So, what is a customer story?

A customer story shows how a real customer overcame a real problem. An effective customer story demonstrates your company’s expertise, credibility, and the impact it creates for your customers.

A customer story showcases:

The challenges your customers face
- Your ideal customer will likely struggle with similar challenges, by seeing other people struggle in similar ways they will feel heard, understood, and less alone.
The solutions your company provides
- Your ideal customer will not only see there is a solution to their problem, better understand what that looks like in practice and see that you can provide that solution for them.
Results your customers have achieved with you
- Your ideal customer will see someone else getting the same dream outcomes they want to achieve and desire the same results.

By the end of a customer story, the reader should be able to;

Visualize themselves in the story.
Relate to the problems featured in your article
Realistically envision themselves atchieving their own goals by using your product or service.

How can you create an effective success story format?

Follow our process below to create a compelling customer story in 8 easy steps

Jump to: Create an effective success story format.

Why use a customer story as a marketing tool?

“Putting together a compelling case study is one of the most powerful strategies for showcasing your product and attracting future customers….

…90% of consumers used the internet to find a local business in the last year and 82% of consumers read online reviews. This shows that the majority of people are looking to peers to make a purchasing decision.”
– Hubspot

10 Benefits of creating a customer story

Reliable. A proven way to attract new customers to your business.
Trustworthy. They’re written by customers who have experienced your products and services firsthand giving a first-hand perspective and social proof, validating claims your business makes.
Credible. Gives real examples of how your business successfully overcame specific challenges and needs.
Shows your unique value. You can illustrate the unique value you bring in more depth, showing why you’re the best solution.
Transparent and Authentic. Offering your potential customers a behind-the-scenes view of your business shows transparency and leaves people feeling like you’re a real person working with real people.
Eases concerns and objections: By addressing common customer questions, doubts or concerns you can nudge them closer to making a purchase.
Creates connection. By tapping into their challenges, desires, and dream outcomes, your potential customers should be able to see themselves in the story.
Generates Sales. By showcasing your solutions and results you’re more effectively able to move people through your sales funnel and customer buying journey.
Builds Relationships. By showcasing and highlighting your customers’ businesses you weave your customers’ success into the fabric of your business and demonstrate their value to you. It also further propels their business with free PR across your platforms. When customers are happy they will keep coming back and tell others about you, giving you that oh-so-valuable word-of-mouth marketing.
Feeds Your Content Marketing Pipeline. Customer stories are an effective component of an engaging content marketing strategy. They can produce unique, high-quality content that can be used across various platforms such as blog posts, newsletters, social media, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc… Customer case studies are also evergreen content. There’s no expiration date!

Customer story vs. customer case study

While both effective marketing tools customer stories and customer case studies are, in fact, different, and they are effective at different stages of the sales cycle.

Customer stories are the WHY. Customer case studies are the HOW.

Customer stories are the WHY

Customer stories are more effective in the awareness phase of the sales cycle. A customer story paints the full picture covering the problem, solution, and results, it also shares why your customer chose you for their project.

When a potential customer is just getting to know you, you don’t want to bombard them with too many nitty-gritty details about your process, along with loads of data and facts (the how). You want to focus on who you are and your shared values.

Why should they invest the time in getting to know you?

Only once you capture the interest of a prospect can you move to the next step, and win them over by telling them HOW you are going to make their lives (and business) better.

Customer case studies are the HOW

Customer case studies are practical, evidence-based stories, used further down the path to build trust when your potential clients are in the decision-making part of the customer buying process.

A case study is more effective when two parties (you and your client) have had a successful relationship over a longer period where success is measurable and KPIs have been met.

It provides more specific details showcasing how a solution was delivered and how it works using a real-life example.

Case studies show tangible quantifiable and qualitative data such as increased sales, personal growth, increased customer satisfaction, cost savings, improved efficiency, productivity etc…

“Customer case studies remain firmly at the top three most influential information types for both small businesses and large enterprises.”
Pipify

Let’s not forget customer testimonials

Like customer stories, these are more effective in the awareness stage of the customer sales cycle. While still a valuable tool in your marketing strategy, testimonials are much shorter than a full customer story or case study. It can be useful to think of testimonials as extended quotes. They are written (almost entirely) by the customer, a personal insight into how a product or service has helped them.

Testimonials are a great piece of content to enhance your customer stories and case studies. They can also be used effectively as Google reviews, in social graphics, proof of results on your website, and in your email newsletter, etc.

Success Story Format

Create a compelling customer story In 8 steps

1. Set the goals for your customer story

What are your goals for creating your customer story? Are they to…

Gain new customers?
Gain authority and credibility in your industry?
Highlight your brand promise and your unique value proposition?
Identify the pain points the customer was experiencing and the pain points your company solves?
Showcase your product or service in action?
Demonstrate you have generated results in certain industries?
Communicate the type of customers you serve best?
Showcase a customer’s journey and transformation?
Show how much customers love working with you or how great your customer service is?
Why did they seek out your solution?
Why did they decide to work with your company over others?

You might have more than one goal you want to to cover you may also want to create multiple case studies addressing different goals.

