Most case studies follow a familiar format: problem, solution, results.

Senior decision makers expect and appreciate it. They can jump in, understand the impact of your solution, and continue the buying process.

The downside? It neglects the buyers who initially sparked the search for a solution. They need stories (not just stats).

What B2B buyers really need from social proof

Potential customers want case studies that share how their peers solved the same problems they now face.

By making your customers the “hero” of the story, other buyers in similar positions immediately relate.

Gallup research shows that 70% of buying decisions are based on emotion and justified with logic.

Your case studies must help purchasers invest emotionally and build trust, setting you apart from competitors.

For example, Grizzle write introductions for Smart Panda Labs’ case studies that drop you straight into their client’s shoes:

Engaging openers for the technical marketing agency’s case studies include:

• “As Director of Marketing, Julie Harju carried the weight of every empty seat”
• “SVP of Marketing Andrea Kazanjian inherited a premium brand with almost no digital presence”
• “CEO Mary-Lynn Clark was building up to a career-defining moment”

Buyers feel the stakes, relate to the challenges, and imagine achieving similar success—carving the path to faster purchasing decisions.

What is a hero-led case study?

A hero-led case study tells a compelling customer story while giving busy buying committees the snapshot they need to select you as a vendor.

It adds a deeper narrative layer to the tried-and-tested “problem → solution → results” framework.

Think of it as a pyramid:

• Data-led narrative (base tier). Share the challenge, how you solved it, and the ROI. Think broad brushstrokes for time-starved leaders.
• Customer story (middle tier). Explain why the data matters, how it made someone’s life easier, and why others evaluating your product should care.‍
• Multimedia elements (top tier). Build credibility with testimonial videos, graphs, and visuals. Help buyers connect with the story and overcome scepticism.

Together, these elements engage champions and make it easier for B2B buyers to make confident decisions.

Follow this eight-step process to create hero-led case studies that convert:

1. Tell the story from a human’s perspective

While your solution benefits an organization, speaking to your potential customer like a human with stresses and ambitions makes your message resonate more deeply.

Explain how you’ve made the person in the story’s job easier and how.

“Driving revenue” is great for business. But “securing a promotion” because of it is even better for the hero.

A human challenge (e.g. “I had to increase profitability without extra spend”) that you solve instantly heightens your product or service’s value. 

For example, Grizzle put CMO Dr. Patel at the heart of this Sully.ai case study.

Instead of focusing on Sully’s agentic AI, we built the narrative around what their customer wanted most: to improve patient care.

In another example, AdRoll’s case studies let customers describe their own challenges and wins: 

This first-person narrative is more engaging, credible, and trustworthy.

People buy from people. A story that shares someone’s struggles and successes is more memorable than one brand talking about another.

2. Find the right hero for your story

Find someone who genuinely loves your product and can speak to its real impact to create an authentic, persuasive case study.

In B2B, that isn’t always the final buyer. Sometimes it’s the end user or internal champion. 

Here’s where to find them:

• Customer reviews. Search G2 or Capterra for glowing write-ups that could become interviews.‍
• Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys. Reach out to customers who scored you a nine or 10.
• Social media. Use social listening to spot fans praising you on LinkedIn and X.
• Product usage data. Look for power users with high adoption or daily activity.

Once you’ve found your hero, make it easy for them to say yes.

• Ease concerns: Share sample stories and promise review rights before publishing.
• Respect time: Be clear on the process and minimize effort by handling the heavy lifting.
• Offer value: Highlight the exposure they’ll get or sweeten it with a simple incentive.

Counter objections upfront to speed up approvals. 

3. Specify the struggle so it’s relatable

Describe specific, human details that build tension and pull people into the story. Future buyers won’t care about your hero’s success unless they feel their pain first.

This is why it’s crucial to capture emotions in customer interviews. When frustration sounds genuine, it resonates more naturally.

Take Sully’s Hillside case study.

We could’ve written, “The staff were overworked and needed to boost productivity.” But that’s forgettable.

Instead, we focused on the human-led facts and struggles.

Dr. Patel’s team spent 3–4 hours a night catching up on work from home. The business was growing. Onboarding was becoming a burden. Staff were at breaking point.

