What Are Case Studies?

Why Case Studies Are Effective BOFU Content

Case studies work at the bottom of the funnel because they answer the buyer’s most pressing question: “Will this work for someone like me?” Features lists explain what a product does. Case studies prove what it delivers.

A buyer evaluating CRM software doesn’t need to know the platform has “customizable pipelines.” They need to know a 50-person sales team in their industry used it to increase close rates by 23%. The specificity of a real customer story is more persuasive than any feature description.

Case studies also serve as social proof. A named customer willing to go on record signals that the product delivers on its promises — and that the company behind it is trustworthy enough to maintain a public reference relationship.

What Makes a SaaS Case Study Convert

Not all case studies are equally effective. The ones that drive pipeline share a few characteristics:

• Specific, quantified results — “Reduced onboarding time from 3 weeks to 4 days” is convincing. “Improved efficiency” is not.
• A relatable customer — the reader should see themselves in the story. Industry, company size, and use case all matter for matching the reader’s ICP.
• The problem before the solution — starting with the customer’s pain makes the outcome meaningful. Without context, results are just numbers.
• Direct customer quotes — first-person language from the actual user carries more weight than third-person narrative.
• A clear before-and-after — the contrast between the old way and the new way makes the transformation tangible.

Case Studies vs Other BOFU Content Types

Case studies, comparison pages, and alternative pages all target buyers in the decision stage, but they serve different parts of the evaluation.

Comparison pages help buyers decide between two specific products. Alternative pages capture buyers looking to leave a competitor. Case studies answer a different question entirely: “Does this product actually deliver results for companies in my situation?”

A complete BOFU content program needs all three. Comparison and alternative pages bring buyers to your site through high-intent search queries. Case studies close the credibility gap once they arrive.

Case Studies and AI Visibility

When someone asks an AI tool “What results has [Product] delivered?” or “Is [Product] good for [use case]?”, the AI looks for published case studies with concrete outcomes to cite. Products with well-structured case studies are more likely to appear in AI-generated recommendations.

Structuring case studies with clear headings (“Challenge,” “Solution,” “Results”), specific metrics, and customer attribution makes them easier for both search engines and AI platforms to extract and reference. A case study that buries results in a PDF behind a form gate is invisible to AI.