When case studies help, and when they don’t

Case studies are the very first collateral your sales team needs. But how much impact they can have for you depends on what situation you’re currently in.

If you’re in either of these two situations, case studies will give you instant wins:

1. If you’re struggling to close existing leads you’ve gotten from your network

Case studies will help your sales team close those leads faster, because your prospects will be pre-convinced and have fewer objections in the sales process.

2. If your website gets decent traffic but generates few leads

Case studies will help you convert those visitors into leads before they bounce. A CTA and a contact form right below the case study usually does it. You can go further - create a longer, in-depth version of the case study and give it away for a low ask (name and email). HM does this well.

Of course, this applies only if your website already gets decent traffic.

Other situations

If you lack network leads and/or website traffic

Case studies aren’t your most urgent need. You need to work on being seen, heard, and known first.

So go make some noise.

Go to more events. Speak at conferences. Build your social media presence. Consider implementing a client referral program. tl;dr: Expand your network.

On the website front, make sure your SEO fundamentals are solid. Optimize your services and solutions pages for high intent keywords, look at platforms like Clutch, and consider paid advertising.

If you’re getting leads from multiple sources but want to tap into outside-your-network

By now you’ve likely already invested in case studies and you’re looking to grow through the serendipity of search. This is a good position to be in.

Consider investing in content marketing. By publishing genuinely valuable top-of-funnel content, you can get discovered through search and other channels. Then you can hand-hold your visitor down the marketing aisle (sorry, I meant funnel), ‘nurture them,’ get their details, and eventually tie the knot. Content marketing requires several years’ worth of sustained effort, but the long-term payoff’s worth it.

If business is thriving without case studies but you’re curious about adding them

This is where judging the financial viability of case studies gets tricky. You’re already living peak agency life — you’ve made a name for yourself, assembled a great sales team, and developed multiple lead channels. You’re likely a full-service creative agency, possibly working in the ad space too, and have a slew of offerings.

Even in this successful position, case studies can help you close faster and improve your conversion rate, but you’ll need to do a proper cost-benefit analysis to find out if the time and resources you’ll invest will be a financially net-positive move.