What is a Video Case Study & How Do Case Studies Work?  

Case study videos are increasingly becoming more common among marketing teams, small business owners, and managers of large corporations. A case study video, when produced professionally, has the power to directly influence conversions for your business, but exactly what is a video case study and how do case studies actually work for the brand?

These are common questions that come up quite frequently at Beverly Boy Productions. We like to explain to our customers that a video case study is one of the top 4 types of content marketing that is used by brands to generate leads, increase sales, and produce revenue for business owners. There are different types of case study videos, and they can be used to achieve many different goals, but most of the time they are focused on generating consumer trust, boosting conversions, and driving revenue for the business. 

What is a Video Case Study?

A case study video is a style of content that is persuasive and which highlights a customer’s involvement with a business showing off the real world scenarios that the customer went through in finding the business, making a purchase, and becoming a key supporter of the brand. Through the sharing of real life success stories from real customers, business owners are able to boost their marketing efforts with case study videos to generate stronger conversions and increased revenue for their brands.

With each case study video, the business chooses a customer that represents their target market or prospective customer so that they can share a story that is going to resonate with the viewer and generate value proposition for the brand. Ideally, the customer and their story become the primary focus of the case study video, and the solutions that the brand provides become the key highlights that are important to generating authentic following for the brand.

Essentially, a video case study is a long testimonial that is formatted a bit different. Case study videos tend to follow a unique sequence in which the customer is introduced and their background information is provided to build a connection among the target audience. Then, the customer shares their story, beginning with the challenge or problem that they had and the steps that they took leading up to finding a solution with the business or brand.

As the video case study progresses, the customer discusses their interaction with the business, what they expected from the brand, and the actual results that were achieved. The goal of the case study video is to influences audience perception by sharing a customer’s actual, real life story, so that the prospective customer with empathize with the customer and feel a direct connection to the brand. 

How Do Case Studies Work?

One of the key questions that comes up when a client asks, “What is a video case study,” is the concern about how case studies work. What is it that case study videos actually “do” for the business owner? Why are they important?

Case study videos can be used in a variety of different ways to provide true value and substantial benefits for the brand. Once you’ve got your case study video produced, the audience that you put it in front of should feel like they can resonate with the customer that you highlighted in the video and the problems that the customer had. They should also feel like it would be worthwhile for them to trust in your brand, and become a customer themselves, in order to overcome any real world obstacles that they may have which are directly relative to those that are introduces by your customer in the video.

Ultimately, case study videos work by:

• Building social proof for your brand.
• Increasing consumer awareness of the products or services you offer and the solutions that your brand provides.
• Improving consumer trust in your business and the solutions created by your brand.
• Delivering real world scenarios from customers that your prospects can resonate with and empathize with.
• Promoting or pitching your business as a solution provider that can solve real world issues.

Types of Video Case Studies

There are three common types of case study videos. The most common, that you’ll likely be familiar with is the customer testimonial. These are short, straightforward accounts from a customer that represent the satisfaction that the customer feels for your brand. Customer testimonials are not necessarily long, and they may lack some of the storytelling that a more advanced video case study would have, but they are the basis or foundation upon which most case study videos are derived.

Another type of video case study is the customer review. A customer review provides a bit more background information on the business and the customer’s problem, but they typically focus more on reviewing specific features and functions of the products or services purchased from the brand.

The narrative case study is the most detailed type of video case study and it takes more of a detailed approach to sharing the customer’s satisfaction for the brand. In this type of video case study, the highlight is the customer, they share their story via interview, and with the support of b-roll the story comes together in a way that helps the audience feel connected to the real world scenario and solution that the brand provided. 

Ready to create any of these different video case studies for your business? Give Beverly Boy Productions a call!