Case studies are a common element of proposals, discussions and presentations. Most people just produce them without having a strategy behind the development of them.
You can use them on your website, even link to the client site if you are able. Think about what you want them to do – do you want visitors to be able to download them if they are more complex than a few paragraphs? Make sure you answer potential questions when developing your case study copy. Also include an overview of the challenges, obstacles, solutions and successes you encountered and stress that the solutions came from working together, not just from you as most companies claim!
Use this formula to make your case studies a powerful marketing tool.
- Tell a story, don’t simply state facts.
- Place the client’s success, not yours, at the centre of the case study.
- Define the problem and your role in solving it.
- Describe how you worked with the client to achieve results.
- Don’t overstate your role or the results – be honest.
- Keep them short – ask if every section is necessary and if you lose yourself when reading it back you can be sure a prospect will too – be ruthless and cut the copy!
- Offer qualified prospects the opportunity to talk to the company featured in the case study.