2. Decide on your customer story type

Here are five different types of customer stories you could consider. Pick the one that best fits your goals, your customer’s story, your ideal customer and your industry.

Customer spotlight

While the primary goal of this type of story is to highlight your client, share more about who they are and what they do and showcase their business to your community or network, don’t miss the opportunity to tie the story back to your business and services, the work you did together and the results achieved.
This story can be written more organically or conducted as an Interview-style case study in a Q&A format.
Use a spotlight as a way to promote and uplift your client and their business to deepen the relationship. This might not be the most effective format for showcasing your products, and services and converting new people into customers.
At The Lola, we used the client spotlight format to highlight the members within our community to other members to help increase member-to-member connections making the community more valuable and increasing our customer retention rates.

Examples of a client spotlight

Client success story

This before-and-after case study is a transformation story, showing part or all of the journey.
These are feel-good, end-focused success stories that provide third-party validation.
Think about how you can quantify their success.
No matter what industry you are in, you can focus on the human aspect of customer experience to create an emotional connection with prospects, making your brand more relatable and appealing.
This format might be more suited to someone who’s more creative or making a more emotional purchase decision and inspired by a success story vs. someone data-driven who needs numbers and facts.
At The Lola, we also used customer stories to highlight the benefits Members have experienced since joining our community.

Examples of a customer success story

Problem-solution case study

This is a success story with a little more emphasis on your product or service as a the solution to their problem.
Your client is still the hero and this is the story, but it shows how they overcame a great problem using your specific product or service.

Product implementation

In product implementation case studies the product shares center stage. It covers implementation of a solution in the real world scenario, giving more specific detail on how the solution was carried out and the outcome.
This helps people understand exactly what you sell and how to use it to solve their problems.
Good for more complex products or digital products such as apps and SAAS/softwear solutions.

Explanatory case studies

Effective explanatory case studies explain complex concepts in a simple, understandable manner. They make abstract ideas more concrete and relatable by breaking down concepts into manageable parts and use clear language.
Good for legal or financial services and industries that are jargon-heavy.

3. Find the right customers for your case study

Choosing the right customers and stories is a critical step in creating customer case studies that convert.

Consider the following:

Who are you targeting?

Which customers are most similar and which stories are most relevant to your ideal customer? How can you best showcase how your product or service has helped people just like them?

What results do you want to showcase?

Which benefits do you want to highlight? What are the hopes, desires and dream outcomes of your ideal clients? Which customer stories can help you paint a picture of someone achieving their desired results? How can you validate the results with customer testimonials and examples showcasing the results they achieved with you?

Which stories are the most engaging?

Which customer stories are the most compelling and most engaging? Which customer case studies will grab your ideal client’s attention and hold it? Hint: where can you best showcase how you solved the problem?

Which stories align best with your brand and values?

Which stories best represent the type of business you want to build and your align with your companies values?

4. Pitch your customer story to your clients effectively

As you’ll be talking about potentially sensitive information about your clients, their achievements, their business, their challenges before you started working together, you’ll need to pitch the idea to them.

Make sure you:

Position them as a leader.
Show their savvy in solving their own problem.
Help promote their skill in choosing an effective solution (especially relevant for the decision-makers in B2B relationships)
Tell them your goals
Show them how you will tell their story so they know what to expect, and even better share examples of ones you’ve done before.
Show them where the story will live and additional publicity they can expect to receive when you promote the story across various platforms.
Make it as easy as possible. Tell them exactly what you need from them, when you will need it and how long it will take.
Make sure they know that they will get sign-off on the final piece (this might not be possible if your customer story is being created exclusively as a press pieces.

Tip: If they’re not comfortable sharing raw numbers it’s fine to use percentage increases.

Female-Founder-Women-entrepreneur-Customer-Story-What is a customer story-create an effective success story format for your business

5. Interview your client for their customer story

There are two ways you can approach gathering your stories.

Interview your customer face-to-face

The Pros: There are advantages to doing this face-to-face. The main one is you will get a lot more context and a more colorful story. People typically speak differently about how they write. You can also ask clarifying questions when you don’t fully understand their answer or improvise follow-up questions when the story gets interesting and you want more detail. You can also record this interview providing you with a valuable video format too!
The Cons: The downside is this method can be more time-consuming as you will need to schedule a live call to go through the interview questions and it can take a little more time on the back end to consolidate your notes and go back and watch the reply where you have information gaps.
When to use: I recommend conducting in-person interviews for more complex stories so you can ask follow up questions, switch paths as needed. This is also good for your top clients as it’s a great opportunity to spend more time with them, build the relationship, and gain valuable insights and feedback. You might also spot new opportunities to work with them in the future.

Create an online survey

The Pros: If you have a lot of clients and want to create a larger number of case studies and online survey can be an effective way to capture a larger volume of stories. Creating online surveys can also be an effective way to systemize gathering stories and testimonials for your business. Every time you work with a customer you can send an automated message asking for their story, this way you’ll never forget or ask when the initial buzz and momentum has passed. Online surveys don’t need to be cookie-cutter, depending on the platform you’re using you can set up conditional questions based on the question choices or themes your customers choose along the way.
The Cons: The downside is your customers are busy and may not prioritize answering your online survey. Their intentions are likely good, but chances are they are much more likely to show up for a scheduled call with you. Online surveys can sometimes feel formulaic and might miss some of the individualization and unique insights you can gain from speaking to someone directly.
When To Use: I recommend using online surveys when you have a lot of customers or if your customers would prefer to answer the questions in a written format, in their own time.