Now, the story feels more personal. You can picture the exhaustion, pressure, and urgency to fix the problem.

If potential customers recognize themselves in your case studies, they’ll stick around to see how it gets solved.

4. Get the story before the stats

Start by uncovering what led to the “X hours saved” or “Y% increase”—what the customer was facing, feeling, and fighting for when they chose your product.

In hero-led case studies, numbers hit harder when you wrap them in a relatable narrative.

For example, we ask questions in our interviews like:

“What was happening in your day-to-day before things changed?”

This wording prompts the customer to reveal the frustration, pressure from leadership, and how finally finding a solution felt like relief.

It teases a commentary before the conclusive, “How much time did you save?”.

Here are some more examples of questions that draw that story out:

• What problem or pressure pushed you to find a solution?
• What wasn’t working before?
• What stood out about our product in your search?
• What’s changed for you or your team since adopting it?
• What moment made you realize it was working?

Send these questions in advance so customers have time to reflect.

You’ll get richer insights and a case study that connects on both emotional and business levels.

5. Bridge the problem and your solution

Always include the most persuasive point in your case study—the customer’s “aha!” moment of realization.

This turning point (when they knew something had to change) transforms pain into purpose, driving the story forward.

It also helps potential buyers connect the customer’s challenge to their own and see why your product or service makes sense.

For example, Dr. Patel needed a solution before care quality suffered and turnover increased:

AdRoll’s team hit a wall with Google display ads and knew they’d plateaued:

Holiday Inn Club Vacations trusted Smart Panda Labs from a past engagement, and leaned on that partnership when new goals emerged:

Each of these crossroad moments helps future buyers see themselves in the narrative.

Use them to reveal:

• What triggered the change
• Why your solution stood out
• The key factor that made a customer say “yes”

It’s subtle selling and differentiation, told through the hero’s perspective.

6. Explain exactly how your solution works

Walk through your solution step by step, so future buyers clearly see where the value lies.

Other SaaS brands merely summarize the outcome and results.

To stand out, show how your features, use cases, and solutions drive success. This keeps people engaged and builds trust in your approach.

For example, Semrush breaks down exactly how they increased BetterVet's traffic:

• Key focus area: “Fixing overall website health”
• Specific tactics: “Cleaning up errors and old redirects”

While Sully details how agentic AI eases Dr. Patel’s workflow:

• Action: “AI Scribe Agent creates real-time clinical documentation during appointments.”
• Outcome: “Dr. Patel’s practitioners no longer take work home. They’re more present and energized.”

The clearer your process, the easier it is for buyers to picture themselves experiencing it (and decision-makers to sign off on it).

7. Connect metrics to real impact

Pair every metric with the benefit it delivered to make results meaningful and finish the story you’ve got people invested in.

This small tweak turns raw data into evidence that your solution drives outcomes that future buyers care about.

Here are a couple of examples of how Grizzle ends Sully’s case studies:

Now, you should still include results and data in your headings to catch the buying committee’s eye.

For example, Pipedrive puts their most impressive numbers front and center:

But the sales software provider also ties data into the narrative to give it meaning:

‍“In the past five years, the business has grown at an average rate of 32% year-on-year, and revenue has tripled. Pipedrive has played a key role in this—not least by helping to develop a consistent number of leads and providing clear representation of each lead source.”

Finally, don’t overlook small wins.

For example, Airtable saving Taylor Guitars 4–5 hours weekly might seem modest. But for marketers, that time reclaimed is tangible and motivating.

8. Reinforce your story with testimonial videos

Testimonial videos make your case study more engaging, authentic, and trustworthy—letting future buyers see and hear your hero’s experience firsthand.

In fact, Wyzowl research suggests that 87% of people have been convinced to buy a product or service after watching all forms of video content.

For example, Grizzle produced this video testimonial of Nile Women’s Healthcare founder Dr. Hughan Frederick:

Our expert-led editing and production turn simple Riverside interviews into high-end testimonials.

You don’t need to arrange travel or complex shoots—our team can coordinate your customer from anywhere.

Similarly, data platform Census create compelling user stories from video calls:

These remote recordings deliver the same human connection and emotional credibility as on-site productions (without the hassle).

