How to write user stories to make them attractive?

When writing a product introduction, user cases are usually involved. Bad user cases will cause users to complain, while excellent user cases can greatly increase users' trust in the product and their desire to buy. So how should user stories be written? You won’t go wrong if you master the following 3 points.

User cases are common promotional materials, and they are always present in product brochures or soft-text promotions . User cases can largely solve the user trust problem and increase the credibility of the product through practical examples.

But user cases are definitely a technical job, especially in the writing of product soft articles. Excellent user cases can enhance brand credibility and sales conversion , while bad user cases may only cause complaints.

Here I will talk about how to write a good user case:

First of all, we need to clarify a question: What is the role of user stories/user cases?

Generally speaking, user stories need to solve the following three problems:

1. Create a favorable impression of the product

When consumers see user stories, they usually already have a rough idea of ​​your product description. The consumer's favorability towards your brand at this moment determines his subsequent purchase or departure behavior.

There is a psychological principle here: logic comes after emotions. If your consumer has a favorable impression of your product, he will use logic to verify his emotional judgment, and vice versa.

However, it is difficult to arouse consumers’ emotions through the functional description of the product, just like when you read an instruction manual, you will not get more excited the more you read. However, the empathetic experience packaging through user cases can bring consumers closer to the product, thereby gaining brand favor.

2. Solve product trust

Consumers will never trust products or brands they have not purchased, and user cases can largely solve the product trust problem.

The essence of user cases is to convey information about the product's advantages. What problems the product can solve is what consumers care about most, and this is also the key to solving product trust. What is the main function of the product, and to what extent and what achievements have consumers made by utilizing this function.

3. Promote product sales

The payment stage is always the stage with high user churn . The last problem to be solved is the sales conversion problem. In many cases, consumers recognizing your product and purchasing your product are two completely different things.

Whether it is a public relations article or a user review, the user case connects the product and the user. It can be said that it is a material with a natural sales nature and is used as an auxiliary sales tool . If it cannot provide conversion, it is a failed user case.

Next, let’s look at how to write user cases based on the above three points.

A general story structure template

Before we begin, we need to introduce a story template called "The Hero's Journey". Because a user story is essentially a statement of a story, a story about users and products. Almost all human stories follow the “Hero’s Journey” story template. The "Hero's Journey" story template comes from "The Hero with a Thousand Faces", a book by the mythologist Joseph Campbell. This book has become a must-read for novelists, screenwriters and other story content creators.

Simply put, a complete story will be divided into 12 components, and each part contains the real and psychological changes of the characters.

When we write user stories, we don’t need to write them as large as scripts or novels, but the basic path remains the same:

Background introduction - Problems arise - Frustrations arise - Use the product - Solve the problem - Improve life

Of course, each section can be divided into more detailed plots. If you are writing a soft article about a user story or a WeChat tweet about user use cases, you will need to make more segments in the content to enrich the details. But not only user cases, but even excellent product reviews have a complete story structure.

Let’s take a look at how to solve the above three problems through user cases:

1. How to arouse favorable impression of the product?

The way to induce liking is to activate the experience of empathy. First of all, you have to make me feel that what you are saying is related to me, and the users in your article are my incarnations. Only with a sense of immersion can you arouse resonance; secondly, the problems faced by the users in the case are indeed what bothers me.

1. Accurate user portrait

Clarifying the user portrait is the first step in writing a user case. If a product is already on sale, you can use data analysis to find typical users. If it is not yet on sale, you can look for the target user portrait based on the product demand level. This is also the basic skill that must be done before product design.

But user stories are very specific cases, so we need to build user portraits. This method is widely used in traditional advertising and marketing . An important part of traditional advertising is to create several sets of user portraits, and then create a series of character manuscripts through copywriting and design.

A simple comparison between user portraits and user photos is as follows:

User profile:

60% of them are from first- and second-tier cities, with a male-to-female ratio of 6:4, and their ages are concentrated between 25 and 30. Their main income range is 8,000-15,000 yuan, and they are mainly concentrated in the fields of finance and real estate.

User photo:

Ms. Chen, 27 years old, is a marketing planner for a large real estate company. She has a monthly income of 10,000 yuan and is at the rising stage of her career. She likes new things, is willing to try various new products and likes to challenge herself. I am keen on participating in social activities, like food, charity, and sports, and I am full of expectations for the future.

User portraits are rich in details, and all kinds of details are linked to the product and brand spirit. The method for constructing user portraits is generally through in-depth interviews with users. If conditions are not met, it can also be conducted through small-scale surveys.

2. Discover the pain points of different types of users

The user portraits you build need to represent the mainstream user groups of the product, so the users in the cases should face the same problems in life as well as the pain points in product usage.

