A Case for Case Studies

Case studies are a great way for a business to tell their story from a different perspective. If you are not familiar with case studies, they can be a powerful marketing tool. Most business leaders already know (and likely gather) testimonials of satisfied clients. A case study takes a testimonial to the next level. It is a detailed example of how a business’ product or service benefited a customer.

A case study includes:

· The customer’s problem or challenge

· The product or service identified to solve that problem or challenge,

· The end result.

Businesses of all sizes, in all industries, can benefit from adding case studies to their marketing mix. A few years ago, I was approached by a tech business owner to write case studies for them. The company’s innovative online interviewing platform was garnering great reviews from customers in the recruiting/HR and higher education career development fields, and the company wanted to give some of their customers the opportunity to share their success stories. For a few months, I spoke with customers who had been identified by the platform’s CEO, and wrote compelling stories of how the online platform had made interviewing easier for both interviewers (many of whom were pressed for time and had to wade through dozens, if not hundreds, of applications for a single opening) and interviewees (especially students new to the process).

What better way to promote your product or service than to rely on customers to tell the story of their success with what you have to offer? Case studies can (and should) be featured prominently on your website, shared on social media, and included in any marketing collateral distributed to customers so your sales and marketing teams can help spread the word of customers’ success.

Have you ever used case studies as part of your marketing? How did it help tell your company’s story in a more meaningful way?