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Building a case study is a great marketing asset but did you know that it is also a critical asset for PR teams as well? We encourage our clients to work with customers and partners to build case studies that will help us highlight and showcase their awesome capabilities, but there are a few steps that you should remember as you go to build your case studies with partners and clients.
1. Ask about PR and case studies early in the relationship
When we can, we always suggest that clients mention PR early, even as early as getting it in writing about leveraging customers for PR. Obviously, we only want to use successful case studies that can become a poster child for services, but it is crucial to start the conversation early. This way you have a clear communication on your intention. This may also be a value add for the customer and underscore your commitment to providing them the best results possible in addition to a little free PR (for them).
2. Leverage milestones and achievements
Make sure that whenever you are drafting a case study there is data at the core of that story. The biggest deal is that you saw some kind of movement in the case study that made your client successful. We all know by now, every client has their different view on success metrics. Make sure your success maps back to the original objectives of the campaign and shows demonstrable growth and outcomes. Sometimes it’s surprising to see what kind of success comes out of varied programs. You can support these milestones and achievements with images and infographics that can serve as proof points and visual representations of the data you collect.
3. Get a customer quote
I would argue the second most important aspect of a case study (outside of getting your customer’s buy in) would be the quote. Make sure this quote is thoughtful, tied to results and clearly demonstrates the skill that you have as a company. It should also be an element that differentiates you from your competition. Lastly, make sure you understand and have “on record” why the customer chose you over any other competition, so you can also leverage those reasons when further discussing the case study.
4. Maximize your case study for press placements
Ultimately, you want to use this case study to secure more new business and showcase your aptitude, making sure the world can see this momentum is important. We always like to see if we can get a press release out of our happy customers, but not everyone (especially in the tech space) is willing to do that. That’s ok there are several other ways to leverage a case study for media relations too. Here are just a few ideas to think about:
- Create a media alert for proactive pitching
- Ask if there is a customer representative available for joint media interviews
- Submit speaker panels that include your customer
- Create joint editorial submissions with expert insights from your customer
- Go half at the next industry tradeshow/event or share a booth
- Trade blog/webinar/podcast content
- Mentions on Linkedin posts (with tags) with the case study or blog attached
These ideas make you look like a PR or Marketing hero to the customer and to your team internally. These are all dynamic ways to leverage happy customers that often get overlooked with how busy we get with day to day work. Explore these ideas early and often so that you can make the most of your existing relationships.