IT promotion cases

The longer an IT company exists, the more successful projects it accumulates. For promotion it is required to demonstrate its value, practical expertise and competitive advantage. Ready-made cases become a tool of persuasion for clients who are looking for professionals who they are not afraid to entrust with the solution of their problems.

An overabundance of data makes it difficult for marketers to attract and retain the attention of the target audience. This requires a special way of presenting information, which is based on specifying problems and describing their solutions.

Cases as a marketing tool

Cases are a unique opportunity to stand out, since in practice most of the information in IT is duplicated. The description of completed projects inspires user confidence, makes even “cold” readers spend more time on the site studying ready-made solutions. It is an excellent marketing tool that can sell better than advertising, but can do it for a long time.

A well-prepared case study is a social proof of the right approaches and tools chosen, as well as a fascinating story about the work done. It includes a detailed description of the tasks, the solutions proposed, the steps taken, the difficulties encountered, and the result obtained.

Cases provide a number of benefits, allowing for concrete examples:

• draw attention to the IT-company, develop the brand (by demonstrating success, working through different hypotheses, focusing on results);
• use storytelling to keep the attention of the target audience and build the company’s reputation and user loyalty;
• To convince in the expertise and ability to solve the problem of the client (for potential customers it is important to understand that their unsolvable “pains” can be solved by the level of professionalism and experience of the executor);
• explain what is being done and how it is being done (acting as educational content, educating the audience)
• communicate the value of services, justify the price, remove objections, to make the detachment from the competition;
• demonstrate the result and profitability of cooperation;

• create unique materials, for writing which you need only have access to analytical systems (all the necessary information has already been collected and studied, it only needs to be “combed”);
• increase the total number of visitors to the sites where the cases are posted and linked to.

In the format of cases are made out:

• significant achievements;
• unconventional solutions;
• new techniques;
• challenging projects;
• failures and the subsequent growth of awareness.

Demonstrating cases is recommended:

• on the website, blog, social networks, and profile web pages;
• at conferences;
• as a bonus when mailing to clients.

What is the benefit of case promotion?

It is necessary to promote the case as valuable content, the most irrational thing is to put the ready-made solution on the Web and forget about its existence. SEO, contextual and targeted advertising, and email marketing are all used for promotion. Cases multiply the number of unique views, generating far more interest than articles.

Each job has its own cost. The price of a company’s IT services should be outweighed by its cost. The client, comparing the cost of development in competing companies and seeing cases, understands what causes the difference in prices.

Off-site samples of successful solutions to complex problems, framed as an article, are often reposted and discussed. As a rule, this is the format that does not leave readers indifferent. Traffic growth after publishing a ready-made solution increases as authoritative users read, rate and share the information.

Cases also have an impact on a number of indicators:

• increase behavioral metrics, conversions, duration of study of published content;
• increase user engagement, stimulate the creation of user-generated content;
• significantly generate sales, as they clearly show the work of the IT company and its ability to solve complex problems.

Through the case, the company can show the depth of the study of customers’ needs and problems, the validity of the choice of a particular solution, ways to overcome obstacles to the result. As a result, the case shows what the client will get when he applies to the company.

For example, we had a customer working in the B2B segment (provision of IT services). He had been independently promoting a website for almost eight years, which did not convert orders, had no target audience, and a marketing strategy was simply absent. The problem is typical and painful for many companies working in the IT niche.

We solved the customer’s problem in a short time and without major investment, raising the traffic by 45 times. We assembled a retargeting base for monetization, the number of requests increased a thousand (!) times, and conversions increased by a third. This was possible thanks to the developed and tested methodology of integrated marketing. Read more about the case here.

Why is it not easy to write cases?

When writing cases, there are a number of problems that you have to learn to get around.

Privacy. Not all data can be disclosed, and not all clients consent to the release of data. If the client does not agree, the case hides some of the data. For example, the customer, cost information, but the price of the lead is not disclosed.

Clients should be convinced that their mention in the case is beneficial. They get free promotion of the company, discounts on other work, increased traffic to the corporate site (which increases the search authority of the resource). The client’s consent to the publication with all the metrics used in the case should be recorded in writing!

Routine. Often IT companies solving complex problems do not understand how to create an interesting story that can attract the attention of users. But out-of-the-box solutions are written for marketers who need justification in distributing branded content and selling services. What looks boring and routine to a professional may prove valuable to the target audience.

Competition. Some companies do not publish solutions because they are afraid of competitors stealing ideas. Ideas are in the air, and what some IT specialists came up with will most likely become clear to others after a while. By publishing a case, the company is not afraid of replicating the idea, reserving its authorship.

The main mistakes in writing cases are:

• Illogicality. There should be a cause-and-effect relationship, the problem, tools, solutions, and results obtained should be clearly outlined.
• Narcissism. It is not recommended to detail the case too much, using the past achievements and regalia.
• The far-fetchedness of the problem. The most popular and readable cases, bringing maximum traffic to the site, describe actual situations where the problem is recognizable and the solution is different from the standard.
• Stampiness. The text should be written easily, not replete with clericalisms and incomprehensible terms.
• Lack of specificity. Figures are an indicator of the success of the tactic, give the case a sense of completeness and clarity, inspire confidence. You can’t describe something in the abstract; the “before” and “after” states should be present, as well as metrics.

A well-crafted case teaches readers from someone else’s experience. Therefore, it should always have a clear structure and follow an internal logic.

How to competently write a case?

A good case is a potential tool that can be applied to similar situations to those described. It is characterized by:

• structured;
• availability of new information;
• sincerity;
• evidence-based.

The main idea that should be evident in all content – expertise.

• Find a suitable project that has a problem, an interesting plot, a measurable result, united by a cause-and-effect relationship.
• Get the client’s permission.
• Make a structure that takes into account the starting conditions, the work done, the results. Starting objectives and achieved goals should be analyzed using the same metrics and criteria.
• Different specialists should take part in writing the case – marketers, account managers, copywriters.
• Coordinate the final text with the client. You can use streamlined wording, but do not distort the numbers and facts.
• The publication of the case is done by both the client and the doer. This brings traffic to both.

The benefits of publishing cases are obvious – they attract the attention of clients and marketing specialists, stimulate targeted traffic, improve behavioral metrics, increase engagement, and stimulate sales. For IT companies it is an opportunity to clearly demonstrate their promotion work, which is a guarantee of real deals in the future.