Whether you want to win new clients, or make sure you retain and/or sell additional services to your existing clients, having marketing collateral to assist you will support you in this endeavour.

If you can prove that your firm can deliver what you say it can, and if you have evidence to hand, and stories that you can share, then you will not need to push people into buying from you.

A portfolio of well written case studies will show that you are the accounting practice that your ideal client should do business with. The case studies you share will give you credibility and show that you can deliver on your promises.

A book that is a wonderful example of case studies done well is The World’s Most Inspiring Accountants written by Steve Pipe. The book is about the extraordinary economic, social, personal and emotional impact that accountants are making across the world. With 57 firms featured you will see outstanding case studies that you can get inspiration and motivation from. You can buy a copy here.

 

Have you ever wondered why some businesses invest in creating case studies?

 

Case studies are often more effective than a brochure or traditional sales collateral. Why? Because everyone loves a story. A case study will evoke emotions and get the reader to immerse themselves in the information. A case study enables you to tell a story about your brand. In essence, a case study will highlight “what’s in it for me?” from a prospects point of view.

If you have a look at the Persona Buying Cycle image you will see there are 6 different stages that a prospect can go on before they buy from you. Your content marketing will need to cover each of these stages to ensure that you attract, convert, and close as many ideal clients to your practice as possible.

 

 

Case Studies will come into play in the LATE section of the buying cycle. It is where you will validate your services and your company in the buyers’ eyes, and prove that you are the firm they need to go with.

The best case studies tell a story, a beginning, middle and an end… they are like a testimonial but written by you, remember at the end of a case study a client testimonial will help you close the sale.

Here is an outline of an effective case study:

Background: some general information about the client

Origins: how they found or approached you

Requirement: the client’s needs, situation or problems at the time

Approach: what you did that addressed their needs, or solved their problems

Results: the outcomes of your work

Benefits: how the client benefited as a result of your work

In essence the case study will highlight the benefit of working with you.

Now you understand the value of case studies, let’s dive into some specific and tangible reasons case studies matter when it comes to increasing website conversions and closing sales.

1. Niche Specific

Case studies need to be niche specific to ensure they are not vague or wishy washy. Case studies should hone in on a specific goal that is related to your service offering. When having a niche specific case study, you can be sure that they will resonate with your target audience.

2. Positioning Of Your Brand

Brand is something that not many accounting firms spend time on. However, with a commoditised market like accounting, a strong brand is more important for your firm than you may possibly realise.

By regularly producing thought provoking and insightful case studies you will be seen as a thought leader in your niche and a trusted advisor. Thus elevating your brand.

3. Explain In Layman’s Terms How You Help People

MTD, AP, BS, CAP, CF, CPA, EA, GAAP – you know what they mean but your ideal client doesn’t. Writing case studies will force you to use language that your ideal client will understand and enable you to explain how you really help your clients, without using industry jargon.

4. Provide Social Proof

Trip Advisor, Trust Pilot, Google Ratings. In this technology age customers have become more demanding in terms of proof. A prospect will research in depth before they buy, they will ask others for their opinion, and they will seek proof they are making the right decision.

Case studies can satisfy the desire for this proof by highlighting real customer results and experiences.

5. Provide Additional Content

Case studies will be jam packed full of content that you can use in your marketing. The amount of information held in a case study can be used in video, as a tweet, as a LinkedIn update, as snippets for your blogs to prove a point, in newsletters or on podcasts. Think of your case studies as much needed research for your content marketing.

6. Get The Lay Of The Land

To create case studies we suggest you interview your clients. By simply interviewing your current clients you will get the lay of the land and discover how happy they are (or not, as the case may be). Once you decide to embark on ensuring your accounting practice provides a remarkable experience and results for your clients, knowledge becomes power. If you have not surveyed/interviewed your clients in the past year now is the time to send out a survey to get feedback. Assuming you are delivering a great service, this feedback will enable you to delve deeper with selected clients and create case studies.

 

Maximising Your Case Studies

Creating case studies for your firm is not enough. You need to maximise your ROI on creating these case studies by sharing them with those on your email database, sharing them on social media and using them in brochures and other sales material. Investing time in great case studies will yield a high ROI if you use them in the right way.

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To get a list of marketing ideas for your accounting practice download the 100 Ways To Market Your Accounting Firm here.

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What do we do at TwentyTwo?

At TwentyTwo Agency we specialise in helping you create a strategy, attract ideal prospects, convert them into clients and get remembered and referred. Our specialities include content marketing, blog writing, email newsletter management and social media management. We are a content marketing and digital experience agency for accounting firms. We ensure you get remembered, recommended and referred.

To find out if we can help you, reach out to our team by emailing [email protected]