Case Studies, they are pretty impressive as far as lead generation and closing sales goes.

Considering an average Case Study costs $500, but can convert 10-20 prospects to clients, they are an exceptionally cost affective tool in your marketing arsenal.

Unfortunately, for many technology businesses, the Case Study is the lone sheep lost in the back paddock. They are done when the opportunity of a happy client comes about, and sent out to a few prospects, then added to the web site archive, and forgotten.

In my nearly twenty years of consulting with information technology businesses, it’s pretty much the standard method of using Case Studies.

But they can be leveraged so much more with a little planning and some extra effort.

Consider this. You have a mailing list, you have a happy client, a service or product that worked really well for a given situation. Obviously you decided a Case Study was worth while, but what about the other relatively cheap marketing opportunities you have.

This is my suggested approach when you have a client happy enough to go to the effort of interviews for a Case Study.

Firstly, before distributing the Case Study, look at the very specific problem your solution solved. Have a White Paper written with this specific problem as it’s focus, and your solution to that problem. In the White Paper, reference the Case Study as a specific success story. Remember, a White Paper is part article, part brochure, so having this sort of self reference is perfectly legitimate.

The next step is to write a Press Release. This should be on the client’s success story, and refer to the Case Study, and note that for further information, read the White Paper.

You now have the pieces in place to have all three formats work together, exceeding what each could do on their own.

Send out the Press Release online and offline, simultaneously writing a blog entry about your client’s success story, and a second piece scheduled a few days later on the White Paper, make sure the Press Release, White Paper and Case Study are promoted on social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Digg.

Your lonely Case Study is no longer in the dark, relegated to the back paddock, but reaching a breadth of audience it could never reach on it’s own. The slightly higher spend on the combined Case Study, White Paper and Press Release will more than pay for itself, as the number of warm prospects brought in will exceed anything one of those initiatives could have done on their own.

Give it some thought, and I would be really interested in hearing from others who have tried this approach, and also those who tried one of these method of delivery in isolation.