If you want your agency to influence, inspire and help other marketers in growing their own entrepreneurial businesses, a case study acts as the perfect channel to do so.
A case study is an exemplary tool to fully exploit targeted marketing. They showcase the fruitful outcome of your works. It proves to be beneficial to your agency as you can show these case studies to your prospects and elaborately explain the steps involved in helping that client. You never know. The prospect may be in need of a similar solution.
For beginners, it provides an insight into your business, its products and services provided. As it goes down the funnel, it provides your clients with a personal story to relate with and gives an opportunity for your existing clients to beam with pride when they witness their own success.
But, before you wander off whilst thinking about the tremendous positive impact your case study will have on others, it’s important to know the techniques to make a killer one. You have to follow a systematic method of doing it.
Want to create killer marketing case studies for your business? Our team of content marketing experts can help you out!
The following points have to be kept in mind whilst creating a case study, be it your own or for a client.
Let’s start exploring these right away.
1. Do your research properly
Before you start building the case study, you have to understand the aspects of the product and the services that your agency or company provided to your clients.
You have to know the problems that were faced and tackled by the team whilst working on the project. It’s essential to have this information so that you have a clear understanding of what you are going to write.
Be it services aimed at customer retention, an increase in sales and leads or a higher ROI, you have to do thorough research on the steps taken by your agency to improve these elements.
Image source: The Walk
For example, The Walk, a digital marketing agency, developed a script to promote Lenovo’s new Customer Care service portal via short and crisp effective videos.
Image source: The Walk
This was one of the sketch boards that they used for one of the videos in the project. The intent of these videos was to convey the efficiency of Lenovo’s services.
2. Have a discussion
The next step is to interact with the members who were involved in a particular project, your team of designers, developers and writers. They are the ones who personally handled different elements of the project.
Who better than them to elaborately tell you what went wrong whilst they were working on the project? What steps did they take to resolve the problems faced by the clients as well as the team? What was the final outcome?
The interaction with your team members will not suffice though. Your case study will remain incomplete if you do not get involved in a one-on-one conversation with the client who you made the project for. Asking the right kind of questions imparts a positive impression. The questions could be ones like:
- What were the issues faced by their organization?
- What made them approach your agency rather than going to others? (This shows your credibility)
3. Get personal
Personalized marketing appeals the most to customers. They would rather hear a story which establishes a personal connection with them. If a customer is able to relate with the problems that have been emphasized in your case study and he approves the steps taken by you to resolve them, he would be keen to employ your services.
By relating your case study with your valued customers, you are making it more personal and meaningful to them.
Also, before you begin the construction of a case study, it’s crucial to take the permission of the client whose project campaign you are planning to use in your study. Clients will be very excited to get their names or their website featured, especially if you provide a direct link to their site. If they decline, you will have to use another name in the study.
It’s important to take their consent as it might lead to legal issues if you do not.
Using brand names and logos also provide social proof, and raise the personalization level of your case study.
4. Focus on the client’s issues
Your primary focus has to be on the client. After all, there would be no case study if there’s no client. You have to be systematic whilst doing so.
List out
- The problems and issues faced by the clients.
- The reasons behind the failure of their own strategies.
- The negative effect on their business’s output.
- The spectrum of results they want to achieve.
Image source: venngage.com
In the above example, the client’s short-term and long-term goals have been concisely defined and placed neatly in the case study. The viewer will not have to go through long pieces of texts to reach the main content. This showcases a well-structured case study.
5. Use visual aids
Reading long paragraphs filled with text might become monotonous and boring for the reader. Integrating images is an effective method to engage the reader, making it interesting for them to read your case study. Using unique images and design layouts will make it visually appealing to your readers.
Image source: venngage.com
This is a visually appealing example of a case study which uses a structured design layout with strong and contrasting colours to highlight the text and the background.
Choose a bright colour scheme which falls in similar lines of your website. Also, do not forget to include videos which clearly delivers the message and makes an impact on your audience.
Image source: venngage.com
The above showcases different spectrums of colours, which could be integrated into the design layout of your case study. Make sure it’s enticing whenever your viewers open the case study page, imploring them to explore its contents further.
Remember, visual aids are much more effective than simple, plain old texts. Your layout should have the perfect balance of alluring visual images and relevant text.
