Do you know your audience for a technology success story? (Photo: Thinkstock)
When you write about complicated topics like technology, success stories are an especially useful tool. That’s because success stories are the perfect way to show rather than tell.
First and foremost, technology content writers must remember their audience. Are you writing for consumers? Or is this a B2B piece? Are you writing for highly technical people or non-technical decision-makers? Remember: Not everyone who works in technology is highly technical. Some audiences might care about the benefits; others might care more about the features.
As you’re thinking about the success story you want to tell, consider the following format:
1. Talk about the problem. Was the customer experiencing lots of downtime? Not enough storage? Lacking a disaster recovery solution? If possible, include metrics. How many hours of productivity were being lost? How many dollars in possible lost revenue?
2. Describe the solution. Why was this the best option? How did it specifically address the pain points? How much time did deployment require? How much effort did it take to implement this solution? What did it cost?
3. Share the results. Qualitative and quantitative results are both useful here. So, certainly feel free to share a quote about how awesome the fix was. But at the end of the day, numbers talk. What was the cost savings? How many hours are being saved? How much did productivity increase? What can the company achieve as the result of newly found resources as a result of this solution?