UserEvidence

Our recent Customer Evidence Gap report found that two-thirds of buyers (67%) look for a compelling and statistically significant business case around potential ROI when evaluating new software. You, a software vendor: “A compelling and statistically significant business case around potential ROI sounds nice. It also sounds like an expensive year-long project.” Us: “Ok bet.” We'll help you conduct an ROI study of your customer base in 90 days at a price you can sell your C-suite on. Tap here to start building your case 👉 https://bit.ly/3XFTPE9

Just because the word "customer" is in the phrase ✨customer advisory board✨ doesn't mean it inherently benefits customers. Especially if it operates as an echo chamber for your board of investors. h/t Andrea Wunderlich

Season two of Evidently, here we go. The Drive event brought the best and brightest B2B minds together under one Vermont "roof". Mark Huber interviewed some of them inside a room made of windows. Seriously, these insight-packed conversations will give you tons of ideas on how to capture and use customer evidence across your org. We guarantee it. New episodes go live weekly, starting next Friday with Tara Robertson. Subscribe to our channel and get notified when they drop 👉 https://lnkd.in/gRKwCQcZ

Software vendors can learn a thing or two about building trust with buyers from a makeup brand like Merit. Navigate down the page for their Great Skin Moisturizer and you'll find a Clinical Trials section. Here's why this kind of customer evidence works: ▶️ The stats feel realistic. They're not claiming 10s across the board here. ▶️ They're backing up every single one of the claims from the product's description with data. It's not just fluffy website copy. ▶️ There's a visual. You've got multiple types of proof points to help in making the purchasing decision. ▶️ You can view the full clinical trial (without navigating away from the product page) on how the moisturizer performed after longer intervals of time. Of course they're gonna put their best data foot forward on the product page, but having the option to dig deeper feeds the perception of transparency. Just like software, there's no shortage of skincare/makeup companies for shoppers to buy from. Just like software, there's no shortage of skincare/makeup companies making bold claims about what they can help customers achieve. If you've got a good product, you've gotta think beyond the obvious (e.g. customer reviews) to convince people. Look beyond the obvious (e.g. competitors) for inspo on how to do that.

TODAY'S DAILY AFFIRMATION: You are smart. You are capable. You can make good decisions based on gut feelings. If you're struggling to show the ✨ real ✨ impact of your efforts in marketing, it might not have anything to do with the metrics you are or aren't tracking. In fact, plot twist, you might be relying too much on data... the spreadsheet kind. "Yep, that's me. What do I DO, UserEvidence?" Listen to Pranav Piyush, Megan Boone, and Jason Widup share their learned strategies for balancing data with intuition on this week's episode The Proof Point. (Link in caption.) They know a thing or two about gaining leadership trust.

When we tell you to personalize and humanize your customer surveys, we don't mean adding [First name] to your subject lines. In fact, you might want to avoid that. A recent study found that personalizing email subject lines with a recipient's first name no longer impacts open rates like it once did. Probably 'cause consumers are desensitized to it. Instead, get creative with alternative personalization tactics that are: 👉 location-based 👉 purchase-based 👉 event-based Or have your Customer Success Managers, Account Managers, and Account Executives send the surveys. Customers are way more likely to open an email from the people they're interacting with regularly at your company than a generic marketing alias.

Proof means different things to different people. Some can be persuaded by a well-told, relevant story. Others need hard data and a few testimonials. Meanwhile, your grandparents might be falling for deepfakes in their Facebook feeds. This is the landscape customer marketers are up against. So instead of coming from the mindset that one case study from your best customer will fit all, think about how one thoughtful piece of long-form content could be repurposed to fit many. h/t Jane Menyo (Gong)

Basically our whole personality.

If you didn't believe us when we said our Customer Evidence Gap report was worth downloading, believe Tom Whatley. "It's one of the best original research pieces I've seen in a really long time." Promise we didn't tell him to say that. Tom, tell them we didn't tell you to say that...

Fun fact: If you have happy customers, you can make them happier by acknowledging *their* expertise on *your* product. s/o Adam McQueen