They make great additions to your blog and they are perfect for sharing on social media – but really, your case studies are separate entities and serve different purposes. Here’s why your case studies are different from your blog posts, and why they work so well together…
What’s the Difference?
Your blog is brilliant for nurturing readers, and introducing them to what it might be like to work with you. Your blog posts are like having a conversation over coffee with a new contact, giving them a flavour of your style, your values and some complimentary insights.
Your case studies should be more like a presentation of what you can achieve in your work. They show how something worked, why it matters, and (most importantly) how you solved a problem for your client. Your blog posts are the friendly conversations with your audience, and your case studies are the proof you’ve got to back them up.
The Purpose of Case Studies
Your case studies’ job is to move your readers on to the next stage towards becoming customers. They’vre read your blog and they think they’d like to work with you, and now they’re seeing real evidence of how you can help – the copywriting equivalent of a solid referral or testimonial.
They’re real-world proof, backing up the claims in your blog posts. They show that what you offer isn’t hypothetical; it’s worked before, for someone else with a problem just like theirs. That builds trust and credibility instantly, and show the value you can offer.
They also put your services in the setting of a relatable situation. They demonstrate the process you use, the thinking, the skill and all the other things you bring to table. When potential clients read a case study, they can put themselves in the same place. Case studies give you a way to meet those prospective customers on their wavelength, so they can recognise the same challenge and imagine how you could solve it for them too.
How they differ from blog posts
At first glance, case studies and blog posts might look similar: they’re both longer-form written pieces on your website. But if they are going to serve their separate purposes, their approaches should be quite different.
A blog post is designed to share ideas, offer tips, tell stories or explain things in an engaging and helpful way. I usually advise clients to soften the tone, make them more conversational, and fit the topcis into one of their regular content themes or pillars. A blog post is there to nurture, inform, and connect, helping your readers get to know your voice, your values, and your expertise.
A case study, on the other hand, is more structured and results-driven. It tells the story of a specific piece of client work: what the challenge was, how you approached it, and what results you achieved. It’s more focused and can often be longer than a blog post, diving into the detail that shows your process and skill in action. Rather than guiding or inspiring like a blog post might, a case study is there to prove your credibility and show the outcomes you can achieve for your clients.
The tone is still warm and engaging – you’re still you – but there should be a stronger, clear emphasis on the problem, the solution and the outcome. It’s less about personality and more about evidence: “Here’s what I did, and here’s what happened.”
In terms of calls to action, blog posts often include gentle invitations to read more or get in touch. Case studies can be a little firmer: “This is how I helped X — if you’re facing something similar, I can help you too.”
SEO Boosters
Blog posts are brilliant for attracting topical search traffic, especially when you’re writing about trends, tips or frequently asked questions. Case studies, meanwhile, add depth and can offer you the option for having longer search terms on your website than the keywords that blog posts include. They include these search terms quite naturally, like “decluttering for a busy professional” or “rebranding a tech start-up”, which means they’re great for visibility and those longer search terms that your key clients are using.
They’re also great content for the client you’re showcasing, so that gives you more marketing and exposure potential when they share it with their network too – backlinks and more visibility in one go, which is all excellent news for you with Google.
So they offer similar benefits and have a few things in common, but blog posts and case studies play different roles. Your blog is the friendly introductory 1:1, welcoming, informative, and full of helpful advice. Your case studies are the proof behind the promise. Together, they go hand-in-hand to give your website even more strength: you’re not just talking about what you can do, you’re out there delivering for clients, and you’ve got the proof as well.
This month’s KnowHow video for my Writing Club members is all about putting a case study together – the ideal structure to follow, key points to include and a couple of tips for choosing the perfect scenario to showcase. You can access this and much more in the Members’ Library – find out more and sign up for Writing Club here: Writing Club
Discover more from Milton Keynes Copywriter: RLC Words
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