What’s in this page?

Strategy and tactics for getting to get your customer to want to participate

<aside> ❗ Tip: Don’t ask them to participate in a case studies, Instead, ask to feature them, their wins, and and their take on industry trends.

</aside>

  1. Consider this (and frame it as) a “customer spotlight” instead of a testimonial If you put the customer at the center of your story, they’ll see it more as an honor than an obligation, and you’ll get content that they can use as well. Think less “how Acme Corp used Google AdWords to generate so much ad revenue” and more “how Acme Corp built a content empire and scaled revenue from $0 to $10 M in 1 year.”
  2. Help your customers’ employees build their personal brand - Feature them on LinkedIn and your website - this can be a draw, particularly for certain personas (sales, marketing, leadership roles).
  3. Incentivize them - Most commonly:
    1. Swag - branded company items
    2. Gifting our “video selfie kit” to help them look their best on video meetings
    3. Amazon gift cards
    4. Discounts on company product/services
    5. Goldbelly (or treats from a vendor in your customer’s hometown)
  4. Build a customer story into your contract or terms of service - provide a discount or bonus features or services if they agree to be featured in a customer story.
  5. Make the process super easy for them! E.G. Laudable process takes 30-45 minutes and is actually fun, so show them that the effort required is minimal and they’re more likely to say yes.
  6. Let advocates self-select via "Apply to Be Featured" form - Don’t just make this outbound. Also start an inbound funnel to let your customers raise their hand to participate in a customer story or other advocacy activities. Easy way to do this? Add an "Apply to be Featured" button on your Customers page. Show off this button in your customer newsletter, and reinforce the flywheel by sharing out the customers you do feature on social, in emails, and on your site.

    1. Real life example (Memberstack)

      JkuQKIPAzQYoamU9ZpuRpJjPDEluYbx4MeZRcuGRt_g (1).png

APPENDIX: Customer story requests found in the wild

Calendly

Hi [name],

Has Calendly helped you to schedule more meetings, connect in new ways, grow your business, or simply get more done?

We're looking for passionate Calendly users who are interested in sharing their story. Your response will help other Calendly users to learn from you and gives us the opportunity to highlight you and your brand.

Do you have a story to share? We'd love to hear from you using this quick survey!

We’ll be reaching out to some respondents to discuss opportunities to feature your story on our website or in marketing materials (such as case studies, quotes, or customer testimonials).

Thank you for being an important part of the Calendly story!

The Calendly Marketing Team

Airtable

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/I0YCCJQVCLA0jgCXkV-deztF3ccoNW_7Iq_09ffVjhAdGVnNkwLUoPkzgurnJPHPfNWO5Qnc6JeFZOf_KxDO041xqR1f4GuMPKfKfY8-aMI_3dq0A3dsfS1QRZCKG-oaxU_w5BFG