5 Expert Tips for Compelling Customer Success Stories
Customer Success Stories (a.k.a. customer testimonials or case studies) are a powerful marketing tool that can help you build trust with prospects and showcase the value your product provides.
But not all testimonials are created equal, and a written case study can only go so far. While it might provide some helpful data and a couple quotes, it lacks emotional impact and authenticity. That’s why video is the holy grail for the Case Study category - you get the facts & figures, plus a face. With video, you can see and hear a real person - in their own words - and get a sense of their personality, enthusiasm, and sincerity. You can see the product in action, and witness firsthand the benefits and outcomes. We call them Customer Success STORIES – with a challenge, solution, and even heroes.
From the start, Customer Success Stories have been a mainstay at Motiio. After years of perfecting the process (we’ve done both the cheap & the cheesy), we've put together the top five tips to make your Customer Success Stories stand out.
1. Put the Customer First
The customer should be the star of the story, not your product or service. While it's important to highlight how your tool made it happen, it's equally essential to showcase the customer's journey and how they overcame challenges. Focus on the emotions and experiences that the customer went through, and let their story speak for itself. Smart customers use smart tools.
When Phone2Action (now Quorum) reached out about a customer case study for The Innocence Project, we knew this was going to be an important project. We had a real opportunity to get people involved and inspire action. This is Rodney Reed’s story, powered by Phone2Action.
2. Lose the B-Roll
There was a time when Customer Success Stories were filled with "around the office" B-Roll. Well, that’s not our first choice—for a lot of reasons. Traditional offices have changed and clips of a team together pointing at laptops doesn’t make me think “Wow, great company culture.” It’s eye-roll inducing.
Our alternative is to Always be Recording (ABR)—before, during, and after the interviewee sits down. With this method, you capture the space between answers - kinda like bloopers, but better. “Um”s are okay. We like to let people talk and go off on that tangent. Genuine people and real personalities—that’s the difference between just a canned Q&A and authentic storytelling.
3. Make Eye Contact
One interview set-up we particularly like is direct-to-camera, using a device called an Interrotron.
This production technique makes interviewees feel at ease because they’re looking back at a real person, not a soulless camera lens. Whether we’re talking about software, or something more personal, it’s important to connect. We want all the camera gear to fade away, creating space for genuine and honest conversations.
For the viewer, making eye contact shows interest and engagement. This can help build rapport and establish trust. It conveys that you are open and honest, and can help the other person feel more comfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings.
4. Keep it Short & Skip the Intro
People are busy. Let’s respect their time. If the first five seconds don’t capture interest, viewers are likely to move on to something else. So, even though every interview always starts with a name and title, it’s the first thing we cut. That’s what a Lower Third (a graphic displayed at bottom of the screen) is for. It’s not necessary to spend valuable seconds identifying someone's precise title, such as “Vice President of Sales - Corporate Market, North America," when a graphic can get the job done.
Instead, we like to start with a dynamic one-liner or impact statement to grab the audience’s attention. It's like the opening scene of a movie or the first sentence of a book—it sets the tone and establishes whether or not the audience will be invested in the rest of the story.
5. Turn it into a Series
One video on your YouTube channel isn’t going to solve all your problems. That’s why we create versions—15 and 30-second cutdowns of feature content, that can be posted on social and pushed to a single landing page where viewers can learn more. We also recommend packaging your Customer Success Story with additional marketing collateral such as a case study one-pager, a BTS blog, and using pull quotes for pitch decks.
It's the #1 used resource for sales teams—yes, an actual CRO said this to us. Video has the power to make a lasting impression, increase engagement, and accelerate your sales cycle. A comprehensive Customer Success Story Video Package provides Account Executives with a tool that they can hand off to key stakeholders and secure internal buy-in.