Present your customer stories to support how prospects are coming in and consuming content. Instead of organizing them alphabetically or by industry, think about what they're thinking about when they're in discovery phase and looking at your website.
Crossbeam presents three organization. methods:
Check out how Mutiny includes real, quantitative customer outcomes on their homepage to back up product-specific value props.
We see plenty of "customer spotlight" blog series, but Intercom's "Response Time" is different.
Instead of asking customers questions that elicit veiled testimonials, Intercom's Response Time "talks outside your product". Done entirely by Typeform survey, and gets outside the box with Qs like "how would you describe your job to an alien?"
Result: it's easy for them to participate, you'll get a foot in the door for future advocacy requests, you'll forge a deeper, real connection with them, plus you et all the benefits of association and reach upon posting.
Nobody cares about the "new product/feature launch" email describing new functionality.
Instead, go against the grain and create a sizzle reel of reactions from early access customers to show off your new product or feature.
Aside from creating a buzz, you can also get those early access customers in on the promotion strategy by having them share the post, amplifying your reach.
Giving your external-facing teams a customer quote packed email signature is a no-brainer. It's like putting your customer testimonials in "always on" mode, and is an easy way to get more mileage out of them. We recommend including a banner image or video link featuring one or multiple customer testimonial quotes.
Pull out authentic moments of customer delight from your existing CSM/AE call records, splice them together and you've got a killer sizzle/hype video.
We frequently hear these are "the best performing marketing campaign we've ever done."
Example: Check out how Calixa, Scratchpad, Metadata, and UserGems dropped candid moments directly from Gong/Chorus/Zoom calls (with permission of course) into a video.
(Scratchpad calls these hype trains, we call them holy sh*t videos.)
Short & sweet. Create micro case study graphics/images with a quantitative ROI metrics in the headline, a customer quote, and the customer logo and picture.
TEMPLATE + GPT PROMPT --> *this one's perfect for including a graphic template AND a GPT prompt.
Share quick < 90 sec customer testimonial videos on LinkedIn accompanied by the main story takeaways in the post.
Tip: You probably record about 20-30 mins of interview content to clip down to 90 seconds, include other great takeaways and soundbites from transcripts in the post.
Create short LinkedIn story post tagging the customer contact and company for extended reach with the case study linked + "Read all about it here" as a CTA.
Tip: Enable executives and employees to share out their own versions of the story like HeadsUp.
Promote a customer video, an audiogram, or a social graphic featuring a customer quote or micro case study.
Tip: We recommend the format "[Customer name] uses [your Company name] to achieve [impressive quantitative result]."
B2B buyers are on Instagram. Use customer testimonials in your retargeting campaigns on Instagram.
Proof: See how UserGems & Webflow retarget website visitors on Instagram with a customer testimonial quotes & sponsored case study links.
Your CEO & Execs probably have a huge following on LinkedIn or Twitter. When a customer says a great thing about your market or product, have your CEO share it out in a reflection post.
Tip: At scale, this looks like operationalizing your executive team to amplify the voice of your customer. This example from Nick Mehta got almost 8,000 reactions.
Don't forget about enabling the end users of your product, especially if you significantly & positively impact their day to day success and productivity. Work with your admins to coordinate end user/customer social posts.
Tip: Make it super easy for them by pre-drafting the copy, creating a meme, giving them images, etc. for their post.
Your employees are your best ambassadors, each with a network that can massively amplify your social engagement & reach. There's lots of employee advocacy tools that let team members connect their social accounts and post teed-up links with one click or start free by sharing the content links & some suggested copy in a dedicated slack channel encouraging people to post & like.
Tip: Follow ZoomInfo’s playbook to drive engagement by having your sales team share this micro case study post. See reverse image search showing all the employees who posted their micro case study.
Dynamic, fast paced soundbite audiograms are perfect scroll-stoppers for channels like LinkedIn & Twitter.
Tip: You don't need to post full stories on your social channels, get your audience hooked with the best soundbites with a link/CTA to see the full story on your site.
Turn your full customer story into an easy-to-read and digest social thread. This works best for both Twitter and LinkedIn threads & comments.
Tip: Follow OpenPhone's lead and break the full story down into 4 main takeaways told in the threads.
Yes B2B buyers & users are consuming business content on TikTok. Repurpose raw video interview footage with customers for ~30 secs TikTok clips.
Take any reason to celebrate customers and bring their voice into your channels, even if it's not about their experience or your product. Tagging the customer & company gives you even more amplification.
Proof: Check out this idea from Amanda @ Zylo. They ran a campaign for International Women's Day to celebrate female-identifying customers. They asked what does it mean to be a Remarkable woman in SaaS today and shared the quotes over a series of graphic posts.
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Turn a long-form customer story into a standalone webinar with the "customer hero" as the guest speaker to bring the story to life and engage prospects and customers in understanding how to win with your solution.
Proof: Crossbeam received so much engagement on one of their case studies that they turned the story into a webinar featuring the customer hero and Customer Marketer. It was one of their best performing webinars to-date in terms of registration and attendance rates.
