Why a case study is worth its PR weight in gold
Why a case study is worth its PR weight in gold
If I had a penny for every time a journalist followed up on a story with the question ‘have you got a case study to go with it?’ the pennies would soon amount to pounds. The adage is simple, it’s one thing for you to tell people how great your story is, it’s quite another for someone else to say it for you. And that is the power of a case study.
What is a case study?
Put simply, a case study is a showcase of your work. And whatever line of business you are in, you need one. For example, if you run an accountancy firm, your case study could be of a start-up that has benefited from your bespoke budget service. If you’re a nutritional therapist, your case study could be of a client who has seen a huge improvement in their energy levels thanks to your tailored eating plan.
The best case studies have a human interest element, i.e. a happy patient/client/customer with a great backstory. However, if you work in a field such as architecture or interior design, your case study could be a project rather than a person. The core principle remains the same, the case study should be an external endorsement of your work.
Why a case study is great for PR
Quite often, a case study helps illustrate your product or service better than you would. For example, in healthcare, a surgeon talking about an unusual eye procedure is one thing. However, telling the story from the perspective of a patient who has been able to read a book for the first time in years since undergoing the surgery, makes the story much more relatable.
Journalists love being able to humanise the story, and the eye surgery example mentioned made a real media splash, with a full page spread in the Daily Mail (see pic). Without the heart-warming case study, the story may have been dismissed as just another treatment.
How to find a case study in your business
It’s quite simple – just ask! No doubt you’re doing amazing work in your business, and you’ll have the happy clients/customers to prove it. So along with getting a testimonial from them, why not ask them if they’d be happy to be a case study? It might just help you secure some credible, meaningful PR coverage.
