Case studies are one of the best pieces of content for your marketing. They are so much better than customer testimonials, because they really explain why your customer contacted you in the first place and how you used your expertise to solve their problem.

The problem with testimonials

Testimonials that say “Joe helped us when we needed it!” doesn’t tell a prospective customer anything about the problem you solved or your skill set- for all they know, your company could have helped the reviewer cross the street! Compelling case studies, by comparison, give you the opportunity to educate potential customers about common problems, and what you can do to fix them.  This helps a new customer learn something about your expertise, and also find out whether you can fix a problem like the one they have- both things a customer wants to know before they hire you.

Writing a Compelling Case Study

Writing a great case study is really about telling a good story. We’ve developed a quick formula you can use to tell a compelling story about almost every job you do.

This formula includes:

1. Setting the stage
2. Describe the problem and proposed solution
3. Explain why this solution was the best one to solve the customer’s problems and concerns
4. Add details about how this solution would give added benefits to the home, deliver long-lasting, worry free comfort, how it might affect energy bills, and add information about any rebates and incentives available
5. Close by encouraging people with similar problems in the area to give you a call- giving them a good call to action.
6. Make sure to take key pictures- of the front of the home, a few during the install, and the finished installation- including indoor and outdoor shots as appropriate. Extra points for getting your truck in the driveway, showing your logo!
7. Make sure you insert appropriate calls to action between paragraphs in the case study, asking people to download relevant offers or information.

Setting the Stage

This introductory paragraph helps potential customers really understand what someone else was going through, and why they called your business in the first place. For HVAC contractors, the opening should be about the area, the house and any big picture issues people should know about.  For example:

Homes like this Colonial Revival with a barrel-tile roof in (insert town here) were often built without the ductwork a modern heating and air conditioning system requires. As a result, they must rely on other methods to make the home comfortable. The homeowners needed additional comfort especially during the summer and were tired of trying to get window air conditioners to keep their whole home cool.

This paragraph helps identify a house type and where it’s located, and sets up the main concern the homeowners were having.  Potential customers love this information, because it tells them you have experience in dealing with homes just like theirs, with similar issues, and maybe even close by to where they live.

Problem and Solution

Next, we suggest setting up two short paragraphs that briefly describe the core problem the people needed solving, followed by your suggested solution and end results.  

For example:

Problem: 1930’s built home in (insert town) had a third floor that was unusable because it wasn’t heated or cooled, even though it was finished. The family’s teenage son had outgrown his 2nd floor bedroom and needed more space. The homeowners were tired also wanted additional comfort for other portions of their home, replacing loud, noisy window air conditioners.

Solution: Replaced the old boiler with a Weil-McLain oil-fired burner with smart controls to improve efficiency and lower energy bills. We created a heating zone for the kitchen that allowed the customer to control just the kitchen without raising the main house temperature. We also added a three zones of Mitsubishi ductless heating and air conditioning system, with smart controls to allow the homeowners to control comfort remotely, no matter where they are.

This thumbnail description of the work you did helps a potential new customer, in a few seconds, figure out whether this sounds like an issue they have and whether it might apply to them.  If they are interested, they’ll read the case study closely. If it doesn’t, they may choose another case study that is closer to their needs. It’s a great summary of what you did and why.

Explanation- what happens next

In the next paragraph or two, we usually explain what happened when the contractor came out to the house and how they identified the problems and potential solutions.  We add in additional paragraphs that highlight the advantages of the solutions suggested, how it will help the homeowner be more comfortable in their home, and the long-term benefits of the proposed solution. This information helps customers better understand the key features of solutions, such as a ductless unit’s ability to act as a heater and air conditioning unit, to its overall energy efficiency and the likely positive effect on energy bills.

This is also the place in the story to add any personal details about the family that might be helpful, such as parents being concerned about allergans, or making a room comfortable for an older parent. These details help humanize a story, if you have them, and helps keep the reader’s attention.

Don’t Forget the Pocketbook

Make sure to add in information about affordability, flexibility, financing and rebates as they apply to the job. This helps people better understand what a project like this one costs, and also what the benefit might be to them in energy savings, warranty coverages, and adding long term value to their home.

Wrap it Up

Don’t forget the purpose of the case study is to show off your expertise, so go ahead and use the closing paragraph to ask for business. Something like this works well:

 If you have an older home in the greater_________ area, whether it’s in Penfield, East Rochester, Fairport, Victor, Irondequoit, Pittsford, Brighton, Mendon, Palmyra or anywhere else in the area, our experts at _________ can inspect your system and make sure it’s functioning at its best. If your aging system has safety and code issues, we can recommend the best and most efficient replacement if needed, that will save your family money every month on energy bills. Just give us a call, and we’ll be happy to take a look, to help keep your family comfortable and safe.

A closer like this helps you add additional keywords about the areas your business covers, while saying what kind of service you have available to help other homeowners. It’s a friendly, “We’re here to help!” message that helps drive conversions and leads- part of the key reason to use case studies in your marketing.

Finish it with great pictures Illustrating your work and Calls to Action

After you’re done writing, the next step is to make sure you have great pictures and calls to action to help drive conversions. That helps make case studies more than just a great story- it helps make them a lead magnet.

Best of all - case studies are ever-green

We use case studies in Facebook ads, Google ads, email marketing and more, to help these simple pieces of content feed the right information to the right customer at the right time. With our case study platform, we’ve helped HVAC contractors all over the country double their business, year over year, just by telling the stories of the work they do every day in a compelling way- attracting more customers who are better educated and easier to close.

Of course, writing great case studies takes time and expertise. Here at Comfort Media Group, our content specialists have a lot of knowledge about HVAC systems and work with you to write great case studies to show off your work in its best light. And with proven results, our clients feel comfortable about feeding us information about the work they do every day, and let us turn each job into a compelling story that helps improve their website’s search engine optimization while creating content that customers love.

If you want to find out more about our great case study services, just give us a call and we can help you take that next step to having better and more compelling content on your website.