Fuel organic and sponsored LinkedIn posts with customer quotes & testimonials.
The UserGems team wanted to give social proof content a boost to show their audience who benefits from our product and how, straight from the horse's mouth.
So they began building a library of customer quotes to strengthen our message and amplify customer advocates.
Their highest performing organic posts on LinkedIn center around a customer video, quote, or case study. This has become a central component of their organic growth strategy on LinkedIn.
Customer quotes work well as social proof for ads run through the FB Ad Network. You can reach prospects on Facebook, Instagram, and other less obvious (+ crowded with B2B noise) places than LinkedIn.
Proof: Clari SVP of Marketing, Kyle Coleman (LinkedIn influencer) drove traffic to a series of customer interviews on LinkedIn Live. Featuring the customer on LinkedIn instead of a webinar drove more hype and attendance, and made it easier to recruit participants.
Using a tool like Veed.io, it's easy to turn your G2 / Capterra / other third party reviews into videos, and test various formats on organic and paid social posts.
Example: This video (from Lemonade Insurance) that turns 5 star reviews into an animated stand-up comedy bit.
Did you get a great note from a customer on slack or email? Turn it into an instant and lo-fi graphic for social media (with permission of course!)
Switch it up from the usual "see how much a customer loves us" post. Instead, get granular with numbers.
Post the specifics of how a customer achieved X goal and include metrics. Bonus - sharing their win makes it more likely that they'll repost.
Example: See how Trinity Nguyen at UserGems shares a customer's win down to the % points.
Take screengrabs of your favorite customer love comments across your social channels. Then turn them into a carousel post on LinkedIn!
Example: This Design Pickle example that allows you to scroll through some of the times real customers have mentioned them on Twitter.
Try A/B testing your current account sign-up page with a version that includes a customer testimonial. Copy how LeadPages did this ->
Everyone loves a “Spotify Wrapped” because it's personal. Make renewals and expansions personal for the customer with landing page that highlights their partnership & wins with you.
If you have a newsletter dedicated just for your customers, you best believe you should be including customer proof in it - customers love learning from other customers.
Tip: Include a way/CTA for customers in your database who might be secret advocates to raise their hand to share their story or experience.
Get new customers started on the right foot with onboarding flows either through emails or nudging them through the journey in-app. Using your best/most successful customers to educate new customers is the best way to create more successful customers and it starts from day one.
Tip: Show real examples of what the right/healthy use of your product looks and the steps that a new customer can take to see those same results.
Most software companies generate added revenue through education or certification offerings. Certifications can make a big impact on a user's career opportunities, don't miss out on telling those stories.
Proof: Give users who have successfully completed the course/certification a way to promote their success like LinkedIn posts and badges.
Turn long form case studies into educational content for your customer community. For most B2B SaaS companies, peer-to-peer learning is the best way to drive platform adoption.
Proof: Crossbeam develops long-form case studies that highlight a customers' "win stories" and metrics, and does a dive deep into the specific plays they used to hit those achievements. This means case studies are chock-full of graphics, screenshots, and step-by-step processes for other customers to experiment with and replicate within their own organizations.
Use time-sensitive & relevant triggers to ask for a 3rd party reviews and referrals at the right time. Try making asks in real-time trigger off moments of delight - right after an amazing video testimonial interview or a great QBR with CS.
Tip: Look at the data sources and workflows already happening and see where you can plug in relevant asks and make it easy for the customer. For example, remind them what they already said with a few bulletpoints from their video interview.
Work smarter, not harder. If you're interviewing a happy customer for a video testimonial or case study who is not already in your advocacy or reference program - take the opportunity to share about the program and what they'd get out of it and ask if they'd like to join.
Tip: Do a mini-intake with them on what motivates and anything that really lights them up that you could do together.
Create a separate content brand reserved just for your top tier advocates like your Customer Advisory Board members as an opportunity to tell their story in an elevated way and to a different persona/audience. This works well with above the line/higher up customer contacts that are not using your product on a daily basis.
Tip: This could look like your CEO/Execs doing an interview with them and giving them shine on LinkedIn.
Extend the hype and buzz around annual customer awards by turning the winners & submissions into blog content.
Like a Spotify Wrapped, but for your customers. Turn your holiday wishes into an end of year recap featuring wins and showing appreciation for your customers.
Proof: In June of 2021, Talkdesk®, Inc. announced the winners of its second annual CX Innovator Awards. Out of nearly 60 entries, these companies stood out for their outstanding creativity and commitment over the past year. By leveraging Talkdesk technology, they reshaped their customers’ experience (CX), deepened their customer relationships, and drove exceptional business value. Here are their stories. “Experience. A better way.”
Enable your customers to 'share the love' with a Customer Referral Program landing page. Feature a customer compilation video of past brand champions to further inspire referrals and customer-led growth.
Let your customers raise their hand to participate in a customer story or other advocacy activities by including an "Apply to be Featured" button on your Customers page. Advertise this button in your customer newsletter, and reinforce it by sharing out the customers you do feature on social, in emails, and on your site.
