Case studies are a valuable marketing tool for business owners to utilize in the process of talking with potential clients and aiming to sell them on their product or service. But why are case studies so important, aside from making that sale? Let’s break down why they are so important and why a case study may be useful for you to employ in your own business and marketing strategy.
Case Studies Establish You As An Expert
Writing a case study for your business will ultimately help you build credibility as an expert in your field. Because you’re writing about a past or current client’s experience with you, you have the opportunity to really highlight how your expertise helped them overcome the obstacles they were facing before they found you and your services.
If the stories you’re sharing from your past or present clients are accessible and it’s clear how your skill set changed their lives, readers and potential clients will take one look at the valuable information provided and know for certain that you’re legit!
The (Social) Proof is in the Pudding
Relying on social proof to back up your credibility is a huge part of why case studies are so important and are generally such a useful tool. If readers of your case study can look up the people and businesses you’ve worked with and have helped throughout their pain points, they have tangible proof of how you could help them, too.
Testimonials are a great resource to have in your marketing, but longer form content like case studies allows potential clients to dive deeper into the brains of those you’ve been able to help. Case studies dive deeper into the before, during, after experience, even if that means highlighting a messy middle, giving the reader the context that they need to see that this experience is possible for them as well.
Build Strong Relationships
If readers of your case study can clearly see the relationship you’ve established with future or current clients, they’ll feel more confident in starting a relationship with you themselves! Chances are good if someone is reading your case study, they are looking for a guide of some sort to help them accomplish their goals or overcome roadblocks they’re facing.
Once they know that you’re the kind of person who WANTS to help them succeed, they’ll be more likely to seek out your services. Being able to prove that you care deeply about the people you’re working with is more valuable than any product or service they could seek out elsewhere!
Making the Sale
After you’ve showcased your expertise and proven that you care about the people you work with, then and only then can you start to look at case studies as a tool to help you secure a sale. As entrepreneurs, we know that selling our product or service is the underlying goal of all the other work we do. But if you’re leading with sales, sales, sales, people may not be so quick to trust your efforts.
By writing a case study that allows you, the work you do, and how you aim to help people to shine through first and foremost, you’ll end up making more connections and sales than you’d ever think. We’re all human beings, and human beings like to know they are being supported by someone who puts their human values before their marketing efforts. If you write your case study the right way, you’ll be able to do this and the sales will come flooding in as a result.
Already sold on the idea of a case study and are looking for tips on how to get started? Check out Season 2 Episode 9 of the Messy in the Middle podcast where I’ll give you a quick and dirty guide to case studies!
