This article comes from the panel, ‘The power of customer stories: Why you need more & how to find them’, at our 2023 Las Vegas Customer Marketing Summit, check out the full discussion here.
We all love a good story, right? Hearing how a product or service positively impacted someone's life or business always tugs at the heartstrings more than any stats or corporate speak.
Customer stories bring that emotional connection and credibility that keeps us engaged. So it's no wonder the brightest minds in customer marketing are laser focused on harnessing the power of customer stories.
At our Customer Marketing Summit, Callie Rojewksi, Director of Customer Advocacy at Menlo Security, moderated an insightful panel on this hot topic.
She was joined by two customer advocacy pros: Dr. Tiffany Raymond, Head of Global Customer Advocacy at PayPal, and Michelle Viray, Senior Customer Marketing Manager at Coupa.
These experts covered a lot of ground on why customer stories matter, how to get stakeholders aligned, tactics to capture compelling stories, and creative ways to maximize their impact across the business. Any customer marketer who wants to level up their advocacy game will find tons of real-world inspo in their conversation.
Let’s dive into the key takeaways every customer story obsessive needs to know!
Stories that turn customers into advocates
We’ve all seen those lifeless case studies that read like an instruction manual. “Company X used Product Y to achieve Z% increase in whatever.” YAWN. Who even reads past the first paragraph?
Our panelists kicked things off by emphasizing why authentic stories directly from happy customers beat lifeless case studies any day.
As Dr. Tiffany Raymond put it, “Customer stories are critical to bring sales and customer success into the fold as advocates.”
Think about it. Buyers inherently trust stories from other customers way more than anything a company says about itself, they offer credibility and social proof that your marketing alone can’t match.
Michelle Viray shared a brilliant example from her own life. She recently walked into a sneaker store already wearing their brand.
While shopping for a new pair, another customer came in and she spontaneously ended up selling them a pair too!
As Michelle explained, “I think I’ve never turned it off … Stories spread organically and turn customers into advocates.”
Now that’s the sign of a powerful customer story! It hits you right in the feels and passionately sells for you.
Callie Rojewksi added that stories also shine a spotlight on those hard-working internal team members who partner closely with customers.
Like customer success managers who spend hours troubleshooting issues or account managers who bend over backwards to help customers. A little recognition and PR goes a long way.
Clearly, customer stories are marketing gold. But how do you go mining for these gems? Our panel had some nuggets of wisdom to share...
Fostering internal relationships to bring in the stories
Every marketer knows producing standout stories requires massive collaboration across the business. As Michelle put it, start with figuring out the “why” first.
Get to know your internal stakeholders and what each team needs from stories.
Maybe product marketing wants proof points for their messaging.
Sales needs battle-tested examples for prospective deals. Customer success wants to highlight clients they’ve made insanely happy.
Understanding these diverse needs will help you align on the right stories to prioritize. Then you can loop cross-functional partners into the process to get their buy-in.
For example, Michelle emphasized the value of building a “story pipeline” to communicate status. This can be as simple as a spreadsheet or Asana board everyone has access to.
Make sure stakeholders are tagged as “drivers” so they feel ownership in getting customer approvals.
Tiffany also discussed how she engages sales and customer success reps as advocates to recruit customer stories proactively.
The sales incentive was clear - at PayPal, 85% of their top performing reps had participated in case studies. Building those customer relationships through stories contributed to their success.
Now those teams help spread the word and act as “trainers” for new hires, educating them on the value of stories in their toolkit. As Tiffany put it, it’s about “building the next generation of internal advocates.”
The never-ending battle of getting customer approvals
Let’s switch gears and get real for a minute. We’ve all been there - endlessly chasing after a story, only to have the dreaded last-minute denial from legal or communications. Ugh, so frustrating! All your hard work down the drain.
Our panelists could sympathize with this never-ending battle. Tiffany described her tenacious approach as a “friendly pitbull - gently latching on and not letting go.”
We all feel that! We have to be relentless in our follow-ups but also respect customers' final preferences. Not exactly an easy balance!
Michelle emphasized that we have to remember customers aren't getting paid to provide stories. It's a favor they're doing out of the goodness of their hearts because they love our brand.
During long approval cycles, remind internal teams that the customer is in the driver's seat. Their legal team or C-suite may not fully align on participating, and that's OK.
With super large customers, both experts noted you have to expect an especially lengthy process.
As Tiffany put it, "It takes a while to turn the Titanic" when dealing with massive enterprises. Set proper expectations upfront.
When you do finally get that last approval, it’s the ultimate reward after so much hard work. Take a minute to bask in the glory - you earned it! Then get ready to chase the next story.
Measuring the impact of stories
You’ve won the battle to get a customer’s story published - but the work doesn't stop there! Next you have to track how sales and marketing teams actually use the asset to prove its worth.
Our panelists shared some smart tips for getting metrics to showcase your customer story ROI:
🤝 Partner with marketing ops to tag assets consistently so you can monitor engagement.
💻 Look at downloads and usage in sales pitch decks for each story.
📈 See if website traffic increases to the pages where stories are featured.
🧮 Track clicks and shares when they're promoted on social media.
📝 Survey sales teams on how stories impacted their deals.
The goal is to arm your management with hard data showing how customer stories move the needle for the business. This will earn customer marketing credibility and budget for more stories.
Tiffany also emphasized making sure final stories get uploaded into sales enablement tools like Seismic. Then they’re easily discoverable for reps.
Think creatively about how to further amplify stories - like getting executives to share on their LinkedIn channels. Or integrating a story training module into new hire onboarding so they learn the value from day one.
Repurposing your stories to maximize value
Once a story is approved, why stop at just one asset? Get more mileage by repurposing or expanding it across multiple formats and channels.
For example, pull the most compelling quotes from an interview as social media posts. Reach out to your content team about incorporating key data points or examples in blog posts and emails.
See if you can break a case study into a series - like three LinkedIn articles on different aspects of the story. Or create a few short animated videos bringing out the emotion for different audiences.
Bottom line, don’t leave any of that marketing gold buried once you’ve mined the story! Figure out creative ways to recycle it into new formats you can use to reach and engage customers.
Making sure your stories stand out
Now you might be wondering...but how do I get customer stories that truly captivate audiences versus predictable case studies? Our experts had some great thoughts on this too.
As Michelle emphasized, most case studies tend to blur together for readers. Change up the format and highlight the human details that make stories pop.
Maybe try using interesting facts about customers versus solely focusing on how they use your product.
Tiffany also encouraged tapping into spontaneity to capture authentic stories.
For example, she recorded on-the-spot testimonial videos at a recent conference - then quickly got signed approvals with chocolate! The off-the-cuff nature led to more genuine customer perspectives.
So roll up your sleeves and unleash your inner storyteller. Dig for the emotions, personalities and real-world details that hooks people in. Then bring it all to life in fresh formats beyond plain case studies.
Key takeaways
In conclusion, the art of crafting and leveraging customer stories is a dynamic and essential part of any customer marketer's toolkit.
As we've seen from the insights shared by our expert panelists, these stories are more than just testimonials – they're powerful tools that can transform customers into passionate advocates for your brand.
Remember, it's not just about collecting anecdotes; it's about weaving these narratives into the very fabric of your marketing strategy.
From fostering internal relationships to navigating the approval process, each step is crucial in bringing these stories to life.
Once you have them, the possibilities are endless. Repurpose, amplify, and use them to not only attract new customers but also to reinforce the loyalty of existing ones.
So get out there and start digging for those marketing gems!
