Testimonials are great and all. But here’s an idea:
What if you interviewed one of your most successful customers and spun that into a story your customer connects with?
You start the story with the customer’s problems and dreams… and how those put the customer in deep pain.
Then, you introduce your brand as their saving grace. Your customer has hesitations, but they discover why they don’t have to worry when working with your brand…
And when they do, they see amazing results. At the end of the story, their life is far better than the beginning.
This is called a case study. Case studies are almost “cheating” at marketing because the customer does most of the work for you. All you have to do is structure it correctly.
When you do, it’s a compelling story in which your customer sees themselves as the main character.
The best part is you can spin case studies into other marketing materials, from emails to advertorials and more.
The email I’m breaking down today takes the juiciest parts of a MarketerHire case study and turns it into an email. The goal of the email is to make the reader click through to the full story…
Where they can take it all in, then get excited to sign up for the MarketerHire platform.
About MarketerHire
MarketerHire is an online platform that connects companies with digital marketing professionals. It’s kind of like Upwork, but specifically within digital marketing.
Freelancers must apply to join the platform. They then go through a skill review, video interview, and test projects. Plus, MarketerHire checks in with freelancers regularly to ensure they have a perfect track record of service on the platform.
This rigor, and the platform’s digital marketing focus, mean fewer freelancers than a platform like Upwork.
However, it also means higher-quality freelancers and clients. Freelancers can, in theory, charge more since they’ve been screened to be of good quality.
The Email: A Creative Case Study
This email aims to drive readers to a case study about the company’s product — the freelancing platform.
It gives enough of the case study to create curiosity while simultaneously selling some readers on the platform.
Let’s get into it.
The Subject Line: The Classic Benefit + Curiosity Formula
Subject lines need not be complex. Especially for emails that push to a longer piece of content instead of a sale.
Tell them a benefit of using your offer. Inject curiosity by promising to show them how that benefit was earned.
Easy opens right there.
In this case, the target market is freelancers. Freelancers want to earn more money. $300k/year is pretty darn large for a self-employed person to earn. Pretty simple.
Note the specific number, too. It’s not “how one freelancer earns six figures.”
It’s a high number, and it’s a specific number.
Prime the Reader With a Bit of Pain
MarketerHire starts off with my name (always a good choice) and a little bit of pain:
Most businesses see the value of freelance talent. You’re missing out if you’re not maximizing your skills to maximize your income.
Pokes at a common anxiety in the target market. People working full-time jobs as their main source of income get anxious when they read this for positive and negative reasons.
They ask themselves the “dream questions,” like:
Could I really start freelancing on the side?
How much money could I make?
Could I eventually leave my job and freelance full-time?
And also “fear” questions like:
What if I lose my job?
Am I saving enough for the future?
Will inflation ever slow down?
Another segment of the target market is freelancers themselves. Many freelancers have lingering doubts about whether they’re earning as much as they could, too.
Even those with tons of experience and earning boatloads of cash may be concerned they’re not making the most of their earning potential.
However, this section also subtly nods to opportunity. 90% of business leaders? That’s a lot of businesses hungry for freelance talent and willing to pay handsomely for it.
Pay Off the Subject Line
Next, we partially pay off the subject line and hint at the answer to the freelancer’s pay woes.
The subject of the case study did what the subject line promises to teach — go from $90k to $300k.
These numbers are good because it sounds more realistic. The tired “$0k to six figures” seems ridiculous to some and overdone to others.
But someone already making $90k moving to $300k seems more realistic. It’s specific, and it’s not “starting from nothing.”
$90k-$100k also tends to be a key area where many freelancers max out their income before making positive business changes that aren’t just “get more clients.”
(I only moved past this area after hiring an assistant and revamping how I do deals/work with clients.)
I like how they put a link on the case study subject’s name. These implicit CTAs can increase clicks due to the curiosity factor. Even if readers know where the link leads, they may click out of curiosity.
Connect to the Reader With the Case Study Subject’s Story
A good case study shows the customer they’re not alone. That other people have been in their shoes…
And that those people found success, relief, achievement, or whatever it is by working with or buying from your brand.
To do this, you really need to know your customer’s problems and pain points.
Knowing these will allow you to highlight their most relevant pains — the ones that make them go, “Wow, that’s exactly what I’m dealing with!” — in your case study’s story.
As a result, you show your customers how someone like them overcame the same problems with the solution your brand offers. You’re implying that your customers can do the same.
See how powerful that is?
Now, this email isn’t the full case study. Just a brief “skimmable” version. The button is there for readers to read the full story.
In fact, I, a member of the target market, clicked on that button to read the full story.
It’s worth noting that this is a good way to boost SEO. More traffic to your website = better SEO.
Then, you may also make the sale after the reader gets through the case study.
Benefits + Real Quotes = Strong Persuasion
Some readers may not want to read the full case study. Maybe they just want to know how Chris (the subject) benefitted so they can see how they might benefit.
Maybe that’s all they need to raise their hand and say “Yes, I want to sign up.”
MarkterHire delivers, offering Chris’s 3 favorite benefits/results from using their platform. Putting an image in your customer’s head of their life after success is powerfully persuasive.
This future-pacing helps the reader imagine what their life will be like after using the product.
However, the benefits aren’t just MarketerHire’s words. The brand used Chris’s words for extra persuasive power. The customer’s words are almost always more powerful than your own because customers trust other successful customers…
And because they speak exactly as a customer would speak.
(NOTE: A similar “snapshots” section, but summarizing the case study in general, can work well in a full case study. Trust me, I used to specialize in case studies and can still do them if you need them!)
An Automated PS…
This isn’t a straight-up sales email. So adding a second unrelated CTA in the PS is not a huge deal.
And anyway, this looks like an automated PS. It’s basically an evergreen PS they put in every email to drive subscriptions to another newsletter.
Little automated chunks of copy are great when used well. Like any automation, they save you time and make you sales/get more signups/whatever your goal is.
And An Automated Social Proof Box
One other automated “block”l is the social proof box.
I can tell this is automated because the body of the email itself is pushing to a form of social proof (a case study).
Having an automated social proof box is a no-brainer in many cases. Reinforces your sales argument by showing how many people use and/or love your offer.
Takeaways
A case study lets your customer do your story-based marketing for you. You just have to arrange the key elements into a coherent and compelling story.
From there, you can turn it into a whole funnel by writing a killer email like this one.
This case study email hits on the important points — just enough to get the skeptics reading the full case study and the buyer-ready readers to sign up. It even follows a compressed version of a case study story structure.
Good stuff. Hey, it made me click and read.
What to Do Next
- Get on my email list.
- Reach out to me if you want help writing emails like this one.
- Check out MarketerHire if you’re a business that needs marketing experts… or a freelance marketer looking for a lead source.