Why Case Study Videos Beat Plain Text Every Time

Imagine you're reading a story.

It's an interesting story. It's about how someone turned their life around.

You're feeling pretty drawn in, but at any time you know you can put it down and walk away.

Now imagine you're watching a video of that person telling their story.

It seems so much more real. You can hear the struggles they faced in their voice, see the passion and pride in their eyes, and you start to understand what they must have been through.

You feel like you can't look away.

That's the difference between case study videos and standard text-based case studies.

But you already know that corporate video can be way more engaging and effective than text.

I'm going to show you 3 big benefits of case study videos in particular (along with examples), and why you should use case study videos in your own marketing.

1. Case Study Videos Are More Convincing

Trust. Authenticity. These are the reasons why case studies are so effective in the first place.

Rather than you telling your potential customers how great you are, case studies allow your existing happy customers to do the talking.

But with video case studies, they literally get to talk. And that can make all the difference.

Here's a film we made for Box about their client Eurostar:

Rather than focusing directly on your product or service itself, a good case study tells the story of your customer from their point of view, and how your business helped to solve their problems.

All of this builds credibility in your brand.

After all, Nielsen found that 84% of people say they trust recommendations from people they know above any type of advertising.

Now, the target audience for your case study videos may not personally know the customers you feature in them. But, especially if those customers are from a recognisable and trusted brand, and if your audience can see and hear them speak, they may well feel like they know them.

At any rate, personal recommendations from an impartial third-party are much more convincing than your brand blowing its own horn.

But there's another reason why case studies work so well: social proof.

Social proof is a psychological phenomenon that means people are more likely to take a certain action if they see others have also taken that action.

Clearly, case studies help to shine the decision of working with you in a positive and socially-approved light.

And guess what? The effects of social proof are increased with visual reinforcement.

So a video of your case study, rather than a plain text version, is more likely to make your leads trust you and want to convert.

2. Case Study Videos Are More Emotional

We're not robots.

Even the most logical of arguments need to be backed up with an emotional or story-based hook to keep us fully engaged.

And like I said earlier, video makes these emotional elements way more captivating than just text.

Case in point: this story-driven case study video we made for Stihl.

Here are a few reasons why case study videos are more emotionally effective than just text:

• We're instinctively drawn, since our cavemen days, to moving images. We actually interpret them in less than 1/10th of a second. Add sound, and we become hooked.
• Even more than that, we're drawn to faces in film, and in seeing them we begin to feel the same emotions they express. This makes the story they tell feel more real.
• By creating this visual, aural and emotional connection with your audience, your case study is much more likely to build trust and communicate your desired message.
• In fact, emotions help to drive decision making, which is why you'll have better success converting your leads if you combine both logic and emotion in your case studies.

Add a face to a story and it immediately becomes more real.

Get that person to tell their story on camera and you start to communicate emotion in a way that just isn't possible through text. And that means your audience are more likely to take action.

3. Case Study Videos Are More Engaging

Sadly, there's not much case studies can do if your target audience don't engage with them.

That's why video case studies are more effective, they're more likely to be watched and engaged with by your audience.

Here's a video we created for Experian about their client Virgin Money:

To start off, with video we can grab your target audience's attention initially with a still image, or the video thumbnail.

In the Experian example above we've used colour, composition and emotive human faces to encourage you to watch the video.

And there are other things you can do to increase the chances of a viewer clicking play too.

But video gives you that initial edge in inspiring your audience to get involved.

That's why 60% of site visitors will watch video if it's available before reading any text. Forbes also found that 59% of senior executives prefer video over text, and 75% of executives watch videos while working.

Once a viewer does click play, they're forced to continue paying attention in a way that they aren't when reading text. Their visual and aural senses are engaged, and if the case study content is appealing enough they'll feel compelled to continue watching.

Getting your audience engaged enough to spend time on your site and with yor brand is half the battle. Mist Media reports that the average user spends 88% more time on a website with video.

From there, you're in a strong position to use case study videos to help convert your audience.

Round-up: Video Case Studies Convert Better

Those were 3 major reasons why case study videos perform more effectively than text versions.

What does all this mean? Well, studies have shown that video content on landing pages can increase conversion by 80%.

If you've only ever used text-based case studies in your marketing, try video and see how it can:

• Convince,
• Emotionally involve, and
• Engage

your audience (and ultimately lead to more conversions).