What is a case study?
A case study is a powerful testimony that tells a clear story of how your services have made an impact. Case studies help you to connect with people and show the lives already affected by work that you’ve completed. They demonstrate why the work needed to be undertaken, what it was that was done to solve the problem, and the results. If completed well, it’s this approach section that will make you stand out from others in your market and showcase why your approach is an attractive one. The result section of the case study shows the impact that your work had. The case study is made all the more powerful if the client is happy to give you a quote, helping to build trust in your brand.
Why use case studies?
They are a powerful tool in raising awareness of your brand to a new audience. Many businesses rely on referrals to bring them in new business, and yet there’s only a certain amount of people that you’re going to be able to connect with in person. By using case studies, you can show the impact that your work has had, and share it with a wider audience.
Some tips on how to use case studies
Tip 1 – Have a dedicated case studies page on your website to showcase your skills to potential clients. By ordering these into groups of interest areas you can help people find the case studies that are most relevant to them.
Tip 2 – Structure it clearly – break it down into clear sections. A potential client needs to see engaging headlines with a few illustrations, not a blow by blow account of 6 months of work. This will inundate them. As with the 7 tips for mobile video blog from last month, we come to 5 key questions – who, why, what, when and how? Don’t be afraid of asking a client for a quote either. It’s a good idea to do this at the project delivery – when the client hasn’t quite filled up their next ‘to do’ list and is busy with other things. Quotes are invaluable – a quote from a happy client really helps too in building trust with new ones.
Tip 3 – Put some case studies on the homepage of your website and also include a call to action. This changes the audience’s intention from passive observer into considering taking action. A call to action encourages the audience to interact with you and find out more.
Tip 4 – Case studies can take different forms and it’s great to include a mix of these in your content strategy. Different people learn in different ways, and so, if all the case studies are written, you’ll ignore the visual learners. But vice versa would be the same effect too. Video, written, photos, graphics – a case study can be told in many ways. Once you have the key ingredients, the information can then be used in a number of ways across various platforms.
Tip 5 – Build a bank of evergreen content. Evergreen content is content to which you can keep returning to. It provides a source for when quotes are needed for (amongst others) pitches, stories for email marketing campaigns, general use on social media and specific campaigns. The aim is to create a bank of stories that can be used to build up trust both within your organisation and also its external audience. We really can’t stress enough that, if a case study is researched well, it can far out last the original piece of content that it was created for. This can be presented in written, audio or video form. Good photos also help to elevate a case study.
Summary
So, in summary, case studies are great ways of showcasing your previous work and increasing trust for prospective clients. When told well, they are powerful stories that show the expertise and great work that your brand can achieve.
