In this tutorial, we look at how to write a case study to generate leads.
Marketing is about credibility. The more people trust your brand, the more likely they’ll buy your products.
Seems true, right? One way to increase the credibility of your marketing is to let satisfied customers ‘promote’ your products for you.
Case studies are ideal for this. You can use them as stand-alone advertising tools or embed them into your media kit to increase their lead-generating power.
Using Case Studies to Generate New Leads
Case studies really display their benefits when used to enhance marketing tools such as white papers, media kits, booklets, and websites. So how do you create a case study?
- Talk to your customers and find out what they liked about your product.
- Interview as many as possible; get plenty of quotes.
- Don’t forget to get a signed release so you can use their comments in your case study.
Provide the full attribution in your case study, for example, R. P. in Texas doesn’t cut it. Rick Parrott, Parrott Writing Services, San Antonio, Texas is much better because it puts a face behind the words. People can identify with Rick Parrott, who can identify with R. P. in Texas?
Introduction to How to Write a Great Case Study
Case Study in 7 steps
The structure of a case study is quiet simple.
- Introduce your customer to your readers. Make them see her/him as a real person. Paint a picture.
- Explain the problem in terms that your reader can understand.
- Show the process your customer went through as she tried to find a solution.
- Help your reader identity with your customer. If your reader says, “Hey that’s happening to me!” you’re dead on target!
- Show the process required to implement the solution selected by your customer.
- Discuss the results and benefits your customer received because she selected your product.
- Get your customer to explain how your product solved their problem and if they would recommend it to others.
Most case studies seem to run between 600 and 1500 words.