35 Ways Case Studies Can Help Your Business

Well, in case you’ve wondered if you should write case studies for your business, here are 39 reasons why you should:

1. We’re instinctively drawn to stories because we want to hear the emotional part of the topic.
2. They are wonderful credibility builders. We want to hear what others have to say about the product or service, regardless if it’s about a $2 coffee or a million dollar enterprise software solution.
3. They are a good springboard to media coverage, as they’re an easy way to engage the reader.
4. A case study is a multi-use document: marketing materials, newsletter, lead generation, webinars, white papers. Use it on its own, or as basis for other works.
5. Use it as proof of your claims in your marketing materials.
6. Use it instead of a newsletter.
7. Use it IN a newsletter.
8. It can be used as an offer to clients or call to action in email campaign.
9. Use a case study as foundation for a webinar.
10. They can add depth to a white paper, which are sometimes dry and extremely technical.
11. Enhance your other marketing tools by adding a case study to the mix.
12. Summarize information in a presentation with a case study.
13. Train your sales representatives with them.
14. It can be a bylined article in a trade publication.
15. They justify buying decisions for clients or yourself.
16. Clearly illustrate how your product can benefit clients and thereby shorten their sales cycle.
17. Humanize your product, especially software ones that may not seem obvious to clients.
18. Humanize your company, as you’ll be including quotes from actual people.
19. Give you ideas for new product enhancements.
20. Give you ideas for new markets that could use your products.
21. Help you create client personas, which can help your product development.
22. Reduce the number of customer support calls you get because your product is better explained to clients.
23. Reduce the number of reference calls clients get from prospective clients who are looking to buy your products.
24. Give the client  spotlighted in the case study a chance to be thought of as the thought leader in the industry.
25. Offer a discount if the customer is willing to participate in a case study.
26. They are indirect endorsements of your products and services.
27. Attract new visitors to your website by posting new ones on a regular basis. (SEO reason)
28. It increases your credibility with prospective clients because it shows real-world problems and solutions.
29. They establish you as the problem-solver for your market or industry.
30. They establish your client as a progressive, proactive organization that addressed critical business needs with your product.
31. Strengthen alliances with strategic partners when you produce case studies with them or about them.
32. You’re creating high-quality collateral for journalists and technology writers to use when they’re writing press releases, articles, special features, and profile articles.
33. Control the message that’s being released in the market about you and your products. Since you’re the author, you’re in control.
34. Since a case study is a relatively short document (500-1000 word in length, usually about 2-3 pages), you can produce a lot of them in a short amount of time.
35. You can generate media buzz by showing how your product resolves a problem for a high-profile client. Couple it with a press release, and you’ve got a great 1-2 punch.