How Case Studies & Testimonials Impact Customer Decisions

To run effective email marketing campaigns you need to understand your audience and the types of communications they will find most valuable. In this blog post, we’ll unpack the buyer’s journey with focus on the consideration phase and types of content that work best.

In this blog post we’ll cover:

• Email throughout the buyer’s journey.
• Testimonials and case study emails.

Let’s dive right in…

Firstly, lets define what the Buyer’s Journey is. According to Yokelocal.com: “it is the customer’s path to purchase during which they research a problem, find potential solutions to it, and then choose one of those solutions.” It’s important to

Based on the four stages of the which overlaps with the buyers journey, a prospect can be in any of the below phases. Knowing how to communicate with them in each stage is crucial.

1. Discovery Phase – This is where a buyer recognises a pain-point or problem which leads them to investigating a solution and in turn leads them to your business and your offering.
2. Consideration Phase – Contact between the prospect and the business takes place. You have caught your buyer’s attention and you want to keep it. Your goal in this stage is to educate the prospect so they can make an informed decision.
3. Conversion Phase – The prospect commits to your product or service and becomes a customer. Content at this point should validate the purchase decision.
4. Retention Phase – It is important to nurture the customer by continuously sending educational content that not only keeps engagement alive but also increases your chance of positive customer reviews. Did you know that only 28% of customers will give you a positive customer experience review? Some might even convert to brand advocates, providing your business with real life user experiences and natural marketing which you won’t spend a cent for.

With a high impact on nurturing prospects through the buyer’s journey, email marketing helps you bring them closer to conversion. Potential customers need to get as much information as possible about your products and services from your emails as they will be doing comparisons. Send them case studies, testimonials, podcasts or free trials as part of your lead campaigns.

Email is the most effective way to nurture your prospects through the buyer’s journey. This is because lead nurturing emails are perfectly timed to go out when the prospect needs a nudge, and according to a Demand Gen Report, lead nurturing emails get 4-10 times the response rate compared to individual email blasts.

You’ve heard this phrase before: People trust people, not companies. This means that you should be emailing your buyers testimonial and case study examples as this is also an effective form of content. The content you share from case studies and testimonials will explain the reliability, quality, results and customer satisfaction that your business can offer. Remember to include a clear call-to-action with each email you send.

During the consideration phase of the buyer’s journey, case studies and testimonials are effective types of content to help build trust and credibility. In fact, 92% of customers read reviews and testimonials before making a purchase. While case studies tell success stories and are educational.

Sending emails that include testimonials and/or case studies to potential customers can be beneficial as this can influence them to convert into customers. When people see results from other customers, they are 88% more likely to commit to a purchase or service; resulting in better sales and revenue for you. Personalisation tactics like dynamic content and list segmentation can be used to send relevant testimonials and case studies to people in certain industries.

When designing these types of emails, try to make them different and exciting for the customer. Mix it up – your case studies or testimonials can be long and short-form, videos, text, images, and other types of suitable media. Remember, testimonials are regarded as user generated content which help increase engagement and brand awareness. Let’s look at some of the benefits of using testimonials and case studies and how they impact the potential customers decision making process:

• Increases your credibility: Testimonials are success stories that others will aspire to, confirmations that both what you’re doing and how you do it are worth investing in.
• Adds a human element: Photos, videos, and hearing stories from happy customers adds an emotive, human side to your brand.
• Helps overcome objections: Reassurance, reassurance, reassurance! A prospect needs to know that they’ll get the outcome they’re looking for.
• Highlights key benefits: Supports and elaborates the real value of the benefits you’re trying to sell.

Now that you understand the benefits, you can harness their potential in your email campaigns. Here are example of emails that we sent out to help build trust and social proof.

What makes this testimonial email stand out is:

• Bold heading.
• Personalisation.
• Short intro copy to grab users attention.
• Combination of different types of content (Video, images and text).
• Testimonials from well-known brands.

What makes this study case email stand out is:

• Bold heading.
• Personalisation.
• Short intro copy to grab users attention.
• CTA button leading to full case study.
• Email from “an actual person” and not just a company name.

These elements all play a big role in making sure that your emails are successfully achieving their goal.

The email marketing examples and ideas listed here can be utilised to create email and lead nurturing campaigns for the consideration phase of the buyer’s journey, see what works for you. Merge the power of customer case studies and testimonials with the effectiveness of email marketing campaigns to maximize your campaign performance, nurture leads and drive business growth.