Here are some quick tips for more impactful testimonial videos:

• Prep the customer. Share framing, background (e.g., plants or a bookcase), and lighting tips. Reassure that pausing or redoing answers is fine—you’ll fix when editing.
• Prioritize good video and audio quality. Send equipment to customers if needed.
• Prepare before recording. Test lighting, audio, and framing before you start.
• Keep it conversational. Use questions as prompts, not scripts.
• Edit for brevity. Aim for ~2 minutes and focus on key soundbites.
• Make it inclusive. Add captions and annotations for clarity and accessibility.
• Add motion design and contextual B-roll. Use simple graphics and supporting visuals to keep the story engaging and dynamic.
• Prioritize satisfaction. Let the interviewee review the final video before publishing.
• Reuse the content. Recycle pull quotes and soundbites in social posts, blogs, email campaigns, landing pages, and retargeting ads.

This visibility helps your hero’s story spread further, build trust, and create internal champions.

Make your hero shine to inspire future buyers

A hero-led narrative puts your customer’s achievements front and center—showing how they used your solution (and guidance) to solve problems and deliver results.

In making them look good, you position yourself as the trusted sidekick.

Future buyers see the path to success clearly, making internal sign-off and adoption simple.

Want help creating hero-led case studies? Book a demo today and let’s talk.

Exit Five is a rare exception that 40K+ B2B marketers are excited to read.

In this post, you’ll learn five core principles from Head of Content, Danielle Messler, that you can copy to make your own newsletter more successful.

1. Write for one reader at a time to build relationships

Write each issue as if you’re sending it to one person you know, not a buyer persona, to make your newsletter feel personal.

While most B2B newsletters act like link dumps, Danielle treats every Exit Five issue as a relationship-building channel.

“Today, I’m writing an email for Chelsea because I know she’ll care about this topic. Tomorrow, it’s Amruta, who just started a job where she’s managing an 80-person marketing org.”

That small shift changes the tone instantly.

Each email is focused on solving a real problem that others are looking to solve.

Danielle’s writing feels human and conversational because she’s willing to share her own challenges, successes, and failures:

Most B2B newsletters never go there, which makes Exit Five’s stand out.

They send two newsletters each week:

• The Exit Five Weekly Newsletter (long-form strategic insights)
• Marketing Snack (bite-size tactics)

Both appeal to different reading styles. However, they follow the same relationship-driven approach to drive organic growth.

Subscribers get double the value from a single newsletter, and Danielle gets richer data to keep improving content.

By comparing long-form and bite-sized version performance, she can see:

• Themes that spark higher opens
• Formats earning the most clicks
• Where attention drops off

Those signals help Danielle fine-tune future issues, balance depth with speed, and prioritize the topics readers consistently crave.

2. Be transparent to drive trust and signups

Showing people what they’ll get from your newsletter before they subscribe removes skepticism and can increase sign-ups. 

Most B2B newsletters hide their content behind an opt-in form, which frustrates readers and makes them hesitant to opt in.

As Danielle explains:

“It’s a big ask. Our inboxes are packed with a lot of unwanted senders. To invite someone in, I think marketers have to prove why they deserve to get in the door.”

Exit Five overcomes skepticism by publishing previous issues on its newsletter landing page:

Framing the newsletter as a publication demonstrates what subscribers can expect.

It also makes it feel more thoughtfully produced with clear themes and consistent formatting, suggeting a higher editorial standard.

It also attracts the right audience: marketers who might later become community members.

This “try before you buy” approach:

• Builds trust
• Provides social proof
• Reduces perceived risk

All without adding extra work for the team.

Transparency upfront helps turn more curious readers into subscribers.

3. Give readers a clear, actionable takeaway in every email

To increase engagement and loyalty, every issue should offer practical advice that readers can apply immediately.

Danielle’s rule is:

“Make sure there’s something in your newsletter readers can learn today. Something they can implement in some way.”

Sometimes, that’s a tactical hack. Others, a strategic framework or insight from industry research.

For example, Danielle breaks down Mutiny CEO Jaleh Rezaei’s growth strategy:

Then, she explains exactly how readers can apply this strategy themselves:

To keep ideas fresh, Danielle turns to her audience and existing content to consistently deliver topics marketers care about.

