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You're really good at what you do, right?
I bet you surprise yourself from time to time and get outta-this-world results for the people you serve.

And when that happens, you can’t wait to share your customer’s story with your audience. You’re thinking, “Oooo they’re gonna be sOoOo impressed. They're gonna whip out their wallets on the spot!”
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First, yay for those outstanding results!
But on another note, if your case study sounds too good to be true…your audience will think so too.

Case studies are powerful sales tools. But when you make huge claims, like:
📣“She made 1000 sales in 4 minutes with a brand new offer!”
📣 “So-n-so got a 40% salary increase using my negotiation strategy!”
📣 “They bought a million dollar home after saving up for only. 30. days!”

...you just look shady.

Because unbelievable results are well…unbelievable (literally)...➡️ even if they're true ⬅️.

If the results in your story feel like a stretch, their b.s. meters will sound off and they’re not gonna buy.

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Why unbelievable case studies break trust:​
Because at this point, we’ve all been subject to sitting through the “unbelievable case studies” portion of every single webinar out there.
Because AI has us questioning everything on the internet, especially if it’s even the slightest bit outta the ordinary.
Audiences have been disappointed over and over again by the transformations they’ve been sold.

If you share mind-blowing case studies these days, you’d be lucky if you were met with “Cool, but what aren't you telling me...?”

What's more likely? They'll roll their eyes and call you a scammer.
Does this mean you can't share your most exciting case studies? No no.
You just need to make sure you're sharing it in a way that doesn't make people go "yeahhhh riiiight".

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How to share case studies without raising suspicion:​
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Option A. Include context with your unbelievable case studies.
-Let them know that your customer’s results are not typical.
-Mention the outside factors that may have contributed to the results.
​Ex. Prior experience, pre-existing conditions, privilege, timing, resources, additional support, or even luck.​
​And if you don’t know, simply saying, “There may be other factors that have contributed to the results” goes a long way in establishing trust.​
-Share the level of effort that was required from the customer, if relevant.
-Talk about any difficulties your customer faced, if relevant.

Disclosing these details won’t weaken the impact of the case study. It sets expectations. It gets you mega trust points. And it prevents disappointment (and bad reviews).

Bonus: Because this level of honesty in marketing is rare, it might be the very reason why someone chooses to work with you.

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Option B. Share average case studies.
This one feels kinda counter-intuitive. Us humans wanna be as impressive as possible. Which, go for it, as long as you do it with context (see above).
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But the super impressive case studies aren’t even necessary. If you have average case studies that prove that your stuff delivers for most people, it’ll work. You’ll get customers. And that's the point.
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Nowadays, people are tuning into case studies to answer one question: “Will this work for someone like me”?
You should have case studies that represent the average person who purchases your product. And because your most impressive case studies are usually outliers, you have a higher chance of getting customers with average-result stories.

Bonus: Keeping it real might be the very reason why someone chooses to work with you.

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​The time I didn't believe the unbelievable case studies:​
When my daughter wanted 1:1 coaching for competitive volleyball last summer, I checked out two contenders. One website only showcased athlete's transformation stories that were utterly outstanding (think olympics level outstanding). Zero context shared. 🤨

The other one shared a couple of impressive transformations that included something along the lines of, “These results aren’t typical. This athlete has been training year-round for 6 years…blah blah blah." The context was very helpful and so appreciated.
And on top of that she showcased more stories that showed the incremental improvements that she helped her athletes achieve.

Guess who I hired?
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What to do next:​
1. Set aside some time this month to review your existing customer stories on your sales pages, presentations, wherever else they live.
2. Add in missing context.
3. Make sure that you're sharing more average case studies than impressive ones.
4. Make this your M.O. for future case studies.
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I'm thinking of making this a series where I share one thing we do in our marketing that erodes trust (along with a trust-building alt). What do you think? Would that be helpful?
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With care,
Natalia