Case Studies, KPIs, and the Importance of Marketing Data

Case studies are more than just doing research—they can be an invaluable tool to measure and showcase data about a project or campaign! At Skigital, we conduct case studies as a way of determining how effective our marketing efforts are for our clients, whether it be increasing digital traffic with a new website, getting the attention of more consumers on social media, or improving overall engagement with an elevated brand strategy. But, what exactly is a case study? How do you conduct one effectively? Read on to learn more, and see some of our case study highlights!

The Importance of KPIs

The essence of a marketing case study is to prove quantifiably that your product or service has been effective by showing real-life results. So, how do you measure that? It starts with what’s known as KPI, or a key performance indicator. These are simple metrics that your business can track in order to measure effectivity, whether in finance, sales, operations, or marketing. A few KPIs we tend to focus on include contact rates (or traffic-to-lead ratios), social media traffic and conversion rates, marketing revenue attribution, and more. These rates and numbers are observed and gathered over the course of months. We compare these to other rates prior to implementing our marketing strategies to ensure an accurate correlative conclusion.

The Process of a Case Study

For example, in one of our email marketing case studies, we focused on our long-time client Equine Medical and Surgical Associates (EMSA). EMSA develops all-natural supplements to help horses recover quickly and stay in peak health. The head of EMSA, Dr. Reilly, wanted to reach his customers through a direct and informative channel that would keep them updated on new products and promotions. For this reason, we developed an email marketing strategy for EMSA, with the goal to keep their customers informed and interested in the products offered in the online store.

EMSA has three emails sent out each month, the first of reminding customers about free shipping on orders over a certain amount. The second and third contained informative details on seasonally-appropriate products and promotions, along with blog highlights. All emails contained clickable links and photos with engaging copy. Over the course of 3 months, we gathered data on the number of email subscribers, the open and click rates of the emails, and the shop rate of those who entered the site via emails versus overall. This helped us determine that not only was there an increase in overall sales thanks to these emails, but that over ¼ of all orders placed on the EMSA website were from people clicking from emails, with a top open rate of around 34%. Considering that the average open rate of an email campaign is about 20% on average, that’s pretty impressive! It also exemplifies just how important case studies are when trying to determine an effective marketing strategy.

Different Kinds of Case Studies

Aside from email marketing, there are many different types of case studies we perform at Skigital, all tailored to the particular service we provide for our clients. These range from measuring sales gained after email campaigns as with EMSA to tracking followers from social media posts, as we have done with Habitat for Humanity of Chester County. By looking at these results, we can determine which parts of our marketing strategies were effective, and perhaps more importantly, where we might need to make changes. Each case is unique, so the solutions we find for one client may not be the right fit for another. This is why we strive to create unique, relevant solutions for every business we work with. A list of a few of our featured studies are as follows:

1. Text Message Marketing - For this case study, we worked with Brickside Grille in Exton, PA as an example of effective SMS marketing. Our design team at Skigital designed an SMS sign up card that would go inside of a customer’s receipt booklet when they closed out their bill, in addition to promoting SMS on social media and in email blasts. Over the course of 4 months with this strategy, we saw an increase of 142 individuals signing up to receive text messages from Brickside.

2. Website Case Study - While design and branding development can be a bit more abstract than collecting numbers, it is still possible to measure audience engagement before and after making website design updates. This is exactly what we did with Limoncello Ristorante. We worked with them to create a user-friendly, visually appealing, and brand-conscious website that would help visitors access their dine-in and takeout menus, make reservations, and purchase gift cards. After these strategies were implemented, we saw significant increases in website traffic, annual revenue, and even check out rates from people visiting Limoncello’s site.

3. Brand Case Study - A personalized brand means little if it isn’t recognizable. We worked with Shorebreak Café of Sea Isle, New Jersey, to create a unique and recognizable logo that would embody the spirit of the business and stand out to customers. For this study, while we did not collect numbers, we did still collect feedback—we learned from Shorebreak Café that the logo had become memorable, and we were even able to expand it from a simple mark into a full creative strategy.

Each of these studies and more on our website are prime examples of the importance of measuring data when investing in marketing. At Skigital, we are proud to offer personalized strategies to our clients, the results of which we can clearly measure to weigh their effectivity. Additionally, after over seven years of service, we are also proud to note that our strategies are consistently effective for our clients. The case study aspect of our marketing approach is a crucial one—it tells us what we are doing right and where we need to focus our attention. For more details on our case studies, visit our case studies page on our website!