6. Structure the content well
Once you have collected all the information you need, it’s time to formulate the structure of the case study in a systematic manner.
It should be divided into different sections. The segregation of the content makes it easier for the reader to comprehend the facts involved in it. It can be divided into elements such as
- Start off with a catchy and enticing title. You should try to encompass the entire feel of the case study in the title. The reader should look at it and instantly know the content that is going to follow.
- Include a sub-title which gives a few more hints about the case study.
- You can begin by introducing the subject of the case study and the elements that are going to follow.
- Next in line is the number and manner of challenges that you faced whilst working on the particular client’s project and the final objectives that you aimed to achieve.
- The steps that you took to resolve the problems faced by your team imparts the problem-solving skills and adaptability of your agency to the audience.
- Finally, you have to highlight the results of the project. Include visual aids, quotes from the clients and members of the team to make the case study stronger. It also validates the authenticity of your company’s services and products.
- People possess a short-attention-span. Thus, you have to structure your case study in such a manner that it’s worth a 7-minutes read. If it goes beyond that, there are high chances the viewer will leave your page mid-way and move forward.
Image source: venngage.com
The above case study is a perfect example of a well-thought-out design layout with equally well-structured content. It encompasses a bold title, a sub-title, an overview of the subject of the case study, the approaches taken, the results with visual graphics and a conclusion.
Moreover, to make it personalized, they have included a quote from the Vice-President(Marketing) of the company as well.
- Also, to create the best case study, make sure you proofread and edit it until you find that it has been crafted to your satisfaction. It’s always a good idea to take suggestions from your team of designers, web developers etc. It will aid in the perfection of your case study.
Lastly, by including a strong CTA button at the end, you are inviting the viewers to explore similar services provided by you. This aids in the increase of the conversion rates.
7. Include relevant facts
You have to support your case study with real numbers. Without the data, it does not seem concrete and authentic.
Image source: singlegrain.com
This is a graph showing the increase in keyword rankings of the tax preparation software company, Inuit after Source Grain worked on their project to “boost visibility via several common keywords in the industry”.
Use the data that you sourced from the project of the case study. If appropriately used, it can be an advantage as it shows the “before and after” results, once your agency was brought in to help your client.
Image source: singlegrain.com
The above graph represents the increase in the reach of the customers after the digital agency, Single Grain, started a marketing campaign. You can clearly see the difference in the “before and after” results. It’s easier to comprehend visual infographics than written text.
This is the core reason it has to be included in your case studies.
Instead of saying “the conversion rates increased”, use the actual percentage of the increase in the conversion rates. Although it may seem very simple, it keeps the audience engaged and instils trust in them, of your company and your services.
8. Promote, promote, promote
Once you have finished creating an exceptional case study, the next all-essential step is to publish and promote it. What’s the use of creating such an informative case study if it doesn’t reach the audience?
So, utilize social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook to promote your case study.
Include
- clear CTA buttons and links in your bios which would directly lead the viewer to your case study on your website.
- Hyperlinks in articles on your website and in your email campaigns.
Apart from social media platforms, you can
- Include your case studies in weekly or monthly newsletters.
- Use your case study as your landing page layout. By doing so, you are ensuring that your viewer interacts with your agency’s tales of success. This shoots up your credibility and authenticity levels.
Image source: pinterest.com
Pinterest utilizes its collection of case studies on their landing page. When a viewer opens their website, he is met with the success stories of the company.
- Utilize retargeting ads to rope in visitors who had shown an interest in your company and its services.
- Categorize different elements of the case study, making it easier to find and read.
Take as many steps as possible to ensure that your case study reaches the masses.
To sum it up…
Digital marketing campaigns focus on establishing a sense of trust and reliability in the customers. This can only be achieved if customers trust your capabilities to solve their problems and provide a positive outcome.
Additionally, if your agency is building a case study for a client, you have to be extremely careful whilst making one, as there is no scope for error since it will directly impact their growth and expansion, and your reputation.
Case studies are a reflection of the very same.
By keeping these simple yet efficient steps in mind, you will be able to create an impactful case study. Make your case studies unique whilst keeping it relevant and surely, you will witness an increase in the number of customers employing your services.
Are you confused about how to write an amazing case study? Our team of content marketing experts will help you to create one.
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