Client case studies
by Marvin Hawkins · in General Discussion · 08/01/2005 (1:30 pm) · 12 replies
Hi,
I have noticed that a lot of media service business such as advergame developers and web/graphic designers list case studies of past projects that they have worked on for clients. I guess the purpose is to convince prospective clients of the job that the company is capable of doing based on thier past sucess. But here in lies the catch.
How can I use case studies as a sales tool if I am just starting out?
Instead of using client case studies could I present facts proving the sucess of businesses that utilized a service similar to what I am offering?
How can I present these facts in a convincing matter? (graphs charts)
If it helps any, my planned business is an advergame development/web design shop. Thanks
I have noticed that a lot of media service business such as advergame developers and web/graphic designers list case studies of past projects that they have worked on for clients. I guess the purpose is to convince prospective clients of the job that the company is capable of doing based on thier past sucess. But here in lies the catch.
How can I use case studies as a sales tool if I am just starting out?
Instead of using client case studies could I present facts proving the sucess of businesses that utilized a service similar to what I am offering?
How can I present these facts in a convincing matter? (graphs charts)
If it helps any, my planned business is an advergame development/web design shop. Thanks
#2
08/10/2005 (6:46 am)
True, very true.... My proposed company is different but since I have seen case studies used on other more established designers' sites i thought it would be a good idea. I came up with a new idea though..... I could do case studies of how a website would be helpful to each of my target markets. I can also do a demo of how a site would look... So it's like they're getting a reason why the should have a website and they're getting a free taste of what it would be like...
#3
08/10/2005 (7:02 am)
Do exactly what others do when starting *any* new business. Underbid all of your competition!
#4
>I could do case studies of how a website would be helpful to each of my target markets.
yes, I think that's part of the "benefits" section. What will they gain from your service? If you can identify their needs, and that's what you can find out from case studies of the established companies, you could put emphasis on the strongest benefit they want to gain. And that would be what you'll address in the teaser-sentence on the front cover of your company brochure.
I don't know what "benefit" one could gamble on and you'd need definately some research to find it out, but I think many companies are aware that having a website alone is not enough. There is also something needed that keeps the website "alive". So maybe you could gamble on this. But as I said, I am not sure if this is a basic "decider". But sure it could "hook" in some companies and they would at least consider to make use of your service.
If you should find out that this is the main problem they want a solution for, then I have even a little idea for you and I hope you can use it: Many companies have websites but they don't gain the extra profit they were hoping for. No visitors or no online sales. That's like a browser window that has spiderwebs in its corners since the site is not used :-) "Sick of the web?" could be a question to be placed into the browser window... and then in the intro paragraph you'd put the problem and the solutions you have for it.
Once you have the most desired benefit defined, the question of why they'd need a website is answered anyway. Then you have also a better ground for your demo. The demo would be merely about the "features" section and would display what you can prepare for them in order to make the desired "benefit" a reality.
I don't mean to interfere into your business; I am just thinking loud and I hope it helps :-)
08/10/2005 (8:59 am)
Hi,>I could do case studies of how a website would be helpful to each of my target markets.
yes, I think that's part of the "benefits" section. What will they gain from your service? If you can identify their needs, and that's what you can find out from case studies of the established companies, you could put emphasis on the strongest benefit they want to gain. And that would be what you'll address in the teaser-sentence on the front cover of your company brochure.
I don't know what "benefit" one could gamble on and you'd need definately some research to find it out, but I think many companies are aware that having a website alone is not enough. There is also something needed that keeps the website "alive". So maybe you could gamble on this. But as I said, I am not sure if this is a basic "decider". But sure it could "hook" in some companies and they would at least consider to make use of your service.
If you should find out that this is the main problem they want a solution for, then I have even a little idea for you and I hope you can use it: Many companies have websites but they don't gain the extra profit they were hoping for. No visitors or no online sales. That's like a browser window that has spiderwebs in its corners since the site is not used :-) "Sick of the web?" could be a question to be placed into the browser window... and then in the intro paragraph you'd put the problem and the solutions you have for it.
Once you have the most desired benefit defined, the question of why they'd need a website is answered anyway. Then you have also a better ground for your demo. The demo would be merely about the "features" section and would display what you can prepare for them in order to make the desired "benefit" a reality.
I don't mean to interfere into your business; I am just thinking loud and I hope it helps :-)
#5
@ cheese_phantom. thanks for your sugesstions and its not meddling llol these forums are all about collaboration. I appreciate any help I get. I only hope I can do likewise for others....