Exit Five stays relevant and spots real pain points by:

• Listening to community feedback
• Monitoring trending conversations
• Repurposing proven content from LinkedIn posts, podcasts, or other channels

Then, Danielle frames every newsletter angle with a new perspective and practical steps.

Founder Dave Gerhardt labels it Exit Five’s “content flywheel”:

A post becomes a newsletter, fueling feedback that feeds future content. This creates a self-sustaining cycle of actionable insights.

So, ditch the vague summaries.

Instead, focus your newsletter on usable insights.

“Avoid regurgitating information. Add narrative and a new angle. ‘Dave talked with this person, and here’s what they said about making sure your positioning is clear instead of broad, and here’s how to do it.’”

Instead of simply reposting content:

• Extract the lesson from the original material
• Add context that explains why it matters or how it fits into a bigger picture
• Show readers how to apply it in their own work

That way, every email teaches something useful, keeps readers engaged, and gives them a reason to open the next issue.

4. Prioritize email replies to increase deliverability

Email responses are an opportunity to start two-way conversations with your subscribers and buyers. They also signal to email servers that recipients trust you with their inboxes.

While open and click-through rates matter, replies tell you who’s actually engaging while improving deliverability.

The simplest way to get replies is to ask for them.

Danielle includes value-led P.S. prompts to invite thoughts or reactions, which grabs the attention of readers who skim:

Exit Five often gets 30-40 replies per send. Almost unheard of in B2B.

Danielle has built this over time by replying to every message.

That personal touch builds trust and deepens relationships.

According to Dave Gerhardt:

“One other thing I love is Danielle's ‘PS’ tactic...super unscalable, right? She's going to email everyone the link to the article she mentioned? Yep. She will. And that's exactly why it works.”

Email automation is still crucial for B2B marketers. But it can’t replicate the human connection that spurs loyalty and advocacy.

5. Use curiosity-driven subject lines to increase opens

Exit Five’s most opened subject lines hint at relevant value within emails but withhold key details to boost open rates.

Zero Bounce research shows people are more interested in emails from work, friends, and family or brand discounts.

Relevance and subject lines are the top motivators for people opening brand emails:

To improve open rates, Danielle creates a “curiosity gap” with her subject lines:

“The art of storytelling is withholding information, but you also want to give them just enough that they know it’s valuable.”

She pulls readers in by promising a payoff without giving it away:

• “Here’s what to do when you’re not the subject matter expert”
• “The mindset shift that helps marketing leaders move faster”

Honesty is the key to making these work. Your subject line must set a realistic expectation that’s fully delivered in your email.

Exit Five’s subject lines avoid clickbait. That consistency creates an expectation with readers that they can trust them to deliver value in future issues.

One way to write better subject lines is to study emails that you open.

Make observations in length, tonality, and psychological principles at play.

For example, you might open an email with the subject line: “The one shift that doubled our pipeline”.

Adapt this to your own emails.

For example, a product analytics brand might try: “The small shift that improves your onboarding flow”.

Track open rates over time to see which hooks resonate best with your audience.

Reward people’s curiosity with real value and watch engagement compound over time.

Start now instead of striving for perfection

Successful B2B newsletters show up consistently, write for humans, and share actionable insights.

You don’t need to nail the perfect format on day one. As Danielle says, you only figure out what works by getting reps in.

Start small, iterate fast, and improve with every issue.

Need help creating a newsletter people actually enjoy? Book a call today and let’s chat.

Done right, you can build an engaged audience of loyal fans and customers. The trick is to: 

• Post valuable content consistently—both single tweets and threads 
• Interact with your audience in the comments, rather than scheduling posts and walking away

This strategy will help you build an audience and brand awareness at speed while attracting new leads and users who have problems you can solve.

Here’s why investing in your Twitter presence is effective for growth and lead generation, and how to write content that generates reach, engagement, and leads.

Why Twitter is an audience and revenue-generating machine

When you build a community around your brand (both business and personal), your credibility compounds and improves your brand equity because people see you as a human rather than a faceless entity.

This awareness helps you attract fans that are eager to pay attention to what you have to say because your content resonates with them. 

As you consistently provide helpful content, you’ll build authority and credibility—just like you would from any other content marketing channel. 

