B2b It Content Marketing And It Vars - Video 7 of 18 - Case studies

So, let's talk about case studies, or customer success stories, for a little bit. Matthew, how do you see these documents being of value to VARs, or to end customers, prospects? So, case studies, I kind of a differing opinion. I think case studies have a lot more value to the reseller or the VAR, than they do to the end customer. This is my personal opinion and I say that simply because, you know, case studies from a VAR perspective, depending on what the product is, a case study at least helps the account manager, or the sales person, to kinda get a good idea for what that product is, or how it can be used in certain situations. As an engineer, I really only care about the technical merits. So, yes, I have to understand the business a little bit but really, when I go an talk about a solution, it's really that the solution does 'X, Y and Z'. I'm not really concerned with how does an IT manager for a small manufacturing company in the North Eastern section of the United StatesÉ I', not really interested in that stuff. I mean, I don't know that the customer, or the potential client, is either. And it might be because I'm in a part of the country that is extremely relationship-focused. So that someone to talk to to them, who understands what it is that their business does, understands what they're trying to get done and, you know, can kinda empathize with their pain points, and get that figured out soÉ I don't see these case studies as being as completely accurate to reflect the realities of the various people that we deal with. I think they're kinda generic. And obviously, they have to be generic in nature but I see more of the value as a tool for the sales staff to be able to maybe "turn some wheels upstairs" to figure out, you know, better ways to talk to potential clients. OK. Do prospects or customers ask you for reference customers, not so much the case studies? Reference customers, absolutely. That's a, that's a constant thing, especially if it's a vendor that is up-and-coming, a vendor that isn't public, that they're not familiar with, or they're (in) a segment that they're just getting involved with. I'll go back and I'll use load balancing, or I could use WAN optimization - two things that not everyone uses but when they get into that space, when they have a need for it, it tends to be somewhat expensive solutions, so they want to know that this is going to work. So, you know, one thing that's always asked is how many implementations has your company done for this? Or, how many projects have you done? But, right next to that is usually, can we talk to someone who has implemented this, or has used this product, and see what their thoughts are? Right. Right. Back to the relationship side then, I guess. They end up trusting you more if you canÉ It's absolutely about relationships. One hundred percent. OK. (It's) rarely about the technology. Right. Thank you. Great answer.