As a B2B marketer, do you consider writing an anonymous case study as being dealt a bad hand?
A client might want to avoid inclusion in a case study for numerous reasons. They can cite valid reasons, such as
- Stringent corporate communications policies
- Risk of divulging sensitive trade secrets
- Possibility of damaging brand reputation
You may perceive writing anonymous case studies as a stumbling roadblock.
On the contrary, great business leaders (including marketers) are likelier to consider it an opportunity to share better, authentic, and valuable B2B case studies.
Several excellent tips can help you transform an anonymous B2B case study into an effective marketing asset to capture leads.
One of the standard tips you will likely come across when writing anonymous B2B case studies is to devise a way to name your client.
Experts will advise you to be as specific as possible without giving away the brand.
Additionally, you will receive caution to use the reference name as little as possible—since you don’t want to remind the reader that you are hiding an identity.
“Focus on referring to the project and work rather than the business,” they’ll say.
We agree that these tips are a good starting point.
However, if you are looking for specific, actionable, and research-driven recommendations drawn from rich experience, you have come to the right place!
This article will share seven tips for writing anonymous B2B case studies to help your business convert valuable prospects into paying customers.
Let’s learn more.
7 Tips for Writing Anonymous B2B Case Studies
To help you better understand and implement these tips, let’s draw parallels with a hypothetical content marketing agency attempting to publish an anonymous B2B case study.
Here is the list of our seven tips for effectively writing B2B case studies to convert prospects:
#1 – Reveal Genuine Customer Problems
#2 – Specify the Existing Inefficiencies
#3 – Inform and Educate About the Implementation
#4 – Candidly Share the Results
#5 – Leverage Storytelling
#6 – Include Powerful Visuals
#7 – Reinforce Your Existing Portfolio
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#1 – Reveal Genuine Customer Problems
While anonymous B2B case studies do not allow naming the featured client, it is a good practice to lead with the figures to quantify your performance.
For example, a hypothetical content marketing agency can consider sharing the following details:
- Scope: Which geographies and types of customers did the content serve?
- Leads: What number of new targeted leads did the client win?
- Timeline: What was the tenure? How long did it take to streamline the process?
- Financials: How much money did the client save?
#2 – Specify the Existing Inefficiencies
A prospective customer will be highly inclined to understand how your business can replicate how it helped the client solve a challenging business problem.
However, clients might hesitate to reveal (some) inefficiencies in their processes to protect their brand.
An anonymous case study offers an opportunity to get specific about the inefficiency holding back the client.
For example, the hypothetical content marketing agency can share that their client required a dedicated (domain-specific) content marketing agency.
Readers can also learn about the critical yet unapparent inefficiencies holding back the client.
#3 – Inform and Educate About the Implementation
It is vital to reinforce the thought that value trumps believability.
If a case study scrubs away the rigours of achieving desired results, it can unknowingly spiral into and offer the depth and insight of a press release.
Anonymous case studies provide an excellent remedy to this potential problem.
Let your prospects know what was going on!
Understandably, employees at different hierarchies involved in the project’s outcome will have contrasting yet aligned priorities. Highlighting this unspoken reality will add relatability to the case study.
For example, the hypothetical content marketing agency might have juggled between the requirements of different title-holders—strategic to tactical.
The business co-founder would prioritise curating content with an emphasis on publishing insightful content pieces.
The VP of Marketing might require the content to showcase the brand messaging and focus on articulation, sentence structure and thoughts flow.
The product marketing team would prioritise adhering to the brand guidelines, such as typeface, font size, brand colours, and appropriate visuals.
A sales development representative might push for the inclusion of product use cases.
Finally, the partnering content writer would emphasise referencing renowned publications, following presentation and formatting guidelines, etc.
#4 – Candidly Share the Results
While anonymous case studies allow radical transparency, you should consider sharing unexpected benefits or side effects achieved during the project.
For example, as the content marketing agency, besides helping the client bring out their authentic voice and fetch targeted leads, an unexpected (positive) outcome might have been them adopting your (improved) content creation process.
Since no name ties to this content asset, you can delve into the finer details without “shaming” your client.
#5 – Leverage Storytelling
An anonymous B2B case study makes it crucial to elevate storytelling.
The overarching goal is to present your anonymous client as a hero. We consider it advisable to present the case study in a narrative format, as a “Hero’s Journey.”
It is helpful to follow a clear, concise, engaging narrative. If you share comparison statistics, they can aid as a powerful hook.
Consider the following example. “The client invested considerable time and resources” versus “The client had previously managed content marketing in-house for two years, yet faced a lack of consistent website traffic and targeted leads.”
You can learn more about the Hero’s Journey framework by understanding why the squid game is so popular.
#6 – Include Powerful Visuals
You can avoid the inherent limitation of anonymous B2B case studies and share visual proof wherever possible.
This approach offers easily digestible information on how your business solved a client’s problems.
However, you should be diligent and remove any identifying logos, data, or names to protect the client’s privacy.
For example, the content marketing agency can consider sharing snapshots of Google Analytics’ path exploration reports, HubSpot’s attribution reports, and more. They can blur any identifying information yet still provide credible proof of work.
These images can help present a convincing before-after illustration of the agency’s effectiveness.
#7 – Reinforce Your Existing Portfolio
It is advisable not to rely solely on anonymous case studies to establish complete confidence in a reader.
Understandably, your client likely works in a particularly sensitive industry.
However, anonymous case studies are vital to enhancing your existing customer success stories and case studies portfolio.
So how can our hypothetical content marketing agency bypass this stumbling block?
A practical approach is to reinforce the current subsections of your portfolio. This approach helps to present the anonymous case study within the context of existing content assets.
For example, the content marketing agency might serve clients in industries like Accounting & Tax Writing, Banking, Finance & Insurance, and more. Relatively unconvinced prospects can view previously published case studies in the same industry in which clients have willingly participated.
Parting Thoughts
We hope these seven tips help elevate your anonymous B2B SaaS case study and bring actionable and targeted leads for your business. It will be beneficial to ensure that your case study
- Shares a radically honest yet compassionate description of the project
- Talks candidly about the performance, including unexpected observations
- Presents unambiguous proof to remove any persistent doubts
- Utilises a powerful narrative and storytelling for presentation
About Us
We are a content marketing agency that brings business, not just website traffic. We curate well-researched and engaging content as per your company’s requirements and philosophy because we believe in the power of meaningful information.
Does your B2B (SaaS) business want a case study prepared to get more leads and users? Let’s connect over a short call. Block our calendar today!
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