The key is to stop thinking of Twitter as a repurposing platform and start thinking about it as a  channel to create original content. It’s a content platform with its own ecosystem and search engine. It’s more than a digital billboard for your latest article, event, or announcement—a mindset that severely undermines its potential for attracting your audience.

You wouldn’t post a blog that says “We wrote a new thread on quality content so go check it out on Twitter” with a link. Yet, that’s exactly what some businesses use Twitter to do. This strategy doesn’t work because it’s outdated, cumbersome, and neglects how people want to digest information on the platform.

Users want content served to them directly on the platforms they’re logged into. Non-native content disrupts the intended user experience and breaks a pattern. Unless given a compelling reason to click away, they want platform-specific content.

Amanda Natividad, VP of Marketing at SparkToro, coined the term zero-click content to describe that, now more than ever, people crave in-platform content without needing to interrupt their consumption habits.

SparkToro’s data (as well as our own) show that platforms and algorithms favor in-platform content: 

It’s obvious why algorithms prefer it; they want to keep people on their platforms. 

But people also expressly favor high-quality native content because it allows them to:

• Engage with brands where they already are (clicking away can feel cumbersome)
• Experience non-intrusive messaging (CTAs and external links can feel out of place)
• Actually read what’s put in front of them (links are often overlooked or not read)

On that last point, the data is fascinating. A study from Columbia University found that 59% of social media links shared by news domains aren’t clicked on at all.

Furthermore, HubSpot looked at 2.7 million link-containing tweets and found that there is no correlation between retweets and clicks. This means that people will retweet something without even reading it, which aligns with the Columbia findings.

The data makes our jobs as marketers seem bleak, but that's only true if you treat Twitter like a place to simply distribute content. When you tack a link onto the tail end of platform-specific content it will only drive traffic if:

• You’ve spent time sharing native content without links and built an engaged audience on the platform
• You do it sparingly (the 80/20 rule is a good true north for articles)

Not all links are created equal, so the 80/20 rule doesn’t always apply. A link to a blog post is different from a link to a newsletter signup form, for example. The former requires a decent time commitment while the latter is a quick action. 

As such, newsletter CTAs or forms can be tacked onto most posts, preferably a few hours after you share them. This works to:

• Bring your post to the top of people’s feeds again (additional tweets in a thread can trigger the algorithm to ‘reshare’ it)
• Provide a key window of time for native-only content to be consumed 

For example, I created native content almost exclusively in my first four months on Twitter and grew my audience from ~500 to ~14k. 

Because of this, by the time I promoted an article, people were eager to not only click but spend time reading it. In 24 hours, we generated::

• 233 pageviews
• 214 unique pageviews
• 4:48 average time on page

My goal was to build my credibility to a point where people believed me when I said “read this: it's worth your time.” This experiment proved successful and my links now generate clicks, leads, and new clients.

Both threads and single tweets are critical to growth

Single tweets are important and should be incorporated into your content strategy. But love them or hate them, threads tend to have a bigger reach (and impact).

Use threads to expand organic reach

Check out the difference in impressions between a single tweet of mine vs. a thread with only 100 more likes (the higher the like count, the less impactful differences of hundreds become):

These were posted one day apart, which means I was reaching a similar audience. 

While the thread only got 100 more likes, it received ~65,000 more impressions, was shared ~2x more times, and got ~2x more engagement.

Threads generally perform better because they’re educational in nature and help people solve problems. Whether you’re teaching people how to do something or telling a story of success or failure, your audience is learning as they read and taking notes on how to apply the tips to their own circumstances. 

Because of this, your audience will likely be more engaged and keen to retweet and share with their network. Twitter rewards engagement (i.e. comments and retweets), meaning reach compounds.

Think of threads like long-form articles for Twitter, written with a blend of copywriting and content writing styles.

Let’s return to the thread I mentioned earlier that linked to our Quality Content Marketing Matters article at the end and break down why it was successful.

Here are the analytics:

Over 100k impressions and 2k+ engagements is a great result and led directly to that spike in pageviews and time on page referenced above.

I repromoted the same article a few days later in a single tweet with a link and it got 100+ likes but generated nearly 100K fewer impressions than the thread:

The thread drove more engagement, and more readers to my article, generated several leads, and expanded my personal (and subsequently Grizzle’s) brand awareness.

