A major goal of most marketers is to become an authority within their niche. Why? Because people trust, respect and make purchases from authority figures. One excellent way to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise is to provide case studies. A well-written case study will help you position yourself as an authority. Case studies are compelling because they provide concrete evidence or proof of how well a product or service works.
There are two basic kinds of case studies that you can put together, both of which we will examine in this article: The customer based case study and the information based case study.
How to do a customer-based case study
A customer case study is a great way to demonstrate the value of a product or service. Potential buyers naturally trust other customers. This is known as social proof, and it is a very powerful marketing tool. If you have done your market research prior to launching your product or service, you have identified a problem to solve. In the case study, you’ll want to show how your product or service solves this problem.
The key to a great customer case study is detail. Provide concrete evidence such as before and after numbers, percentages and statistics. Data provides concrete proof, which builds credibility. Consider the following two sentences.
“Our sales increased after we used ABC Marketing System.”
“After three weeks of using the ABC Marketing System, we saw traffic and sales increase by 20 percent.”
Which of these two is more strong and convincing?
The second sentence is automatically more credible because it gives specific numbers. “Sales increased by 20 percent.”
Once your case study is written, you can make it more accessible by formatting it for readability. Use info-graphics, images or a slideshow. Break up your text with headers and bullet-points as well.
How to do an information case study
The first step in an information case study is to identify a problem that is related to your niche. Search forums, social media and Q&A sites to find questions that people are asking. A great candidate for a case study is a question that comes up frequently, but there are very few answers being offered.
Once you have a question or problem to solve, do a Google search and study the questions being asked and the quality of the answers. Take notes on the various tips and select the best, most interesting and creative ones.
Next, try out the tips yourself, and gather information on the results. Write up an article that details your experiment. Be sure to include screenshots and images that show exactly how you came up with your results. You earn bonus points if you create a video case-study.
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