You can describe your services all day. You can list your certifications, your response times, and your tools. But what actually moves a skeptical prospect closer to signing is a real story from a real client, told well. Case studies do that work, and most businesses are leaving them on the table.
In any marketing, the success stories of your prior clients can make a particularly large impact on your marketing efforts… more so than pure statistics typically do. This is because client accounts help provide a sense of authenticity to the claims your marketing makes. Hence, precisely why client testimonials are so impactful.
On top of that, there’s no denying that their impacts can be amplified by expanding them into full-blown case studies. Let’s go over how you can do so for your business’ benefit from start to finish… obtaining a testimonial, acquiring permission to expound upon it, and crafting an account that aligns with best practices.
Let me ask you an important question: would you find a statement more impactful if it came from a business or if it was presented from the perspective of one of its clientele?
It's probably the second option. It only makes sense… even if it’s the business distributing it, the fact that someone else’s name is tied to a statement adds significant confidence that the contents are trustworthy. This is precisely why client success stories can be so compelling when featured in your marketing.
Let’s talk about how to use these powerful marketing tools for yourself, but first…
In many ways, a case study is one of the most powerful marketing tools that any business— especially one that serves other businesses—can use. Not only does it serve as a highly effective form of social proof, it also gives your existing marketing collateral another impactful deliverable—provided that it is put together properly. Consider this your complete guide to putting together and utilizing great case studies.
Case studies are a great example of marketing collateral that any business should consider using for various reasons. Let’s review a few of these reasons, then cover what a case study should provide and how to put it to use.
Case studies are a key marketing tool that too few small businesses take advantage of. But, using case studies to showcase your problem-solving capabilities can be an especially powerful social proof and lead to an increase in conversion rates.
There are six main types of deliverables that any MSP should have at least one of on their website. Here, we go over what those are and where you should be putting them if you want them to be seen by your website visitors.
You can sing praises about your company’s dedication to providing superior IT support in your marketing all you want. The fact of the matter is, this isn’t always enough to convince every prospect that it’s worth entering into a business relationship with you. How do they know you aren’t stretching the truth?
It’s common knowledge that before you buy a car, you should take it for a test drive. It’s the only way to know if the car is going to meet your expectations. If you think about it, we actually apply the ‘try it before you buy it’ strategy to a lot of decisions, including those made for business. Since your target audience can’t really ‘test drive’ a new infrastructure or a remote monitoring session, offering them a case study that shows how your current clients benefit from working with your MSP is the next best thing.
Deliverables can be remarkably effective tools to leave a favorable impression on your prospective and existing clients. Essentially subscribing to the ‘free sample’ methodology found in many retail channels, deliverables allow your potential customers access to a brief taste of the resources you offer.
“Don’t take my word for it, listen to what this guy’s got to say!” Even though this well-known sales mantra is extremely overused and comes off like a used car commercial, the marketing principle behind it is highly effective. Is your website taking advantage of testimonies to help sell your product or service?
With all of the marketing options available to businesses, it can be easy to lose sight of some basic but effective methods of marketing and sales. These fundamentals are usually simple in their execution and, compared to many marketing campaigns, are time-friendly. Have you and your MSP accidentally abandoned these marketing basics?
