Trade publications build brands by focusing on track records

New style marketing efforts have surpassed the customer testimonial in the glamour stakes, with companies placing more emphasis on websites and web-based marketing. While these new ways of doing business and marketing a business have certainly taken hold and have an important role, it has unfortunately led many companies to overlook the power of the good old-fashioned case study in trade publications.
 
A company's track record is one of its greatest assets and it is one of the most important ways in which it can prove its capabilities to potential customers. We have over the years completed a number of tremendously successful case study and customer testimonial campaigns for a variety of clients across a broad spectrum of industries.
 
Not only do case studies demonstrate the client company's ability, expertise and success when faced with specific challenges, but they communicate complex messages about the results a company can achieve which advertising finds difficult to do. Advertising promotes the brand, but case studies and customer testimonials give credibility to the company's ability to perform.
 
The other obstacles to companies using customer testimonial and case studies as a tool to generate new business, is their own fear that their competition may steal their client or do the job better than them.
 
We come across this fear quite frequently in dealing with new clients – or clients who are unaccustomed to typical public relations tools - and feel that these clients need to be educated to understand that the ultimate benefits far outweigh any fear they may have.
 
As the alternative is not having a story to tell, this could hurt their business far more than talking about a notable success with one client, which may ultimately bring in new clients.