Yesterday, the Alexander’s marketing team sent me a link to our updated Case Studies page, letting me know that I could use these case study examples as an online marketing tool. This got me thinking about the value of case studies, and what actually makes them an effective marketing and sales tool. I thought I’d share the results of my online research, as well as some of the reasons case studies have proved effective for us at Alexander’s.

For starters, case studies can be handpicked to highlight a specific element of your business. This helps when targeting prospects and closing on leads. Once a sales rep identifies exactly what value they’re offering the prospect, they can select the proper case study to highlight that value.  A case study showcases that  product or service that would appeal to target.

Case studies also provide a human side to your business. When you share a case study you’re showing that your product, service or solution worked for someone else. As you present a success story, your prospect gains concrete evidence that other people have had positive experiences with your business. One article I read commented that the opinions of our friends or acquaintances always hold more weight than the claims of a salesperson. This hearkens back to the Law of Referability. We are much more likely to gain business through other people, and through referrals than we are through cold calling. Including human elements, like testimonials in your case studies will bring more effective results to your sales team.

Lastly, you can create case studies using a variety of mediums. We use printed case studies for our sales kits, and we have dedicated a section of our website to highlight case studies, as well. Creating case studies that can be shared through various mediums mean you can share that information online, digitally, or in print. Our online case studies allow us to spread a link across our social channels, or share it in emails to our clients and prospects. Case study videos are also an effective and shareable way to provide examples of the work you’ve created. If you’re looking to share your case studies, convert them into various forms of media, making it easy to share them across all channels of communication.

If you would like to view some examples of case studies, visit our website.