We love case studies right?  It gives us, the provider, an opportunity to show and tell for our customers.  You get to “show off” your best work AND explain both the functionality and benefits. For example,  you walk into a cellphone store searching for the perfect product to replace your current cell phone.  As you look through several phones, styles, features etc. a store employee walks up to you and offers his assistance. He proceeds to give you the spill on the latest trends and benefits, but then he also helps you narrow down your search results by asking poignant questions that sway you to a single cell phone style/type.  He then demonstrates the capabilities of how the phone works which then produces the results you requested in your initial encounter.  Yep, he got you!

With a solid case study, we have the ability to show customers real results.  We also have the ability to sway a potential customer’s decision by making a case, using examples and mitigating risk factors.

A great case study can turn potential customers into new customers and if delivered properly, have the potential to be a long-term mutually beneficial partnership.

So what are the key prudent takeaways to developing a case study that your potential customer can love?  Every case study MUST do the following:

Save Your Business Time and Money

If done properly, case studies can be very inexpensive.  If you have content that you have been saving and can recycle, that’s a great place to start.  We found this approach to be extremely effective and we can deliver a large amount of information in a short period of time with limited resources. This is a great starter for small businesses seeking to build their customer base as knowledge expert.

Put Your Customer Success on Display

We love the idea of delivering a case study that displays what our customers have achieved or gained.  Potential customers are way more fond of what you have produced for others rather than brag about what you have done.  Your strategy is to have your potential customers see themselves with your product/services.  A case study can do that nicely. When developing your case study think reciprocity.  What you include about your customers, products or services, a reader can then circulate to their contacts — who then may become potential customers.  It’s the gift that keeps on giving.  Everyone want to share their successes so why not get the subject of the study to circulate the study for you?

Be Flexible With Your Delivery Format

Did it occur to you that using typed text may not be the best way to access your case study?  Or have you thought to maybe not only develop a written text download but also an audio to accompany the text?  Using your case study for multiple formats can give you a real marketing boost.  There are potentially a number of case study formats you can choose from depending on your product or service.  Text style with images and bullet format is the most common.  It tends to be the most simple and easy.  Another route is to consider a video format to deliver your case study.  According to Hubspot, 50% of executives look for a product or service after watching a video.  If you are comfortable in front of a camera, why not give it a try?  If you don’t want to fool around with a lot of post production, you can also consider Youtube Live, Facebook Live or Periscope.  Of course, you will need a script to keep you on task, but it’s definitely doable and very inexpensive to pull off.

Another format you may want to consider is Podcast or audio recording.  This too will need somewhat of a script but can be very effective with trying to connect with your potential customer.  In fact, you could do an interview style where you actually have the person/people present who have seen great results from the experience with you.

Builds Your Brand

Being the resident expert by using case studies is a great way to market your business.  You have the ability to connect with your customer on a deep analytical level; which may not be possible with any other medium.  It also gives your customers a sense of how you are able to produce results for them.  Case studies can also be used as sales collateral when going out on sales calls.  What better way to give a customer confidence in your abilities than to give them a compelling case study that you developed.  In my opinion, more businesses need to do this to differentiate themselves from their competitors.  Show your potential customer that you are on the cusp of what’s going on in your industry by leading the discussion as opposed to following.

I am hopeful that more businesses will incorporate this kind of action into their business.  If you are still unsure about how to use case studies in your business, take a look at how we incorporated them into ours by clicking HERE.  By all means, please feel free to “borrow” our format.