For example, if the product I sell is a water cup, then the convenience of the drinking experience, testing whether the water quality is healthy, and reminding people to drink water every day may all be user pain points. However, filling many cups with water and playing them as musical instruments is not a major pain point. If it is included in the user case, it is a waste of sales tools.

Although it is interesting to use a water cup as a musical instrument, and it may attract users to click and watch, this is not the function of the user case as a sales tool, because the reading scenario of the user case is a sales scenario. Interesting user content should be used as material for content operation and brand exposure.

2. How to solve product trust?

Highlighting the product's problem-solving capabilities through user cases, many people think that it's not difficult to just say that users used the product and solved the problem. This is easy to say but easy to make mistakes when writing. Usually you need to pay attention to the following two points:

1. Main selling points to solve core problems

In the user case, the user encountered a dilemma and could not find a solution, which caused trouble to the user's life, but a certain performance of your product helped him solve the problem smoothly. The key to user cases is that your product’s main performance is the key to solving the problem, and your product is the “core prop”.

If you are selling water cups, and your main selling point is the ability to measure water quality, then your user case should be: a user is concerned about the health of drinking water, and other products cannot solve the problem, but your water cup can automatically detect and solve this problem.

It should not be: users are worried about the health of drinking water, other products cannot solve the problem, your cup is made of environmentally friendly and harmless materials, which is healthier and more environmentally friendly.

For example, if you sell laundry detergent that removes stains, the user case will be centered around removing stains better than others; if you sell laundry detergent that does not damage clothes, the user case will be centered around not damaging clothes.

Otherwise, replacing the concept will cause logical deviations in many user cases. Simply put, the main function of your product solves the most core problem.

2. Product effect comparison should be clear

Just like doing scientific experiments, product usage requires removing interference factors to show that your pain points are solved by the product.

For example, if I am promoting a weight loss product, the user case is that they couldn’t lose weight no matter how hard they tried exercising, but they finally lost weight after using your product and dieting. This does not actually mean that the product is useful, because two variables appear before and after - using the product and dieting, and users cannot be persuaded when making rational decisions.

If you think it’s easy to spot the logical flaw in the example above, here’s a harder one to spot. The user case is that a person couldn't lose weight by exercising, but later he not only exercised but also used the product, and finally lost weight.

It seems that there is nothing wrong with it. I didn't use the product before, but I used it later, which shows that the product really helps in losing weight. But in fact, if you think about it carefully, you will find the problem. The reason for weight loss may be the effect of long-term exercise, not necessarily the effect of the product.

A more rigorous approach would be to compare with others in the same situation. Others used the product and lost weight, but you did not. Later, you used it again and lost weight as well. This can fully prove the slimming effect of the product.

3. How to promote product conversion

In addition to the user stories being written in provocative language to promote conversions, the deeper question that needs to be addressed is why is it so important to solve this pain point? Why choose me?

1. Highlight the changes that the product brings to your life

Whether it is a public relations article or a user case in a business description, the ultimate goal of the product is not the details, but the improvement of life. In other words, it is necessary to reflect the changes in users' lives after using the product. That’s why solving that product pain point is crucial.

For example, when selling water cups that test water quality, the ultimate goal is not to convey that users can drink healthy water, but that they no longer have to worry about drinking water safety. What they are buying is the reassurance about their health that brings changes to their lives.

Another example is slimming products. What users ultimately buy is not the weight loss itself, but the confidence in their appearance and health after losing weight, which in turn increases their attractiveness. This can make a big difference in their lives.

Most user stories end with just the product solving the problem itself, but don’t think deeply about the changes the product brings to life. That ideal living state is the ultimate pursuit of users.

2. Highlight differentiated advantages

Only by highlighting product differentiation can we solve the question of why consumers choose me. There are three aspects of differentiation: one is functional differentiation, one is experience differentiation, and the third is products exceeding expectations.

• Functional differentiation: mainly the product's unique technology, functional parameters, materials, service life and other hard strengths.
• Differentiation of experience: mainly lies in soft power such as industrial design, appearance packaging, ease of use, maintenance frequency, and after-sales service.
• Products exceed expectations: In addition to these two points, you can also introduce experiences that exceed expectations to highlight differentiation. For example, if I originally just wanted to lose weight, your product not only helped me lose weight, but also recommended daily healthy diet recipes and fitness information services to me, which exceeds user expectations. But that’s the icing on the cake of the user story, not the main point.

The above basically goes over the writing structure and logic of user cases, which is mainly aimed at soft copywriting, but in fact the routines are similar. By applying the story structure template and adding the key points for solving the three major problems, it should be no problem to output qualified user cases. I hope it will be helpful to everyone's work.

The author of this article @郑卓然 is compiled and published by (Qinggua Media). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting!

Product promotion services: APP promotion services, advertising platform, Longyou Games