If I had a pound for every time I mentioned the words ‘case study’ to my clients, I probably wouldn’t need to work!
Case studies are a great PR tool for all businesses and organisations, putting real people’s experiences front and centre. It’s a powerful thing and something I definitely learned through my work in the press offices of St John Ambulance and Dogs Trust. For charities, they are absolute gold dust.
Here’s an example from my own life.
The Arthur’s Acres Animal Sanctuary in New York state. Never heard of it? I came across it by chance on Facebook a few years ago, when the algorithms had me hooked on animal rescue videos.
In my feed, there was a video post about a kune kune piglet called Mikey, who was rescued by the sanctuary at just 6 weeks old. Despite having no real affinity for pigs prior to this, I fell in love with this little piglet and found myself invested in his rehabilitation story.
I started following the sanctuary’s page on Facebook, looking for Mikey updates and ended up watching their videos (the little ones getting tucked into bed at night is too cute); I became familiar with the pigs at the sanctuary by name, bought the Mikey merchandise and later became a regular donor.
Much to my husband’s dismay, Mikey is my lock screen wallpaper, having replaced our wedding picture.
This weekend I went to a kune kune piglet experience at a farm near us just to sit among the gorgeous little piggies for an hour.
When I reflect on this, it reinforces everything I have ever said about case studies! Had I received a cold email or fundraising message from a pig sanctuary in the US, I would certainly not have responded!
But thanks to the emotive and compelling story of one of their rescues, the sanctuary secured the support of a regular donor from 3,400+ miles away and a brand ambassador who talks positively about their work to others.
Could your business could do with some great storytelling for your curly tale?