Why Case Studies Are Great Marketing Tools

People Love to Hear StoriesDid you know humans spend half of their waking time

daydreaming? Our brains wander by nature, jumping from one thought to the next.

The challenge is this: what’s the best way to capture a wandering mind?

BY TELLING STORIES...

Case studies: An Expansion of the TestimonialCase studies allow businesses to:

Expand on a customer’s problem and explain how your business provided a solution.

Give potential customers a “sneak-peak” into what they would expect should they choose to buy your product or service.

Why Use Case Studies?

Storytelling as Content MarketingContent Marketing is a great way to educate existing and

future customers about your industry in relevant ways.

Case studies are unique in the way they combine storytelling with providing information relevant to your business.

While eBooks and guides are useful long-form content marketing types, case studies are unique in the way they combine storytelling with providing information relevant to your business.

Example: Let’s say you run a software company that helps teachers manage their rosters/lesson plans. You worked with an elementary school that had yet to embrace any technology in the classroom. After a set of teachers and administrators gave your product a try, they fell in love with the convenience and ease of use! Now the school is implementing your software school-wide and is convinced that the right technology can bring several benefits to the classroom.

Why would this experience be useful to share as a case study?

Storytelling as Content Marketing

Tool for PublicityA well-written case study can give your business exposure on

other outlets, such as:

Industry-specific LinkedIn groups.

LinkedIn Pulse

Slideshare

Social Media with infographics

Components of a Case Study

TitleStick with short or catchy titles. You can also state the client’s

achievements right off the bat.

Examples:

“Anti-Idling Program Slashes Fleet’s Fuel Costs”

“Programmatic Approach to Media Drives 20% Lift in Outcomes”

Summary/OverviewGive a brief overview of the client’s problem and show how your

business provided the solution.

Examples:

Nextopia simply highlights how it helped the client Afloral (“13% Increase in Conversion Through Search”).

Unified hints at how it helped an Auto Brand understand how many Facebook ad exposures were too many (“The Auto Brand was able to conduct an extensive study to uncover the magic number”).

ProblemAn in-depth look at the problem the client faced. What was

wrong? What had they tried before?

Examples:

With “Deep Sea Treasure: Dive Rite Discovers Content Marketing Opportunities” we learn that a diving equipment company was losing market share due to online sales.

In “The Tale of Nervous Nate: A Case Study for Business Owners,” we learn that Nate is concerned about his financial security for when he eventually sells his business.

SolutionAn explanation of how your business addressed the client’s

problems. What separates your product or service from the rest?

Examples:

With Dive Rite, we learn about the 7 steps taken for the shop to take back their once robust market share.

Magento describes in detail the updated features to the site of their client BookPal.

ResultsBefore and After - Concrete evidence that shows how your product or

service helped the client. How is the client better off?

Metrics are important here to quantify your contribution. Examples:

Dive Rite’s content strategy increased site traffic by 65% without increasing advertising spending.

Nate learned how he could accumulate $5 million of net worth outside his small business.

BookPal’s order volume increased 211% in less than 3 years.

Call to ActionYou should include a couple of sentences following the case

study that relates back to your product or service.

Examples:

The final paragraph of the Nervous Nate study encourages business advisors to contact them and learn more about their specialty.

Nextopia highlights additional services that can benefit clients (“Improving site performance and metrics isn’t the only benefit to implementing Nextopia…”).

Choosing Your Subject Client

Choosing Your Subject ClientThe client represents the target audience or has the target

problem you’re after or looking to resolve. This helps potential customers relate to the story that’s told in the case study.

The client is an established customer. This shows potential customers that you’re dedicated to establishing long-term relationships.

The client left a competitor for your business. This establishes your reputation as a leader in your industry.

The client is a well-known company that others would recognize. This establishes credibility (“If client X is working with this business, they must be good!”).

Best Practices for Publishing/Sharing Case Studies

Presentation of MaterialEnsure the copy itself is easy to read and follow.

Short, simple sentences are best.

Include bulleted points and lists.

Have a marketing team member or freelance writer prepare the case study.

Include numbers and metrics that demonstrate how your product or service helped the customer.

Example: Our elementary school case study might state the software product reduced time spent on writing lesson plans by 20%.

Supplement with Photos and VideosYou should break up your content with images and videos.

Examples:

Our party supply company could use photos of the caterer using their products at an event.

Our software company could include a video clip of a teacher talking about the benefits of their product.

These materials can also serve as featured content when sharing through social media!

Website PlacementPublish case studies on your home page.

This gives visitors the opportunity to immediately understand your business in a relatable way.

If you’re planning on publishing case studies on a regular basis, it’s a good idea to have a dedicated page to house them.

This allows visitors to easily search through past studies without having to sift through your blog and other published content.

ConclusionDid you know…

Google Analytics helped PBS increase conversions and visits by 30%

?

Twitter advertising tools helped Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery increase their following by 3000% and engagement by 104%

?

Amazon Web Services helped Slack achieve a multibillion-dollar valuation

?

Case studies help prove your value to potential customers and beyond. After all, if your company helped someone achieve success, wouldn’t you want to show off, too?

ConclusionRemember all humans daydream, including your potential customers. It’s up to you to grab their attention and not let go. What challenges do your clients face? What solutions do you provide?

It’s time to tell a story of your own…

Sourceshttp://www.getspokal.com/the-art-of-storytelling-in-content-marketing/

https://www.geotab.com/case-study/crown-uniform-linen-service/

https://www.dataxu.com/wp-content/uploads/DataXu_Ford_Auto_Outcomes_Case_Study_vf.pdf

http://www.nextopia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/afloral-ecommerce-casestudy-NETSUITE-PLATFORM.pdf

http://www.unified.com/case-study/CS_FB_Auto_Ad-frequency-recall.pdf

http://www.contentmarketinginstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DiveRite_CaseStudy1.pdf

Sourceshttps://www.linkedin.com/pulse/tale-nervous-nate-case-study-business-owners-patrick-ungashick?trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A397510291462813769302%2CVSRPtargetId%3A7046090374612730594%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimary&trk=vsrp_influencer_content_res_namehttps://magento.com/customers/case-studies/bookpal

https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en/us/analytics/customers/pdfs/pbs.pdf

https://business.twitter.com/en/success-stories/ferguson.html