Use single tweets to bolster engagement and show your personality

As for single tweet formats, quick tips, pieces of expertise, or questions to your audience can drum up tons of engagement even if the reach isn’t always as impressive. 

For example, this single tweet asking a question about writing and editing sitting vs. standing got ~14k impressions and generated 67 comments:

And this tweet listing my article writing process (that ended with a question to inspire engagement) drummed up over 1,000 likes and 60+ comments:

We recommend replying to most comments because it shows your audience that you’re a real person and not some unreachable entity. 

This is key for both personal and business brands: when you engage and respond, you personalize the experience and build deeper connections. The deeper your connections, the more loyal your audience will be. 

Critically, they’ll also feel more motivated to learn about the business you run or represent and consider becoming a customer. Meaningful connections through personal interactions build trust, and Twitter is a touchpoint along the customer journey (both before and after an initial purchase). 

The more valued people feel, the more likely they are to add you to the consideration set and feel motivated to explore a purchase. As long as you’re delivering value, consistently publishing tweets and threads will generate awareness, leads, and new business.

As for a posting cadence, we recommend the following: 

• 2x threads a week to teach and bolster engagement
• At least 2x single tweets a day to remain consistent and please the algorithm (which rewards daily activity)

Note that if you do miss a day or two you’ll be fine. Quality wins over quantity, and we’ve not seen notable drops in engagement because of it.

How to write valuable Twitter posts that build compounding credibility 

Twitter content isn’t the same as blog articles, emails, landing pages, or ebooks. It’s also not the same as other social platforms like LinkedIn or Instagram. 

You only have 280 characters to work with, so it’s uniquely concise and people scroll and skim at lightning paces.

Let’s look at how to craft engaging threads first.

The most valuable threads capture and hold attention

A great thread starts with a great hook. People want to know:

• Why they should bother reading
• How it will help them solve a problem
• What they will learn

If you don't answer these questions, they won't care or feel motivated to click into it and read.

A great way to capture attention is to poke at a pain point, add credibility via quantifiable proof (numbers perform well), get specific with outcomes, and end with a cliffhanger:

• Poking at the pain lights up emotions and gives readers something to relate to, e.g. “Most people get this wrong” or “I was struggling and wish I had a playbook to follow”. 
• Adding credibility acts as social proof and gives people a reason to care or trust what you’re saying, e.g. “I’ve edited 3M+ words” or “We’ve spent 7 years building systems that have netted $5,000,000 revenue”. 
• Getting specific with outcomes allows readers to picture what they can accomplish themselves by reading, e.g. “ensure your new employee stays at your organization” or “3x conversions in 90 days”.
• Leaving a cliffhanger encourages people to click to find out what’s next. This is especially key if your thread is a listicle. For example, if the crux is “8 ways to X”, don’t include what those are in the hook—make the reader click more to see more.

A bad hook makes it all about you and doesn’t leave anything up to the imagination. 

Here are a few examples of strong hook formats:

1. [Opinionated state of play]. [Data]. [Poke at pain]. What to do? [Opinionated solution]. Here's how:

2. As a/an [personalized descriptor] I [pain point] with [trend]. So, I did [descriptor of event] to learn [outcome]. Here are X takeaways:

3. Hot take. [Thought-provoking opinion on trend]. I've [take on future of trend]:

4. [State of play]. But [pain point]. Why (and what to do instead):

5. [Opinion]. Stance on [bad take]. I’ve spent [social proof + timeframe] to achieve [outcome]. The playbook:

These hooks are intriguing, specific, and open a loop that makes you curious about what’s inside.

Once you capture people’s attention, you need to keep it and make the juice worth the squeeze.

You want readers to:

• Easily understand your points
• Experience zero friction
• Stay interested throughout

To do that: 

• Share unique insights
• Add the "why" and "how"
• Get creative
• Pay attention to structure

Strong content marketing principles apply to thread writing. The best threads set context, add examples, include prescriptive tips, tell a great story, give the reader instructions on how to do something themselves, and leave them with an action item (e.g. click this link, follow me, and/or retweet to share).

