If you are hoping to obtain media exposure for your brand, one thing that journalists love to do is to talk to somebody who has used your product or service first hand and to learn how it changed their life.
This might sound rather dramatic but at the end of the day, what interests readers/viewers/listeners is human interest stories. We are all human and whether you deny it or not, most of us are fairly voyeuristic and curious about what other people are doing and how they are living. This is why reality TV shows have taken off in such a big way.
One of our functions as a PR agency is to learn about our clients businesses and create interesting angles or story hooks that would be of interest to the media. Offering up interesting case studies is one great way to secure media coverage.
For instance, if you own a clinic that helps people recover from their addictions, the media would be much more interested in talking to an ex-addict who used your service rather than just you, the business owner. Through your client’s story, the journalist can explore the process of the treatment from somebody who has actually experienced it and had their life changed by it.
Case studies don’t always need to be life or death situations. If you are in the business of skin treatments, make-up, body shaping products or anything that helps people feel/look better, your customers would all be effective case studies.
If you help people to save money by providing cost effective mortgages, a journalist would be much more interested in about how your services helped your client save so that they could go on their much longed-for holiday.
I do have one word of warning about case studies however. Once they have agreed to be profiled in the media it will not work in your favour if your case study changes their mind at the last minute. Journalists hate nothing more than being offered a story idea/talent and being let down at the last moment.
Have you secured media coverage by offering up a case study?
