Case studies can help show customers your business’ past successes and current potential. Below, we break down why you need business case studies as part of your digital marketing efforts and how to create them.
Why Do Business Websites Need Case Studies?
Case studies can have a significant, positive impact on how effectively your website demonstrates your business’s value and expertise to your customers. But the benefits of case studies go far beyond just this.
Establish Brand Authority
Case studies are neatly packaged, easy-to-digest pieces of content for your website that make your business stand out as professional, knowledgable, and reliable. Because of their exploratory nature, they’re also highly newsworthy and often attract media attention in relevant spheres—yet another way they can make your business appear more credible to customers. Google, for example, has dozens of case studies, which demonstrates the breadth of their expertise in the tech sphere.
Attract New Customers
Because case studies rely on real examples of success, having them on your business website is a great way to convince customers to work with you. And since 68% of B2B customers prefer doing independent research online before making a buying decision, an effective case study may be the piece of content that seals the deal.
Offer Social Proof
Hosting case studies on your website helps you to promote your business using social proof—a marketing trick that you can use to attract new customers. By conducting and marketing a case study for your business, you’re broadcasting how customers have already benefited from your services, rather than talking about your business itself. Effective case studies take a business story and frame it in a more personal light, which means your business can capitalize on emotional marketing through storytelling.
Address Internal Challenges
Not only can you use case studies to highlight your business’ wins, but you can also present them as evidence of your commitment to consistent improvement. When you develop a case study around addressing internal issues, you demonstrate a great deal of integrity to your customers, who will often be interested in seeing how your business has changed for the better over time. Studies have shown that nearly 94% of customers are more likely to be loyal to a brand that’s fully transparent, so discussing and making efforts to fix issues can potentially convert a new customer to a regular.
How to Create an Effective Case Study for Your Business
Understanding the purpose of case studies is a good first step in creating an effective case study, but there are many things to consider before using a case study as part of your new customer acquisition strategy. Here are a few tips for developing an effective business case study.
Write for Relevant Audiences
As a business owner, you already know the best way to reach customers is by providing solutions. Consider what problem you solve for your customers, what demographics they belong to, and what makes your specific business preferable to your competitors.
Choose the Right Subject
The best case study subjects are passionate customers who are excited about the opportunity to share how you’ve helped them. They should be customers who represent your core demographic and whose success stories are proof that your business’ methods work.
Ask the Right Questions
Before you can put together your case study, you’ll need to gather information from your case study subject. Interviewing them using open-ended questions is a good way to get material for your case study, but be sure to ask targeted questions, too. Ask questions like what challenge brought them to your business, how your business helped them solve it, and what distinguishes your business from competitors in their mind.
Tell a Story
One of the best case study techniques is to share a story that focuses on a conflict and a resolution. In this case, the conflict is an issue the customer has encountered, and your business has given them a resolution. In your case study, you’ll want to outline what challenge(s) the customer was facing, why they came to your business, and how your business was able to solve that challenge with an offered product or service.
Pick a Compelling Angle
A good case study needs a strong hook. When developing your case study, ask yourself what its purpose is. What’s the primary thing you’re trying to showcase, and why does it matter? This case study from HubSpot is a great example. It details their client’s expansion with a specific focus on how quickly they were able to achieve it. In this instance, their angle was speed. Finding the right angle for your own case study can help highlight its importance—and your business’ value—to customers.
Use Real Data
It’s important to make sure that the data you use in your case study is not embellished or misleading. Using real, concrete data in your case study not only builds trust with your customers, but it can also demonstrate your successes in a way that’s more tangible than making vague claims. Having this data on your website also creates opportunities for other businesses to link to your case study if they reference it in the future.
Promote Your Case Study
After posting your case study on your own business website, you can further promote it by uploading it to platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, and more as part of your social media marketing efforts. You might also consider submitting your case study to a business journal within your industry for additional visibility and authority.
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