On Twitter, white space is critical—especially when using a listicle format that has dedicated headers. Still, even bold, opinionated, and storytelling content benefits from white space on Twitter.

Generally, this format works best:

• Header: Set the stage
• Subheader: Answer “the why”
• Body: Supplement your argument and answer “how”
• Takeaway: Empower them to follow your advice and give them a reason why it will help them help themselves.

Here’s how this format looks with white space separators:

Here’s a meta example of how you could use this format to explain why this advice will help people write stronger Tweets:

• Header: “Answer intent right away”
• Subheader: “This way, the reader understands why what they're about to read matters.”
• Body: “Include data points or personal anecdotes so the reader can picture themselves doing what you’re describing.”
• Takeaway: “Small tweaks like this make a big impact on flow and drive engagement.”

And here’s a simplified version of how we could format a tweet when giving the advice “break up long walls of text”:

• Header: “Break up long walls of text” 
• Subheader: “White space helps skimmers and makes content easier to digest & navigate.” 
• Body: “Try to limit paragraphs to 2-3 sentences max.”
• Takeaway: “The reading experience matters as much as the words on the page.” 

Add your CTA to the final tweet in the thread. Here’s what my thread CTA looked like when I promoted the Quality Content Marketing article referenced above:

This only worked because it was tacked onto original content, formatted for Twitter, and referenced themes discussed in the article.

Here’s the hook I used:

Nothing was copy/pasted. The best-performing repurposed content on Twitter doesn’t feel repurposed—it feels tailored to the unique Twitter experience.

Here’s an example of a body tweet from this thread where I explain what editorial goals are:

Here’s how we talk about editorial goals in the article itself:

Notice how the examples I picked are completely different. In the article, our target audience is marketers that would benefit from seeing what a relevant content goal looks like.

On Twitter, my audience is a mix of content marketers, writers, and editors looking to improve their written communication skills.

I tailored each example to the audience at hand and structured the content to the format at play. It’s not repurposed; it's reimagined.

Interestingly, I chose to include a second hook in this thread:

And it got 3x more likes than every other body tweet:

That’s because frontloading value, credibility, and getting ahead of objections works well on Twitter. 

In my first hook, I argue that quality content is important but I don’t explain why. To get ahead of objections and prove my point, I used the second tweet to prove:

• I know what I’m talking about
• Here are all the reasons why quality matters
• I’m about to back this up with specifics so keep reading

If the reader wasn’t entirely hooked after reading tweet 1, they certainly are after tweet 2.

This second hook is also a perfect single tweet. Here’s why.

How to write single tweets that drive engagement

The reason why the second hook above performed so well is because it teaches and is uniquely structured for the platform.

Notice how the sentence length cascades from long to short as you read from top to bottom. This is visually engrossing and works to capture attention.

But not every tweet needs to be so obviously structured for the platform. 

This quick tip performed well because it poked at a common pain point (everybody wants to make it big, fast), gave advice backed by years of experience, and spoke truth to unrealistic expectations:

Humorous responses to industry trends or new data are also a great way to start a conversation and let your personality shine through:

What B2B marketer hasn’t seen that infographic by now? It’s relatable and makes you want to run to leave a comment.

In general, single tweets give you a chance to demonstrate your personality. They also challenge you to share valuable advice in a short format—which is excellent practice for cutting fluff and redundancy from your writing.

There’s no “perfect” format for single tweets, nor should there be. As long as they’re tailored towards your target audience, you can get creative, share opinions, ask engaging questions, and have a little fun:

The more relatable and resonating, the bigger chance you’ll strengthen existing connections and attract new followers (that may turn into customers one day).

Ignore Twitter and leave relationships on the table

Since joining Twitter we’ve attracted and converted more leads at Grizzle in a shorter period of time than ever before.

All through organic posts and zero targeted outreach.

Posting daily and providing value has shown potential clients that we know how to create quality content. 

If you’re sleeping on Twitter or annoyed by how clickbaity and regurgitated content there can feel, you’re ignoring its massive potential. When you mute the noise and focus on your personal and business growth, you build strong relationships that lead to new business opportunities. 

Of course, if the idea of doing it yourself is too painful or you don’t have time, you can also work with experts to write social content for you.