Are Case Studies Still Relevant?

The quest to gain a marketing foothold too often leads corporation down one or another Yellow Brick Road. In today's hyper-competitive marketplace, the impulse to rise like a towering Emerald City is understandable; but what Dorothy eventually came to understand--and what market leaders are leveraging today with remarkable success--is that the key to sustaining the most interest is typically much closer to home.

You want the world to beat a path to your door? Then show it the faces who have crossed your threshold.

Even today customer case histories provide strong, independent evidence of how a company's products and services are working in the marketplace. Companies use this tool in many diverse ways--Web content, media placement, white paper support, for example.

When a company effectively tells prospects about its most effective sories--why your product works, what they mean to those who use them, and how it's good business to be doing business with you--the marketing advantages are clear. This was true 20 years ago when I first began writing corporate case studies, and it is still true today.