The case for case studies

MARINA’S BLOG: When you’ve completed a major project or developed an exciting new process and announced it to the world, the period in which you get publicity for it can often seem all too short.  A few months on and everyone seems to have forgotten.  You may be only as good as your last project, but when you have built up years of experience you want to shout about it and, most importantly, be able to demonstrate it. 

Hence the case for the case study, the most cost-effective and satisfying way of demonstrating to prospective clients that you really do know what you are talking about.  Case studies are your opportunity to use a real-life project to demonstrate what it is that you do.  They don’t need to be any longer than a screen view or A4 page and should contain a mix of basic description, technical detail and problem-solving narrative, topped off with a few, good quality photographs to bring it all to life.  The style of writing is also different to that of a press release; less urgent, probably fewer superlatives, projecting a sense of achievement and long-termism.  Unlike a press story or a social snippet a portfolio of case studies doesn’t date, it just gets better as it evolves over time.