When considering a new brand, a prospective client always faces a level of uncertainty. To minimize risk, expect the prospect to do their homework researching your company. This includes clicking through your website and carefully reading online reviews and testimonials. We’ve already shared our tips on leveraging the power of client testimonials, but for maximum impact, take it a step further and start assembling some case studies.
In fact, according to WyzOwl, 9 out of 10 people say they trust what a customer says about a business more than what that business says about itself. That means most prospects rely on their peers to make important purchasing decisions to ensure their time and money are well-spent.
What is a Case Study?
A case study is a standalone analysis of how a customer used your products or services to overcome an obstacle, along with the outcome. Case studies provide social proof that your organization effectively solves problems and yields positive results.
Think of case studies like stories that make the case for your organization. The most compelling chapters in your brand’s story most likely portray the customer journey. As with any good story, there is a main character (your customer) who is faced with a challenge and, with your help, succeeds in the end.
In the high consideration finance industry, true accounts of client success are a critical element in branding and marketing. Case studies are especially effective in 2 distinct ways:
- Building existing customer loyalty. Working with satisfied customers to create a case study on their experience provides both an opportunity for continued interaction and the chance for the customer to reaffirm why they chose your business in the first place and why they should continue to do so.
- Earning prospective customer trust. Incorporating stand-alone testimonials into a case study alongside tangible data turns a customer’s words into a clear picture of what was accomplished and how. It offers transparency into your process and gives prospects a sense of what they can expect working with your company.
Gather information from your customers by asking pertinent questions and allowing them to express their thoughts and feelings about their experiences. Demonstrate the success of your business by highlighting some of your most successful clients and developing a plan of how you work with them. However, these stories should be part of your content strategy and crucial to your client acquisition process. This will go a long way towards fostering your prospects’ trust in your brand and moving them to the finish line.
How to Create an Effective Case Study Approach
In a well-presented case study, you’ll want to provide background on a specific client, the problem to solve, the steps you took to solve it, and the results yielded. Here are the six specific parts of an effective case study:
- Clear Headline. Make sure it’s catchy and captures the most essential information.
- Brief Overview. This should be a quick snapshot of the client’s background and industry, your product or service used, and an enticing result point.
- Challenges. What was the client’s problem or goal, and what are the potential consequences of not achieving the goal? Try to include direct quotes in this section.
- Solution. How did the client find you, why did they choose you, what resolution did they utilize, and how did you approach implementing the solution? Incorporate client quotes.
- Results. Detail the results of your approach and the benefits to the client. Again, you’ll want to share direct quotes here.
- Conclusion. Wrap it up and include any additional praise or advice the customer may have for others facing similar challenges.
How to Use Your Case Study as a Marketing Asset
Now that you’ve collected data and spent time creating your case study, it’s time to share it. There are several ways to do so.
- Marketing & Sales Emails. Business case studies can play a critical role during the consideration stage of the buyer’s journey. So, making downloadable PDF versions of your research available from your marketing and sales teams is essential. These can be attached to one-to-one sales emails, incorporated into your marketing newsletters, and even added to your email signature.
- On Your Website. Ideally, you should have a standalone page on your website devoted to presenting these studies — you can see how we do so here. You can also find additional places (like a services page or your homepage) to work in testimonials and calls-to-action that link to the case studies page.
- Multi-Purpose Content. Just because your case study has been published doesn’t mean you should stop writing about it. Reworking this content into other formats offers a chance to amplify the story. This could be done by creating blog articles, videos, or social media posts about your study.
There are a few things to remember as you start writing your case study. First and foremost, make sure it is easy to understand and relatable. Also, remember that you’re not writing an ad or a press release. Instead, you want to focus on your customer and the journey they experienced. The better you make your customer look, the better you will look as a direct result. Finally, stick to the facts and keep it about the customer’s success; you’ll succeed, too.
Looking to take your client development to the next level? Let’s Have a Conversation!
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About the Author: Carolyn Beatty
Carolyn Beatty is the Client Services Manager at Gate 39. She fosters ongoing relationships with clients by combining open communication, transparency, empathy, and geniality in all interactions. In addition to managing client services and marketing projects, Carolyn also handles content creation for Gate 39's blog, newsletters, and social media.
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