In a recent Doing Words blog, we mined two recent reports on the use and utility of content marketing in the technology sector for a clear steer on how to hit that buyer’s sweet spot.
The conclusion? Keep calm and write another case study. (Image removed)
We’re staying on message here, with a couple of mini case studies of our own. We asked two very different technology companies why they – and their clients - value case studies so highly.
eg technology is a leading product design, development and engineering consultancy based in Cambridge, UK.
Lucy Malby, eg technology’s Business Development Manager definitely appreciates the strong appeal of case studies to technology buyers and sellers. “Case studies are definitely the number one for us. Running a collective webinar wouldn’t necessarily work well for us, or our clients as each development is unique and confidential.”
Respecting client confidentiality is critical in this sector and case studies aren’t exempt.
- (Image removed)
- eg technology's Lucy Malby says "Case studies help to open the door for us."
Lucy raises what can be the elephant in the room, “ It’s the critical challenge all innovative, creative and disruptive businesses face - walking that fine line between providing just enough content to demonstrate the product’s capabilities and protecting our own intellectual property.”
In this environment, case studies are potentially less about product pyrotechnics than persuading clients to believe in your intellectual capital. “For us the “product” is our capabilities and versatility.” says Lucy. “All eg technology literature should show that we are creative, flexible and grounded in excellent engineering. I’d love it if they could almost feel the intelligence at work.”
Dawood Ghalaieny is CEO of Cellusys, a Dublin-based technology company with offices in Atlanta and Bangkok.
Cellusys develops innovative roaming, SMS and security solutions for mobile telephony networks in a fast-moving and extremely competitive market. Dawood’s technical teams are his best sales people, pulling together data sheets and product specs with their opposite numbers in their clients’ organisations very much in mind. Case studies aren’t easy to put together, but do play a vital role in the Cellusys sales cycle, particularly in presentations to client CEOs . “All our client companies are different in their pain points. For us, creating a generic case study is key.”
(Image removed)Dawood feels most in the sector accept the need to play their cards close to their chest. “For our case studies we tend to favour a face-to-face presentation scenario, rather than broadcast them online. Generally we have to keep everything under non-disclosure agreements.”
What else is out there?
As we saw in the first of this case studies series, CMI/Marketing profs report Technology B2B Content Marketing: 2014 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends, North America asked technology vendors to evaluate their own content marketing efforts and to rank what they thought of as the most effective media and channels. Their poll of sellers ranked webinars and videos in first and second place, with case studies coming in third.
By contrast, webinars and videos, and other online channels, aren’t the first, or even a necessary stop, for buyers and influencers. Eccolo Media’s annual B2B Technology Content Survey Report canvassed managers, directors, senior executives and other key personnel from small businesses to large corporations on the media they most relied on to make technology purchasing decisions. While their research gives case studies the thumbs up from buyers, Eccolo Media report that only 35% of buyers routinely took in video content during the decision-making process. Buyers who did press play demanded for elements that are both costly and tricky to pull off consistently - high production values and a sure touch with humour.
Is opting for case studies playing it safe?
Is this killer combination of expense and risk attached to other channels making British and European B2B companies generally slightly shy of the investment and keen to stick with case studies? “YouTube seems to be the way forward,” concedes Cellusys’ founder Dawood Ghalaieny, “but we’re not using it because it’s expensive to do properly, and if we do it badly it will reflect on the product.”
Eg technology’s Lucy Malby sees other drawbacks to video over case studies, particularly in the technology sector. “So many corporate videos result in the equivalent of a supermarket commercial. That doesn’t fit with the image we wish to project, and it doesn’t represent who we are." Instead she emphasises the positive benefits of a carefully considered case study.
“Case studies help to open the door for us. There is nothing quite like meeting a potential client and holding that technical conversation with them that allows them to judge for themselves. If we can converse in a manner that shows we understand their problem, have experience in their field and can think on our feet then that’s a very persuasive tool.”
Lucy Malby was a speaker at Medtec Europe 2014, in Stuttgart, Germany, on "How can the effective prototyping design and development accelerate the commercialisation of next-generation medical devices and technology".
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