How to engage your prospects using Case Studies
How you engage your prospects using Case Studies is down to the following 8 steps:
1. Attract attention
Headlines are important. Awesome stats about what your client has achieved through working with you are the place to look. You want your Case Study to portray the benefits realized, and the more quantifiable the better. This could be in terms of revenue generated, costs saved, or productivity gains. It could equally be about new possibilities, strategic edge or market share. Whatever is the real stand out benefit will make a great headline.
2. Be relevant
You know your clients and you know your prospects, therefore it should be easy to focus your Case Studies on issues that they will find useful and informative. When you brief your case study writer you want to be sure that you don’t just tell them about the project or product that you delivered. You also want to talk about how easy it was to set up and integrate; what impact it had on operations and how readily it was adopted. Also focus on the real difference your work has made to staff and teams as well as the business as a whole.
3. Bring human interest
We are social, nosy beings. It’s always much more engaging to read about people’s real experience that to read dry project stats. That’s why in point 2 I stress the importance of focusing on the impact on their staff and teams of your client’s work with you. People bring business to life. They need to do the same in your Case Studies.
4. Publish on social media
Link to your Case Study content on your social media platform and invite your prospects to engage there. Lead a dialogue based on the particular problems and challenges that your Case Study solved. Use this as a good way to find out more about your prospects’ questions and link back to the Case Study to provide some answers and insights.
5. Answer questions
You know the main questions that people have about your offering. Similar to your other inbound marketing content you can use your Case Studies to give your prospects the answers they need to determine if they wish to buy from you. The more relevant your content to their requirements, the more you help your prospects to self-qualify as paying customers.
6. Bring your personality
It’s easier to like and trust someone if you feel that you know them. Your Case Studies are an opportunity to present your authenticity to your prospects, so that they can get a true sense of what it’s like to work with you. You can do this through natural language. Avoid jargon, and be as honest as possible about how you work, including how you overcame any glitches. Humour works too. A good case study writer ought to be able to convey the human side of your business as well as the technical quality of your product or service.
7. Tell a story
Having a beginning, middle and end to your Case Study will make it more effective. It will enable you to present the challenge, how it was solved and the benefits achieved in a neat narrative arc. It is very satisfying to read an account that represents a journey, perhaps with some obstacles in the way, and a resolution that includes some insights for future possibilities and growth. Everybody loves a sequel!
8. Give a call to action
Take the opportunity at the end of your Case Study to invite your reader to get in touch and find out how your product and service can benefit them. Better yet include a link to another part of your website where prospects can take a quiz, leave a question, or sign up for a downloadable report, cheat sheet or whitepaper.
Get in touch to discuss your Case Study requirements. I look forward to hearing from you!