After building your platform, it is integral to present proof of concept to new and existing advertisers. A great way to do this is by creating and featuring case studies. Case studies provide real world, measurable proof that your product works and is relevant for a variety of different advertisers and their business goals. They also serve as motivational tools to answer the all important question of “why” advertisers should use your platform.
When creating case studies, it’s important to remember that you are, more than anything else, telling a story. How you present this story to your advertisers will determine their interest, motivation and time investment in your product, which begs the question: how can I ensure my case study tells the right story to engage my advertisers? Danads is here to help! See below for our best practice tips to consider when creating case studies for your platform:
1. Choose your advertiser, and get their permission to make the case study public
When choosing an advertiser to feature in your case study, be sure to choose an advertiser that is relatable to your target audience, that has seen good results from your platform, and that likes the platform, but will still communicate in a candid manner. We suggest selecting multiple advertisers for case study examples to ensure that there is a story presented that is relatable to all of your potential advertisers, not just certain niches.
To incentivise the advertiser you choose to make their case study public, give them control over the final version presented, as well as incentives such as promo codes, since they are doing you a favour by letting you feature their case study. Be sure to also make the development of the case study easy and convenient for them: let them set the time for the interview, give them the questions in advance, and give them final approval over the content that will be shared.
2. Provide Background Information
Introduce the selected advertiser, the challenges they faced, and the state of the market when the advertiser began using your platform.This is also a good time to consider the solutions you plan to share with the advertiser audience you are targeting with the case study. Your case study and the solutions presented should be tailored to the target audience you would like to convert. This context will help your readers better understand the challenges and reasoning for the solution presented in the case study.
When interviewing the featured advertiser for the case study, ask open ended questions to get more information to help tell their story. For example, be sure to ask why they chose your platform, why they picked the solution offered by your platform, and what results they have seen since using your platform. Remember: the questions you ask should clarify the key messages you want to convey!
3. Present your case study using a clear structure
Aesthetic details and organisational savvy are important components of case study presentation. Having a clear structure for your case study helps your readers to easily comprehend your message, even if they just skim the case study. Your structure should include the following:
- A catchy title
- The advertisers’ background
- The problem/challenge they faced
- Their objectives and hypothesised strategy solution
- The results
- A call to action encouraging readers to contact you if they would like to see similar results
Be similarly conscious of using visuals to layout data in an accurate and concise way so that the case study is easy to skim and still comprehend. When presenting data consider its relevance before highlighting it in a visual. Videos and images colours should also be branded and creative.
4. Present the challenges the advertiser faced, and show how your product specifically supported their business goals
Be sure that your case study includes a description of your advertiser, their goals and pain points, the strategy you used to help the advertiser that is unique to your platform, the results, and a conclusion summarising what the case study taught the advertiser and how this relates to similar advertisers. Ensure that you communicate the clear, measurable actions that the advertiser in your case study took to achieve their desired results. It is not enough to say your advertisers’ campaign increased brand awareness; you want to instead say your advertisers’ campaign increased overall impressions and the click through rate of their ad campaign by x percent in 3 months by changing their targeting (or whatever action they took).
Make sure the actions you highlight are relevant and simple so that your readers will be able to read the case study, and feel they can actually replicate the results. Additionally, ensure the solutions presented include how your platform’s unique value propositions specifically helped them face the challenges presented, and provided the tools for their success. For example, if one of your unique value propositions is reach (i.e. your site reaches millions of consumers) and that was a challenge for your advertiser, make sure your case study can say, with measurable data, that the advertiser increased the reach of their ad campaign. The data you present should work for you, and not just be added for the sake of adding data.
5. Promote the case study
This may be the most important step of all! Remember to promote your case study so that your other advertisers can review and learn from it. Promote your case study via your landing page, CRM activities, social media, and any other marketing initiatives.
Still unconvinced case studies will work for you? If so, also the consider the following:
1. Case studies can be used as a sales resource to close deals. They can be the bait you dangle to convert advertisers. For example, consider a scenario when you are deciding between two platforms for your ad campaign. One platform has case studies, and one doesn’t- who would you choose to trust with your ad budget? Our bet is the one with case studies because it builds trust in your product. Anyone can write testimonials with catchy and engaging copy. Consumers are bombarded by this, and want to see hard proof and evidence that your product is superior. Case studies provide this proof of concept by adding an additional layer of credibility and trust to your product. Remember: trust begets action, so the more details you disclose, the more trust your advertisers will have in the results, the more conversions you will achieve!
2. Case studies additionally help to identify potential brand ambassadors for your platform. These people can vouch for your product in the market and increase brand awareness resulting in more potential customers for your platform.
Case studies are an essential component of your platform. Building a library of case studies will only benefit your platform and its advertisers. DanAds is here to support your efforts- ask your key account manager for more information, and start creating your case studies today!
