Growing up, I was obsessed with magazines.
Not because of the boybands they featured, silly.
Or the glossy covers with gorgeous images. Or the papery yet thick feel of the pages. Nope.
But because of the words ✨
I was obsessed with the stories they’d tell — weaving impactful lessons throughout them.
And I wanted to write those stories so bad!
In fact, I thought magazine journalism was my best bet for a career in writing. That and penning a NY Times bestselling fantasy novel based on sibling bond (🤫 let’s keep that between us, okay?)
But then, I found content marketing. Just in time. Phew.
And it turns out, successful content strategies thrive on magazine-level journalism.
Know how? With customer stories.
Now, before we dig deeper, let me clarify: customer stories aren’t case studies.
👉 Case studies satisfy the brain’s logical side.
👉 Customer stories, however, satisfy the cravings of your readers’ emotional side of the brain.
To do so, case studies have a typical, mostly predictable, spine: problem ➡ solution ➡ results.
And customer stories tap into elements of storytelling. Think: taking readers down the memory lane, through the emotional highs and lows — all while lighting up the internal cinema in the brain with descriptive language.
Both also convey different messages.
👉 Case studies = we want you to buy from us because we can drive so and so results for you.
👉 Customer stories = we’re a business, yes. But we also care for your entertainment.
You need both, of course.
So often, however, case studies make it to publication. Customer stories don’t.
Even though, they can grow your readership tremendously — including sales (directly or indirectly). Here’s how:
👉 They leverage storytelling, helping create unique content that’s not easily regurgitated (take that generative AI)
👉 They tug at your readers’ emotions, letting you build an engaged readership
👉 They let you naturally feature your product — all wrapped up in social proof
In short, customer stories are effective for converting readers into users by telling them who among their peers is using your tool and how.
Let’s see customer stories work with a teardown of a real story from the Dropbox blog.
The piece features Katherine Hill’s story of getting out of the comfy arms of a full-time job to build her business.
Follow along:
Come up with a promising headline
First, let’s just take a moment to adore the title — it promises a story (“how one woman created a dream career…”).
And dangles a carrot: “… without sacrificing her passions”
Reader reaction: tell me more!
Okay, we’ve clicked through, what’s next?
Begin with a hook that speaks to readers
What’s happening: The hook pulls readers in by describing the state the protagonist is in (“a bit bruised but not broken”).
Then instantly goes on to explain the battle Katherine is fighting — a war between two ooh-so-relatable enemies: “Follow Your Passion” and “Get a Real Job.”
Note: The story uses strong descriptive language to give personalities to the featured enemies, which instantly paints a picture in our minds.
Moving on.
Intro your customer, positioning them as a relatable hero
What’s happening: Now we have a formal introduction — but not the boring kind. Because we already know Katherine Hill is a relatable character.
And the target audience sees themselves in her, at least in some way. So they want to learn more.
The intro also takes us down memory lane, sharing how the protagonist presented herself at parties (“Hill decided to split herself in two…”)
Finally, just 2 short paragraphs later, we learn about the moment that changed everything — an opportunity that she’d either take or leave.
This tactic is called opening a loop, which encourages readers to scroll so they can know what happens next.
Share how far the hero has come
What’s happening: In the next few paragraphs, we learn what happens next (instant satisfaction after the scroll).
The best part though?
Those enemies — “Follow Your Passion” and “Get a Real Job” — make a comeback.
“While it would seem like Follow Your Passion won by TKO, now, nearly 10 years (and one identity crisis) later, Hill understands something she wants more creatives and solopreneurs to know: You don’t have to choose. You can do both—and then some.”
Also, see that: “... and one identity crisis later”
It’s keeping things very real because it’s hard not to have an identity crisis or two when building your business.
Plus, there’s a lesson weaved in subtly right there: “You don’t have to choose. You can do both—and then some.” Which is both inspirational and relatable (depending on where the target reader is in their journey).
Gives readers a peep into the hero’s life choices that led to their success
What’s happening: More world-building — starting with a relatable subheading.
And look at that descriptive language: “To understand, we have to roll back the tape a bit on Hill’s life.” ✨
The story then tells us about Katherine’s coaches, the people who played a role in her life — stuff that’s piquing our curiosity while holding our interest.
Now point out the hero’s struggles in their journey
Here comes the Dropbox mention smack in the middle of the story when readers are fully engaged.
The setup just before the product mention: discussing the hero’s business problems. This way, Dropbox fits in naturally as a solution.
(Read the underlined lines in the screenshot to see how that’s executed.)
Side note: this section also uses the before and after scenario to explain Dropbox’s impact.
“Instead of sending an email with a grainy video, it was like, I use this product for my business. In those very early days, it legitimized it,” Hill says.
All this in a customer’s words — 10/10 recommended.
Explain ‘how’ the protagonist uses your SaaS tool
What’s happening: The story now fast-forwards to Katherine’s struggles in growing her business.
The pain this time? Collaborating with her clients.
Again the solution: Dropbox.
Note that this is doing one thing really well besides explaining what Dropbox does and how the hero is using it: positioning the product as a reliable partner.
Because that’s what folks running businesses want, right? A reliable partner.
End with an inspiring lesson/takeaway
What’s happening: The story wraps up with a resonating message:
“It turns out following her passions allowed her to have the ‘peace of mind’ a ‘real job’ is supposed to afford.”
Those words are legit frame worthy — so powerful ✨
And there’s also an inspiring message in the last line from someone who has made it: “Pursue your creative endeavors, whatever they might be. Understand that you can be multifaceted.”
See, there’s no product sign-up CTA. It would’ve been outright salesy after a beautiful story.
So you now know why your content plan needs customer stories, right?
P.S. Need help writing these stories? Hit reply to this email and we’ll take it from there.
This is amazing! I have learned a lot through this letter. Thanks for writing it.
Amazing!! Thanks for going deep and showing us with examples.Cant thank you enough!!