You can also do a combination of the two or give them the option, but remember to keep things simple and make it as easy as possible for your clients and customers.

6. Breakdown your success story format into 6 simple parts

A successful business case study is the product of a strategic blend of essential components. Each one carries its weight, shaping a narrative that is both engaging and impactful.

1. Introduce your success story

Create a strong headline to grab your readers’ attention and pique their curiosity
Set the stage, aim to provide context, share the most important information
Hint at the story below to keep them reading

2. Give a client overview

Highlight your customer’s business, who are they and what they do?
Shed light on the situation at the heart of your customer story.

3. Discuss the problem or challenge

Share details about your customer’s issue, and set up the challenge your solution will resolve.
Make it relatable to your audience, can they see themselves in your story?

4. Describe your solution

Share how they found you, why they chose you, what solution they chose, and how it was implemented.
Describe how your solution is a game-changer in addressing the customer’s problem.
Share the story from their perspective, include quotes.

5. Showcase your results

Share a tangible success story. Describe the results and the benefits, show the impact and effectiveness of your solution.
Back it up with relevant data and metrics as much as possible.

6. Give next steps with a clear call to action

Make sure you include a clear call to action. What are the next steps your prospective clients should take?
Spell it out, making it super easy and straight forward. Send an email, book a call, sign up for a free trial, download a free guide etc…

Tip! Always come from the customers perspective

Remember to always share the story from their perspective throughout to humanize the story and make it more compelling. Include quotes to add authenticity and credibility to your story.

7. Make sure your success story is compelling

Focus on common problems

To get the biggest return on your effort, make sure you are addressing common customer problems. Common enough for your audience to identify with, specific enough to avoid being generic.
Make sure the problem is relatable so readers can identify with the problems encountered

Give Context and Include Results

Show, don’t tell. To make your stories more powerful make sure you back up your stories with the positive results and outcomes your clients experienced.
Demonstrate the unique needs of that client and how that initiative truly moved the needle to create a measurable impact.

Be specific

Who did what, when, where, and how. Concrete examples help your audience visualize the experience, making your story more compelling and memorable.
Give concrete examples

Make your customer the hero

Tell the story from the client’s perspective. Let your customer be the hero, not your product or service so your story captivates and resonates.
Include Social Proof from your clients
- Weave quotes and testimonials from your clients throughout to back up and illustrate the story you are telling in a credible way.

Answer questions your customers are asking

A customer story is a great opportunity to answer your customers’ burning questions. What common questions do people have before purchasing your product or service? How can you weave answers to those questions into your customer story.

Overcome Objections

On the same note, you can address common objections and barriers people throw up during the buying process. What are the reasons people typically tell you they are not signing up right now?

Illustrate your story

Make sure you include visuals to help illustrate the story and make the content interactive where you can.

Write it in their words

As much as possible, use the exact language, verbiage, emotion and unique personality of the customer.
Create a multimedia story with video, text and interactive graphics that tells your customer stories in a way that pulls buyers in and makes them want to have the same experience.

8. Share your customer story across platforms

To maximize the impact of your customer story not only on your own brand but your customers too, make sure you create a cross-platform promotional plan for your content.

Website

Write blog posts featuring your stories.
Create a dedicated customer story section/page on your website.
Highlight case studies on your home page.

eNewsletters

Highlight key part of your story in your e-newsletter nd link to the full piece on your blog (driving potential customers back to your website and closer to your sales page!)

Video Platforms

Create videos from case studies. Customer story videos are typically short and include the most memorable snippets of a customer’s conversation with you.
Post your video on YouTube or Vimeo then promote on your website, social media or in a newsletter
Youtube is a search engine, make sure you optimize your content for SEO

Social Media

Tell snippets of your customer story
Create graphical quotes
Create reels and stories
In each scenario make sure you link to the full story posted on your blog/website

Organic PR and Public Relations

These stories can be interesting to reporters too, especially ones with tangible results and data to back things up. Create a press release from each of your stories and pitch your case studies to the media. Remember that press often want exclusives on the content, so don’t post on your platforms until working out those details.
Partner with other brands and showcase on their blog or in their newsletter
Tell the story at a public speaking event
Ask your client to share the story across their platforms for extra reach!

Use customer stories in your sales process

Give to your sales team to use as a marketing or sales asset.
Use in your FAQs to answer common customer questions
Use in your sales materials to help showcase results and overcome objections

Do you need help creating an effective content strategy for your business?

Customer stories are just one component of an effective content marketing strategy.

Schedule a call

If you would like to talk about creating an effective content strategy for your business schedule a free 30-minute consultation with me to discuss.

Download the free workbook!

Free content marketing workbook. Ask these 6 important questions to kick-start your content marketing ideas.