This works particularly well if it inherently helps your customers to get more exposure - e.g. you have a product that helps them create websites, find clients or users, or where exposure is beneficial.
People want to know that you have done business with people like them. Include tailored customer use cases and testimonial videos in your sales team's prospecting emails - the more relevant & personalized the better (same industry, title, etc.)
Enable your SDRs and sales reps with snappy social proof examples, even include them in your Outreach or Salesloft sequences.
Tip: We recommend linking video clips featuring "like customers" and calling out the outcome, e.g. "Here's how Acme Corp uses [insert your company name] to increase important metric by 62%."
Incorporating customer stories and testimonial videos on your demo request pages is a powerful way to build credibility and trust with prospects.
By highlighting successful experiences from businesses similar to theirs, you can demonstrate the real-world benefit of your product quickly.
Tip: We recommend embedding video with "like customers" and calling out their wins, e.g. "Acme Corp used [insert your company name] to increase [important metric] by 62%."
Don't just use customer testimonials on your case study pages. Show don’t tell by weaving videos and testimonials that hits your value prop and messaging points directly into your product pages as well.
As a golden rule, every communication that goes out to your database, there should be some inclusion of customer proof.
Proof: Check out these examples from Dribbble, Mutiny, and EveryoneSocial
Add Customer Story Videos to your company's website resources page or dedicated customer stories page. Expand on the story with webcopy that gives more detail into the company, persona, challenge they were experiencing, decision process, and ultimate success.
Tip: You probably record about 20-30 mins of interview content to clip down to a few 90 second videos, leverage interview transcripts to turn the full interview into webcopy.
Get even more mileage out of customer testimonial interviews by turning the transcripts into standalone evergreen blog content.
Proof: OysterHR are the masters of doing more with that they already have. From one video interview with Chili Piper they created social content, a customer story webpage, and a blog.
For products where the output or use of your product is on public view, create an inspiration "library" on your website to showcase real life examples from customers to help them visualize how your product could fit into their process.
Proof: Check out Reprise's Customer Demo Library that features real interactive demos from customers that prospects can touch and feel or PandaDoc's Gallery of Community Templates.
Customer stories don't always have to be polished. Go the low-fi route to maximize ROI. How to?
1. Grab screenshots from emails, LinkedIn, and more of your customers sharing their experience.
2. Paste or embed those on a webpage, in decks, and in emails.
Add social proof to bottom of funnel to validate a customer's buying decision and reduce time spent second-guessing.
Example: PandaDoc saw a 40+% increase on proposal engagement (view time, clicks) and a reduction in "linger time" when they added a customer testimonial video to the second page of their proposal.
An advocate's time & equity is precious and should reserved for whales and strategic opportunities. Offset validation of a prospect's buying decision with a 1:1 reference replacement landing page filled with proof & quotes from customers like them and hitting on any objections that have come up - the more personalized the better especially (same industry, same persona/title, same pain points)
Help seller compete and combat competitors in deal cycles with competitive landing pages using real quotes from existing customers who have switched from or evaluated from your competition. This shit is POWERFUL and builds FOMO, fast.
Tip: AE & CSM calls are a gold mine for competition mentions, just make sure they're tactful and always get the customer's approval if you're going to use the audio or video, and/or attribute the speaker.
Enable your sales team with real customer quotes about their experience with your competitors. Battlecards can help with easily overcoming competitive objections in deal cycles.
Tip: Make sure customer snippets are approved if you're going to use audio or video, or attribute to the speaker and their company. Otherwise, go anonymous.
Chances are your main contact in a deal isn't the only one you need to convince. Sellers need to equip their champion with all the proof and information they need to sell their decision internally to leadership and finance/purchasing/procurement. Customer proof plays a huge role in validating to other stakeholders that a software provider is proven, experienced, credible, and reliable.
Tip: Create a deck that your champion can easily share that includes who you are, expected deliverables, who uses you, ROI for other customers, and commercials.
Create boilerplate summaries on your most successful customer stories for sales and RFP writers to use when submitting the dreaded and always quick-turn RFP responses.
Tip: incorporate into your customer story production the proactive creation of a short summary with a few bulletpoints & success stats/metrics that way you'll have it on hand for the next RFP fire-drill (iykyk).
Arm your sellers with pocket stories to reference in discovery calls, demos, and pitches. Enable them with an organized repository of micro case studies to use in their sales conversations including quotes, video clips, ROI stats, and other anecdotes.
Use G2 to create customized landing pages of your best customer review quotes. Select quotes by industry, market, persona, product, or use case for hyper personalized validation.
Turn customer webinars into small, digestible snippets for sales teams to share with prospects and customers. Remember the repurpose formula: case study -> webinar -> sales snippets -> testimonial quotes 🔥
Proof: Check out this library Crossbeam created from just one customer webinar
Add social proof right at the beginning of calls with fresh prospects (or upsell opportunties) and disarm many objections proactively and set a good mood for the sales conversation.
Have your customers walk you through their use cases, "how I built this" style - showing what they're doing and why with your product in more detail, published in a 5-10 minute video to your website and on linkedin.