LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 660 million users worldwide. With its huge user base, LinkedIn presents an excellent opportunity for brands to showcase their products/services through case studies and generate leads. According to LinkedIn, case studies drive 2x more conversions than product pages alone.
Case studies act as social proof and help establish trust and credibility for your brand. They demonstrate how your product or service solved a client’s challenge and delivered results. Case studies can attract new customers who face similar issues and are looking for solutions.
But creating an impactful case study requires planning and strategic thinking. In this comprehensive guide, we will walk you through the step-by-step process of developing a LinkedIn case study that converts.
Why Create a Case Study for LinkedIn?
Here are some key reasons why developing case studies specifically for LinkedIn can benefit your business:
Targeted Reach
LinkedIn provides access to a massive audience of professionals. You can target your case studies to reach your ideal customers based on their job title, industry, location, company size, and more. For instance, an enterprise SaaS company can target its case studies to IT managers and CIOs of large corporations.
Social Selling
Case studies help sales teams engage buyers and build trust. LinkedIn reports that social selling leads convert at a rate 2x higher than outbound leads. Case studies shared on LinkedIn boost a sales rep’s credibility and enable social selling.
Lead Generation
Compelling case studies on LinkedIn generate high-quality leads. Viewers can easily contact you via LinkedIn or submit a form to request a demo. You can also create gated case studies that require contact information access.
SEO Benefits
Optimized case studies on LinkedIn improve domain authority and search visibility. Case studies on high-authority domains like LinkedIn are trusted by Google and can rank well in search. The backlinks also aid SEO.
Thought Leadership
Case studies position your brand as an industry leader and trusted advisor. They demonstrate subject matter expertise and established credibility.
How to Create a LinkedIn Case Study: Step-by-Step
Follow this proven process to develop persuasive case studies for LinkedIn:
Step 1: Choose the Right Customer
Not all customer stories make great case studies. Choose a client that saw excellent results from using your product/service. Look for a recognizable company name that will interest your target audience. The client’s industry should also be relevant to your ideal customer profile.
Step 2: Define the Narrative
Develop an interesting story arc for your case study. Focus on the client’s pain points and how you solved their challenges. Build narrative tension before revealing the solution. The story structure should follow:
– Introduction: Introduce the client and their situation
– Challenges: Describe key issues and pain points
– Solution: Explain your product/service and how it solved their problems
– Results: Quantify the customer’s ROI and metrics
– Conclusion: Key takeaways and call-to-action
Step 3: Interview Stakeholders & Gather Data
Interview various client stakeholders involved in the project – key decision-makers, project leads, end-users etc. Collect quantitative data and metrics that demonstrate ROI. Get their testimonials on how your product impacted their business.
Step 4: Craft the Content
Develop the case study content aligned with the narrative defined earlier. Focus on telling a compelling story. Include quotes from the interviews. Use data and metrics to back up results. Images, charts, and graphics make the case study more visually engaging. Optimize the copy for SEO as well.
Step 5: Design the Page
The design should be visually appealing and align with your brand style guide. Use high-quality images, graphics, and your logo. Break up long blocks of text with subheadings, bullet points, and callout boxes. White space improves readability. Include clear call-to-actions.
| Design Elements | Best Practices |
|---|---|
| Images | High-quality photos, infographics, statistical graphs etc. |
| Subheadings | Break up lengthy sections, guide readers |
| Quotes | Boost credibility, incorporate client voices |
Step 6: Promote the Case Study
Activate your case study with a distribution strategy:
– Share it organically on your LinkedIn page, groups, feeds etc. Ask employees to share it too.
– Promote it through ads and sponsored content. Target it to your ideal audience.
– Repurpose it as a press release, blog post, video content etc. and cross-promote across channels.
– Pitch it to industry publications for coverage. Securing media placements expands reach.
– Promote the content across email, newsletters, web pages, and other marketing material.
Step 7: Measure Results & Optimize
Track performance through LinkedIn analytics. Monitor:
– Impressions and reach of the post
– Social engagement metrics like reactions, comments, shares
– Leads generated through clicks and form submissions
– Web traffic driven to your site
– Sales qualified leads attributable to the case study
Continuously test and refine the case study content based on results. A/B test different headlines, visuals, and calls to action.
LinkedIn Case Study Best Practices
Here are some key best practices to develop successful LinkedIn case studies:
Choose an identifiable, reputable customer
A known brand name adds credibility. Mention the company and individual names with their consent.
Align with your buyer’s journey
Target personas who need solutions for the specific problems highlighted in the case study.
Leverage a variety of content formats
Combine long-form articles with shorter posts. Create a video case study. Develop an infographic.
Make it skimmable
Use short paragraphs, bullet points, headings and emphasis on numbers to make it easily scannable.
Optimize for SEO
Include target keywords in title, content, image tags and meta descriptions. This boosts organic search visibility.
Prominently highlight ROI
Quantify results with metrics like percentage increases in sales, cost savings, faster turnaround times etc.
Feature visual assets
Include relevant graphics, images, charts and videos. Visuals boost engagement.
Leverage multimedia content
Develop infographics, animated videos, slideshares and other multimedia formats. These perform very well on LinkedIn.
Gate gated assets
For lead generation, gate access to expanded case study content and designs by using forms.
Case Study Examples
Here are two examples of stellar case studies created for LinkedIn:
Microsoft
Microsoft created an interactive case study featuring customer ASOS. Viewers can scroll through the story and click hotspots to learn more. It highlights how Microsoft 365 enabled remote collaboration for ASOS.
Drift
Drift developed a text-based long form case study on customer ClassPass. It focuses on how their conversational marketing platform generated leads for ClassPass. It uses quotes, data, images and a skimmable format.
Conclusion
Developing compelling case studies is crucial for brands looking to generate leads, build trust and demonstrate expertise on LinkedIn. Follow the step-by-step process outlined here to create high-converting case studies optimized for LinkedIn and social selling. Track performance data to refine your case studies. Feature customer stories aligned with your buyer personas. Case studies can give your business a significant competitive advantage by showcasing marketing success stories to your target audience.
