The goal for all businesses is to have prospective customers beating down your door to give you money. For this to happen, they need to see you as credible and understand what your business can do for them. Adding case studies to your profile helps prospective customers understand not just your capabilities but how beneficial your products and services were to other customers. This holds a lot more weight than your standard sales pitch and is an excellent marketing tool.
How To Add Case Studies
When you think of case studies, maybe you are thinking of a 5 page, beautifully designed document that the big consulting firms use. Those are great but often take a long time to read. Your case study can be a quick snapshot of the work you not only completed but rocked for clients. Go to "My Profile" and click on the "Case Study" tab. Begin by giving your case study a descriptive, short title that includes a sneak peek at your solution.
Next, add your product or service that best describes the solution you implemented. Clicking on the Product/Service drop-down will show you all of the products and services on your profile.
Getting The Most Out Of Your Case Study Content
Regardless of the design, the format should be consistent and follow a simple outline:
Problem - what problem did you set out to solve? Describe the problem in just enough detail that other clients can relate to that problem. If it is too specific then the client can't see themselves in the problem. If it is too generic, the client won't relate to the uniqueness of your approach.
Solution - what was your solution or approach to solving the problem? What made this approach unique or the right-fit for the client and the problem?
Result - what were the quantitative and qualitative results. What impact did the solution have on the client's work process or bottom line? Ultimately you want to answer how your solution saved the client time or money or how you made the client money or accomplished their goal (i.e. if they wanted to design a new building which you did while staying on budget).
How Long Should Your Case Study Be?
The goal of your case study is to give you credibility with prospective clients by providing them a quick overview of what you have done for clients. They do not need to be very long to capture someone's interest and get them to want to learn more about you. We have a 500 word character limit for each section of the case study. If you have longer case studies in PDF format you would like to add to your profile, you can upload those under your "Documents" section for clients to view on screen or download. You will get a notification when anyone on the system either views your short case studies or downloads your PDF case study version.
Do I Need To Add Images?
You do not need to add images to your case study unless it is helpful to illustrate your solution or to show before and after pictures. For example, if you are an architectural design firm, adding an image of finished buildings that you designed would make your case study come to life more. If you are a website design agency you could add a picture of a client's website before they used your services and after. If you are an experiential marketing company, you can show pictures of live events you conceptualized for clients. Only use pictures when images would put the finishing touch on bringing your solution to life.