10 Ways to Use a Case Study (and grow your business)

Case studies, when utilised correctly, can be a key tool in your marketing arsenal. In this post, I’ll outline 1o ways to use a case study to grow your brand and authority in the construction industry.

1. Publish on a Projects website page

Your website is the place potential clients will come to in order to learn more about your business. And they’ll be looking for proof of what you do, and how well you do it. Having a dedicated page to show off past projects is an efficient way of highlighting your best work. As case studies are written, you simply upload them to the page and you have an instant portfolio of your work highlights.

2. Print on a flyer or brochure

This is a great way to advertise your expertise. If you’re a builder or supplier with a showroom that the public and other business reps visit, it’s an easy way to hand them proof of what you do. Alternatively, if you have a traditional mailing list, you can post them out to show off your latest work.

3. Attach to a project quote

A clever way to get a potential client “over the line”. You’ve been in contact with this person or business and are now sending them a quote for their project. What better way to convince them than by sending an example of a similar project where you’ve smashed it out of the park.

4. Feature in a newsletter

People receiving your newsletter have already worked with you, or responded to something that you had to offer. They have an interest in what you do. You can use a case study and feature it wholly or in part in your newsletter. It’s a smart way to make warm leads even warmer.

5. Part of an email marketing campaign

Like the newsletter, using a case study in an email nurture sequence is a great way to turn warm leaders even warmer – maybe even sizzling hot. Because let’s face it, everyone loves a success story. 

6. Publish on social media platforms

This one’s a no-brainer. People follow you for a reason – they want to see what you’ve been up to. So make sure you share your case studies on whatever platform your ideal clients lurk. Case studies are social proof of how you can take a problem and solve it better than anyone else.

7. Create blogs from parts of the case study

Case studies are rich with information. Apart from the project at the centre of it all, they touch on relationships between the client and yourself, and between yourself and suppliers. They can also mention various products, or methods of doing something. Any of these things can be taken and turned into a blog post of their own, giving you further marketing content.

8. Utilise for in-house training

I love this one because I’m all for working as a team and sharing knowledge. You can use your case study to educate your staff either by emailing it to them or presenting it in a staff meeting. It’s a great way to discuss a challenge that arose and how it was solved.

9. Create advertorials

Advertorials are a cross between an ad and a newspaper story. They are paid advertisements that are less “salesy”, and appear to be journalistic content. You might find them in local newspapers (any that are still around) or pull-out magazines that come with weekend newspapers. They are usually shorter in length so you can take your case study and streamline it for publication.

10. Extract testimonials

The best part of interviewing people for your case study, is that they often hand you gold marketing nuggets in the form of testimonials. Especially when they’re interviewed by someone other than yourself! People feel free to speak their minds, and I’ve found they really do say the most wonderful things. You can take these quotes and add them anywhere on your website, or create graphics and feature them on social media.

As you can see, case studies are very versatile. They provide a myriad of ways to grow brand awareness and win more clients.

Want to find out how you can get a case study written for your construction business? Get in touch and I can explain my process for creating case studies.