As a Podium customer, establishing yourself as a reputable company in your industry is made easier when your prospective customers can hear from your past customers about doing business with you. This guide will help you to understand what a case study is and why they are so important. A case study is a piece of content (typically on a webpage) that tells a story about a customer who used your product/service to solve a challenge in their life in some way. There should be a positive outcome that allows future clients to see how they can benefit from your product/service like many others have.
They allow you to develop an in-depth narrative about your company and can explain the success that customers have had regarding your product/service.
You want to successfully establish a connection with future clients and allow them to see the truth behind your company through your case studies. You want them to imagine themselves working with you and think about how it could benefit them like it has other clients previously. And a case study can help them do just that.
The more case studies that you develop regarding your company and team, the more legitimate you will become amongst skeptics. The prospects will see different scenarios and possibly find one that relates personally to them or their life. The more effective your case studies are in showing off your product/service, the more your business will succeed in the future.
How do you write a case study?
Writing a case study will take multiple steps to tell a story and bring the narrative of your previously satisfied clients to life. You should give a real-life example that showcases all the positives your product/service offers to prospects.
First, you must find a client whose story you wish to tell and get permission from that client to use their feedback in the case study. After they have allowed you to use their information, you can begin to build validity.
By including a previous client’s experience, you will make your company visible and show that others can benefit from working with you too. This is crucial for your business to continue to flourish and increase the number of clients you are bringing in.
You should take a few steps when developing your case study regarding how you explain the information and the formatting.
You must decide on a specific candidate for the case study and seek approval from your team to use their story. It is important to choose someone who can add value and awareness to your company, which has positive feedback to share with future clients.
You can then interview this candidate and ask the proper questions to get an account of their experience working with you. After getting all the information you deem necessary, begin to piece together what you have gathered and format it into a case study.
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What should be included in a business case study?
Once you begin the process of piecing the case study together, you can use these five steps to assist you in establishing a strong story.
01. Open your business case study by stating the goals of your company, explain the objective behind what your team is doing and the potential it has for anyone who works with you in the future.
02. Once you have established a general idea of your business, you can then introduce the interview basis and what the client had to say about working with your company.
03. Explain the previous client’s story and how they benefited from working with your team. State the issue that your client wanted to solve and how you assisted them. Go into detail about how your company provided a solution to this client and the goals the client could reach by working with you.
04. Further, delve into the solutions you can assist prospects in finding and the goals you will reach if they decide to work with your team in the future.
05. Bring in quotes from your client, statistics that back up the facts, and conclude with the overall results your company has seen. Allow your audience to understand how these results can benefit them. Tie in the future goals that your company wants to achieve, showing how you are growing and continually developing as a team.
Through these steps, you can develop and create a business case study that showcases your company and the data that proves positive results whenever a new client decides to work with you.
You want to ensure that you share these case studies with the right audience, and introduce new prospects to the idea of working with your company. These can be posted online in various places to attract a new buzz of clients interested in what you can do for them.
Ultimately, case studies can build brand trust
Never shy away from using successful client relationships as a stepping stone for establishing yourself in the field. Their stories can motivate your team internally, and act as proof of quality externally. Their stories are valid, their experience accurate, and the way your company helped them reach their end goals will allow your business to continue to flourish.
Once you develop a strong case study, you can create trust and awareness within your field, and the real-life customer success stories about your business can be enough to convince new prospects to work with your team.
As a Podium customer, you already know the value of establishing a strong, positive reputation online. By producing high-quality case studies and customer testimonials, you can establish yourself as a strong player in your industry in yet another way, and ultimately strengthen your business.
