How Case Studies Can Build Online Credibility
Is your company thinking about creating case studies, and you are not sure where to start?
Many of Pace Creative’s B2B clients have unique and niche businesses. B2B companies are typically product lead and invest in R&D to create a unique product. However, these B2B businesses face difficulty building online credibility and trust with their clients. According to Demand Gen Report, 78% of buyers use case studies more than any other resources to support the buyer decision-making process. Evidently, case studies can be utilized to help foster stronger relationships with your clients and build community.
To help convey how your product or service is unique and the value it adds to businesses, case studies are a valuable B2B digital marketing medium that helps build authority and credibility in the marketplace. Earning the trust of your prospective customers can be a struggle, and before you can earn their business, you need to convey what your product or services promise and provide. In this post, we’ll cover all you need to know about creative, practical, and valuable B2B case studies.
What is a branded content case study?
According to FormAssembly, B2B branded content case studies “tell the success story of a customer that has experienced tangible benefits from investing in your product or service”. In B2B digital marketing, case studies can be used as social proof by providing buyers with the content to determine whether they’re making a good choice.
How do branded content case studies build your business’s online authority?
There are 7 distinctive elements needed to write case study content to build credibility:
- Create a content marketing strategy
- Identify case study topic and title
- Include the company’s profile
- Describe the problem statement or challenge
- Present the solution
- Show the final outcome
- Add client testimonial
Demonstrating experience is a vital component in the process of winning over potential clients. Yet when it comes down to it, many businesses make it unnecessarily difficult for prospective clients to view their previous work.
According to CMI, with more than 80% of business-to-business companies reporting positive returns from featuring their case studies, we have outlined several reasons why it is worth updating (or potentially begin writing) your company’s branded content case studies.
Case studies can influence B2B decision-making, providing essential evidence when a B2B firm chooses which company to hire. Creating a “Case Study” or Work” page on your website can guide visitors to previous work your company has done, show them what your business is capable of, and share your success stories.
Ideally, your website will have a range of case studies covering the industries you serve. For example, Pace Creative’s are:
Covering your range of industries allows your prospect to find an example of success in their specific industry, further increasing its value as evidence.
Furthermore, your website will have a range of case studies covering your business’s services. For example, since Pace Creative is a B2B digital marketing agency, our different services and case study topics are:
- Design
- Digital
- Website Development
- Content Development
- Marketing Strategy
- Content Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
- Outbound Marketing
Tip: Check out Pace Creative’s “Work” to see what a case study landing page can look like. On this page, you can separate different services, use cases, or industries your company targets, which can help guide the user to a more refined search and find the answers they are looking for.
What content to include in a case study?
Now that you know more about why branded content case studies can be an effective medium for building online credibility, your next step is determining what content to include in your branded content case studies.
A thoughtfully crafted case study accomplishes many things, but none is more important than conveying the hard work you (and your team) put in to meet a specific business goal or the client’s vision. This not only demonstrates to the reader your efficacy as a business but also serves to guide them through the processes that were involved.
Generally, your branded content case studies should include the following:
- An Overview – Explain the company/client the case study focuses on.
- The Challenge – Identify the problem your client came to you with. Often customers within the same industry can relate to each other’s problems. If they see that your business can solve an issue they are facing, you have a better chance of turning this prospect into a client.
- The Solution – Outline the processes that took place. Inserting your rationale for decisions made within the scope of the project can help to add a splash of personality to your write-ups and help to explain more technical decisions in layman’s terms.
- The Result – The result section shows your client that you can solve the problem. It’s great to provide data in this section but also try to tell a story, it makes all the difference when trying to close a deal with a prospective client.
Tip: You can add and share Testimonials and Client Advocacy to your work and/or case studies.
Have you received some excellent positive feedback from one of your clients? After receiving much-deserved praise from your client, utilize this feedback to your advantage, and share it with others in a case study!
Regardless of the effort put in to create a comprehensive case study, this can matter very little if you do not provide a client testimonial to accompany your write-up. Testimonials serve as a terrific opportunity to harness customer and client advocacy, allowing the reader to experience the project’s scope from a unique perspective.
Internal Benefits of Creating Case Study Content
Benefiting from Self-Reflection
From a more introspective angle, writing a case study allows for a healthy degree of self-reflection that can be vital to growing as a business. Focusing on past projects requires evaluating your team’s processes and weighing the respective successes and shortcomings. In turn, this encourages you to consider areas within your and your team’s work that can be improved to serve clients in the future.
Value Added
Branded content case studies reveal your expertise and what value you can add as a company. What you choose to display and discuss reflects your identity as a business, helping to inform the reader if your business is the right fit.
Branded Content Case Studies as an Effective B2B Digital Marketing Medium
You can utilize branded content case studies to promote brand awareness by sharing them on your social media channels. Additionally, there are several ways you can include case studies in your B2B content strategy and use them as a call to action (CTA) to specific case studies on your website.
For example:
- Customer quotes/testimonials
- A slide-in CTA that links to a case study
- A CTA leading to your case studies page
Branded content case studies are excellent promotional materials but can also be educational, describing how a business has solved a problem others may face. All of which will be very compelling to a prospective client.
About Pace Creative
As an award-winning full-service B2B Digital Marketing Agency, Pace Creative takes B2B content marketing strategy and branded content case studies seriously. If you want to stay updated whenever we post a new case study or blog post, consider following us on Facebook or LinkedIn. You can check out our “Work” to view our case studies and hopefully get inspired to work with us! Our goal is to exceed our client’s expectations by building custom growth marketing strategies to meet your business goals month after month – consistently.
