/service?

Their experience with your product/service

Can you describe your first experience with the product/service? What happened? Did anything surprise you?
Can you walk me through the next steps – exploring the new product/service, using it, trying different things?
What made you realise “This actually is exactly what I needed all along” and how did that feel?
What can you do now that you couldn’t do before? What has this product/service unlocked for you? How did that feel?

Dig into this, too. These statements explain the benefit of your product or service and you want the customer to talk about as many benefits in as many different ways as possible! Ask them questions like “How much…” to get some really concrete figures. “How much better than…” or “How much faster is it…”, etc.

Closing questions

I really appreciate you sharing all that with us. What made you decide to spare some time for us today?
What would you like to see us do next?
Is there anything else you’d like to add? (Never skip this one, sometimes they’ll come out with something incredibly powerful!).

If at any point in the interview your customer doesn’t seem to be fully comfortable and engaged, you can give them a break by pausing to ‘grab a glass of water’. Then, when you come back if they still seem less than enthusiastic, ask how they’re finding it, and if they’re ready to continue. If not, you can talk about it and offer to reschedule, send the rest of the questions by email. It might feel frustrating, but it’s far better to do this than continue and get lacklustre responses.

Writing up your case study

This list of questions is not unique or groundbreaking. But when you take the transcript of the conversation and delete all your questions and comments, you should be left with something resembling a story about your customer’s experience. Here’s how to arrange it into a story that will resonate with people just like them:

Take the answer to “What situation were you in that meant our product or service appealed to you?” and turn it into a headline. Include part of the answer to “What can you do now that you couldn’t do before? What has this product/service unlocked for you?”.

For example, “Jay, a busy parent of four, side-steps climate guilt with our food waste app”. Or “Find out how Jay, a busy parent of four, halved their food waste with a few taps on an app”. You want to entice similar people with similar problems to read on.

Include emotions, where possible. People will recognise their situation easily enough, but to really connect with their need for a solution you want to trigger their feelings, too.

The subheading needs to explain exactly what the reader will get from reading this. “Find out how Jay overcame X and achieved Y and Z with [product/service].” (This is also handy for SEO, and will likely be the snippet Google shows under the page title on search results).

Then:

set the scene
describe the pain
explain how they found you and any reservations they had
use reassuring and concrete language to describe the benefits (include emotions!)
close on a direct quote that recommends your product/service
add a simple call to action (CTA) for people that want to take up the recommendation

If you need to add your own narrative, keep it really neutral. If it sounds too ‘salesy’ people might think you coached the customer to say what you want them to. If your audience wants to know what you think, they can find out from all your other content. Keeping it in the customer’s voice makes it far more convincing.

Make your case study SEO and accessibility friendly (checklist)

Use a target keyword in the headline, subhead and image descriptions (e.g., “[product name] case study”, “how [persona] solved [pain point]” and “X, a busy parent, using our food waste app in the kitchen”).

Include related terms your audience might search for (e.g., synonyms, industry-specific phrases, or tools they use).

Write a compelling meta description using the benefit and emotional hook from the subhead.

Use H2s to break up sections clearly – great for skimming and search engines.

Link to related pages like your product page, service page, or FAQ – and link back from them too.
Set a reminder to refresh the content slightly every year (if still appropriate) so it doesn’t get forgotten by search engines.

Where to use your case study

In most cases, I’d publish the case study on your website and then link to it from… everywhere! That means:

Weave it into pitch decks
Feature in impact reports
Feature in sales emails (“Don’t listen to us – listen to X!”)
Quote snippets on social media and in blogs
Include the link on your FAQs page
Link to it in customer support replies to people who are still undecided
Add it to pages where you explicitly mention the product or service the case study talks about

Another really nice thing to do is share it internally. A monthly round-up of all the positive things customers have said about your business can be a really rewarding and useful exercise. Remember, people who don’t work directly with customers often can’t get enough of hearing praise about their work!

Do you need story-led case studies?

I can help you turn happy customers into persuasive stories that convert. You can send me video or written interviews to edit, or I can speak directly with your customers myself. Let’s talk!

P.S. None of my content is written by AI. I do use it for ideation and critiquing my work, but all the words written here are my own – even the en dashes!