Case Studies: The Secret Marketing Weapon Hiding in Plain Sight

Clients won’t hire you unless they trust you. They think you’re smart and articulate, but that’s not enough. It could be worth thousands or millions of dollars or something more valuable is at stake – child custody or their reputation in the community. How do you demonstrate your abilities and trustworthiness?

You can talk all day about the applicable laws, government agency or court procedures, and how you would approach a prospect’s case. So what? Does that mean you should be trusted with a critical case?

What is a Case Study and How Does It Help with Content Marketing?

Case studies show how you helped clients in the past. Instead of talking about the value you provide, you demonstrate it. You explain past cases that may have been outright victories, favorable settlements, or an expected bad outcome wasn’t nearly as bad as expected (client received light criminal sentence or business client’s fine greatly reduced).

Without breaking confidentiality (unless the client agrees to have its/their name used) discuss the case. If your client agrees to be identified, cap it off with an endorsement (that will pass ethics restrictions).

Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in law school anymore. This isn’t that kind of case summary. This is marketing material. We’re telling a story to inspire people to become your clients. There is a:

• Setting
• Characters
• Plot
• Conflict
• Resolution
• Point of View
• Theme

The overall theme is that you’re an expert at handling these matters (just don’t call yourself an expert) and you’re trustworthy. The message is you do great things for your clients and you can do the same for the prospect.

These vignettes give short descriptions of:

• The players involved
• The challenges your client faced
• Your approach and why it was original or noteworthy
• How it won the day
• How your client benefitted
• How your client responded

You should have at least one for every area of practice. You should update them as new, and more compelling cases and clients come along. Effective marketing is about telling compelling stories to potential clients who want to hear them. Start telling these stories!

Why Do Case Studies Work for Google Rankings and Building Trust?

Case studies are a kind of social proof that exploits prospects’ thought processes. Let’s say you need a lawyer to represent you in a drunk driving defense. How many criminal defense attorneys practice in your area?

If you took a systematic, logical, thorough approach to evaluating them, how many variables would that involve? How many webpages, court decisions, and articles might you read? How many attorneys would you interview?

Instead of going through that, people rely on social proof to narrow the list. It’s what the prospect hears and reads from others, learns about the resolution of other cases. That’s why word of mouth, ratings, reviews, and case studies are so effective.

Why spend all that time and energy doing all this research and agonizing over a choice when you can rely on the “wisdom of the crowd” to point you in the right decision? This attorney did a great job with these cases, chances appear good they’ll do the same for me.

Although individuals may not use these terms, they look at representation just like business clients you may seek: What are the chances your representation will provide a good return on the investment (ROI) of time, effort, and money they’ll provide? Case studies show the good ROI others got, so they should feel more confident they’ll get it too.

Google has indicated that they set their algorithm to reward sites that have experience, expertise, authority and trust (EEAT). Aren’t case studies perfectly in line with that and if so, why aren’t you doing more of them?

Does Your Website Argue Your Case? McDougall Interactive Can Wake It Up

Case studies can easily and effectively show how effective you are in helping your clients and that you should be trusted with the prospect’s case. If you have questions or want a more effective website, call us at 877-623-4291 or book a consultation by using our online contact form.