Seven Tips to Get the Most Out of Your Case Studies

Case studies are among the most credible sales tools you will ever present to your prospects. They reap the “equity” you’ve earned by solving your clients’ problems. And they show the economic, commercial and technical benefits it brought to a real customer.

Best of all, technology buyers read them. According to a recent survey, 67 percent of respondents reported that they often read case studies.1 47 percent go one step further and frequently pass on the case studies to co-workers and colleagues.

One of the things I like best about case studies is that marketers and PR specialists can use content in many ways. It is one of the few tools that allows you to amortize the cost of creating the piece on the different ways in which the content is used. And it achieves even more impactful results when case studies are leveraged across many content distribution channels to support your marketing, sales, and thought leadership programs.

Here are some ways to get the most out of your case studies.

Reuse content in other communication deliverables

1. The “solution” challenge results case study format is ideal for creating a press release. When I write a press release based on a case study, I select the main topics and the juiciest quotes. I also add some of the metrics that the solution delivered to provide credibility and enhance the newsworthiness of the launch. This increases the chances of it being published (in some form) in newspapers, trade magazines, and online sites.

2. Because case studies are a story at heart, they can easily be turned into an article for publication in your company’s newsletter or ezine. Given the real-world slant of the story, these are often the most read pieces in these posts. After all, it is your client who tells the story, so the third. The prospect is more interesting than an obvious corporate piece. Internally, a case study can be an excellent sales education tool, demonstrating successful sales strategies and tactics that were successful.

Seventy-four percent of technology buyers’ research and information gathering is done online. For example, major technology providers publish their case studies in http://www.knowledgestorm.com more [http://www.bitpipecom]. Also add specialized sites tailored to your specific industry.

3. Case studies also provide excellent summaries for executive presentations to shareholders, potential investors, analysts, employees, and prospects. They are easily adapted to PowerPoint slides and serve as credible proof points for executive claims.

4. The citations in the case studies are also great for use in other marketing materials such as advertisements, brochures, and websites. Naturally, you’ll want to get permission to use them this way, but the credibility of a happy customer raving about your solution is hard to beat.

Use it across your business

5. As a sales tool, salespeople frequently share case studies with people who are considering their company’s products and services. This is particularly true for high-tech products where the sales cycle requires overcoming the concerns of skeptical left-brain engineers and technicians. Some may think that “pushing” such content from a provider is not an effective content distribution tactic. Fortunately, research shows that 79 percent of technology buyers receive 25 percent or more [emphasis added] of your provider sponsored content information.

In addition to providing a .pdf detailing an implementation similar to the one the prospect is considering, marketers often use case study slides in their presentations. Additionally, trade show case study brochures are more likely to survive the garbage can in the attendee’s hotel room and be read.

6. Case studies in .pdf format provide relevant, specific and contextual content on web pages for technology products and services. Along with white papers and solution briefs, they complete your case for why a potential customer should consider your services.

7. A detailed case study is a good gift item along with white papers. Use it to motivate potential customers to respond to your online and offline promotional campaigns.

In these seven ways, you can leverage the success you’ve achieved with current customers to positively influence other technology buyers to consider and purchase your products and services.

References

1 ?? Problem one ?? How do tech marketers meet buyers? Appetite for Content, March 2007, KnowledgeStorm Inc. and MarketingSherpa, p. 14. Consulted in http://www.knowledgestorm.com/search/viewabstract/87939?pos=1&referer=SEARCH_RESULTS&trkpg=search_results_abstract on 08-22-07.

2 Ibid, p. sixteen.

3 Ibid, p. eleven.

4 Ibid, p. 3.