If you’re actively searching for new business, a case study can really help you market yourself better to potential clients and customers. A case study is a process or record of research that is analyzed over a certain period of time in order to showcase certain results.
In other words, it’s a great way to show prospects what type of work you can do and the results you can help them get before they decide to work with you. If you don’t have a lot of experience or any referrals, I’d highly recommend you create a case study to jump start your business success.
Here’s how to create a case study that attracts new clients.
Choose Your Subject Wisely
Before you begin a case study, you need to choose a subject/person to help. If you have a friend or colleague who will help you with your case study, you can provide your products or services to them.
Think about the problem your business solves and how you help people. If you can’t find a good subject to work with, do a case study on your own situation.
I have a friend who became a Pinterest marketing assistant. To jumpstart her business, she basically implemented her Pinterest strategies on her own site and shared the results.
Doing a case study on yourself may not be as powerful, but if your results are solid and can be proven, it will still be effective.
Set a Goal and Track Your Progress
Be sure to set a modest goal when you get started so you know what you’re shooting for. For example, if you run an SEO business and want to increase page views for a client by 75% in X amount of time a specific goal to shoot for.
Narrowing down your goal also helps you determine what to track and the results you’ll want to display. Make sure you use analytics programs and take screenshots to track your progress.
You’ll want to be consistent when tracking your progress depending on the nature of your case study. You may need to check in daily, weekly, or bi-weekly to track your progress, take screenshots, and save analytics data.
Be sure to gather lots of information and data in order to prove your case/results.
Be Clear About Your Process
Sure, a great case study is all about getting a good outcome. However, it’s also important to share what your process looks like.
Including your process in your case study will make you look more authentic since you’re not hiding how you got your results. It can also be a great way to share more details about your services and why they’re important.
Provide a Concise Summary
Your case study can be an awesome representation of what your business can do. However, if people don’t read it in full will they miss some super important information?
Let’s face it, some people are not thorough. They skim through things and just want quick answers. There’s only a moment to sell to these people and they could still make great clients if your product or service can truly help them.
This is why you need to develop a concise summary to share the nature of your case study and the results you were able to generate in just a few sentences. Use a catchy headline, then get to the who, what, when, and how in your summary, then go into all the details and provide your proof throughout the case study.
Get a Customer Review
If you’re able to do a case study on someone other than yourself, be sure to get a customer testimonial to provide proof that your work satisfied your customer.
It can be tough to build trust and establish credibility among new prospects, but a solid case study backed by a positive testimonial can pretty much seal the deal.
Have you ever conducted a case study for your business?
