The 5 Most Important Tips for Creating Impressive Case Studies

***This post was originally posted on the Inturact blog. 

Clients don’t just come to you; they do their research—and a lot of it. They are looking for results in your past projects. While testimonials are a solid way to show them your value as a company, case studies do so differently; they show tangible results and processes.

An effective case study illustrates real-life examples of how you were able to satisfy your client’s needs and goals. Case studies are also a great way to boost your authority in your industry. Ultimately, an impressible case study should make the prospective client want to hire you.

Here are some tips and examples on how to prepare extensive but fun and powerful case studies (or repurpose the ones you already have). Check them out below:

1. Know Your Buyer Persona

The hardest part here is picking out the one client you’ll want to do a case study on. It's essential to determine which buyer persona you’ll be targeting. Will it be Oil & Gas Executives or SaaS Business Owners? Always look at your project repertoire and pick from all successful projects.

When you are trying to target a buyer persona who is at the top of the funnel, you’ll want to impress with results and knowledgeable explanations.

When determining which industry you want to focus on, think of the following:

  • Am I comfortable with taking in more clients for this industry?

  • Is my knowledge of this industry sufficient, so that I can turn these clients’ businesses around?

  • Do I understand their needs and can I fulfill them?

If you answered yes to all, then you must go ahead with that industry. Once you're certain on the buyer persona you want to build case studies around, don't forget all the aspects of SEO so this audience can find you when they begin their online research. 

2. Design With Purpose

No one likes a colorless, long piece of text. Make your case study pop with:

  • Colorful, fun headers, subheadings and CTA's

  • Customized Images

  • Bulleted Lists

By giving the piece a little visual variety, you’ll make it more accessible to the reader by breaking it up this way.

3. Talk Strategy, Talk Numbers

Empty claims won’t sell. If you’ve ‘doubled’ conversion rates, you need to show some tangible examples. Even if your potential clients are entrepreneurs, be sure to display numbers (and explain them) in a clear and concise way. It’s best to use the ‘show and tell’ tactic, meaning that you should first show the numbers, and then explain the process you went through to get to those numbers.

4. Designate A Place For Them

What’s the point of having great case studies if no one will ever find them? Generating a tab for only case studies is a good idea. If not, making a blog post out it, like we did, works well too.

Idea: Tying all your case studies into a neat eBook, will serve as a great 'portfolio' for future pitch meetings.

5. Repurpose Your Old Case Studies

If you already have case studies, consider repurposing them by converting them into:

  • A podcast

  • A YouTube video

  • A thread on an Inbound Marketing community

These are fun ways to not only attract other potential clients, but also gain a more insightful look at the already existing information.

Content WritingVictoria Casal-DataContent marketingComment