As for the idea it is a good one. I definately must do more research on my competintion. Trying to find out rates has been a huge problem no one in this industry seems to discuss them openly. I'm still fairly new at this and don't have much work to show for it. So I'm not even sure what I could get away with.
08/10/2005 (9:07 pm)
@ Claudio that definately works to a certain point. but from the books i've read... they say that if you bid TOO low then people will be suspect of your skill/experience which would still lead to no contracts.@ cheese_phantom. thanks for your sugesstions and its not meddling llol these forums are all about collaboration. I appreciate any help I get. I only hope I can do likewise for others....
As for the idea it is a good one. I definately must do more research on my competintion. Trying to find out rates has been a huge problem no one in this industry seems to discuss them openly. I'm still fairly new at this and don't have much work to show for it. So I'm not even sure what I could get away with.
#7
Sorry to be answering this question so late. But my business is best described as a new media company. We develop our own games for sale to our audience. But we also want to brach into advergaming because my research concluded that this is a growing career field. Lastly the company will also produce an online magazine devoted to both indie game development and the games we produce. I've noticed that even though DIY and GameTunnel do an excellent job of informing gamers on the wonderful indie games available. There are many more that don't get publicity and there's not much out there devoted to indie game development issues. Save for Garagegames and a few others. Also to supplement our game development efforts, I also plan to develop and host web pages.
Well that's my spiel. Basically my companies like 4 companies in one.
08/16/2005 (7:33 am)
@ chrisSorry to be answering this question so late. But my business is best described as a new media company. We develop our own games for sale to our audience. But we also want to brach into advergaming because my research concluded that this is a growing career field. Lastly the company will also produce an online magazine devoted to both indie game development and the games we produce. I've noticed that even though DIY and GameTunnel do an excellent job of informing gamers on the wonderful indie games available. There are many more that don't get publicity and there's not much out there devoted to indie game development issues. Save for Garagegames and a few others. Also to supplement our game development efforts, I also plan to develop and host web pages.
Well that's my spiel. Basically my companies like 4 companies in one.
#8
There is a lot to it, if your going to be successful.
08/16/2005 (6:29 pm)
Thats a lot going on. I am studing advertising, and have actual experience in doing whole campaigns for real companies. It's not going to be bad to work with your own games, but once you start trying it for others, you'll have your work cut out for you. I would hope that you take your time starting each of your ideas up, so you can have time to actually get used to the pressures involved. There is a lot to it, if your going to be successful.
#9
08/16/2005 (8:16 pm)
Yes it is quite a bit... Originally it all started with game design in high school that's all i wanted to do. But an opportunity came up for me to completely overhaul my schoo's website so I took it. Also when I was a kid I made my own game magazine nothing big just reviews. So originally I set out to do the web design business because I knew it could be steady money while I made games. This year I decided to to advergames and maybe edutainment games too. And the game news journal became a pet project as something I did when I was a kid. So games are my main focus. Everythingg ese is Ancillary revenue. but yes you are right I've already noticed that this is a lot of work. So I'm starting small and will just expand when I can. I probably won't get to advergame development until next year. May I ask what is the average of what marketing companies are willing to pay for an advergame?
#10
I'll give you examples of other media sources, and you can figure it out.
Magazines-look for media kits at their websites or their publishers web sites.
PC Gamer-250,000 subscriptions--$12,500 per full page color ad.
I actually couldn't find their media kit on their site, but I did look at it a few months ago, and this is close to what they said.
People Magazine--3,350,000 paid circulation-$216,200 full page color ad.
Gamespot.com charges anywhere from $11-30 on a CPM or cost per thousand (m as in roman numeral) for banner and skyscraper ads.
advergame is saying 40 million per month so if I had to put a figure on it, it would be $50,000 or more a month depending on the games popularity.
Keep me updated on what you do, and don't be afraid to ask me anything, if I don't know it I'm around people who might be able to answer.
08/16/2005 (8:31 pm)
OK i've been at work, so I haven't had a chance til now to actually look and see what advergame was. Ok one page says that "Advergames entice consumers to play our client-branded games over 40 million times each month." I don't know what a company would pay for something like this, but I would say its like a big pot of gold at the end of the rainbow:) I'll give you examples of other media sources, and you can figure it out.
Magazines-look for media kits at their websites or their publishers web sites.
PC Gamer-250,000 subscriptions--$12,500 per full page color ad.
I actually couldn't find their media kit on their site, but I did look at it a few months ago, and this is close to what they said.
People Magazine--3,350,000 paid circulation-$216,200 full page color ad.
Gamespot.com charges anywhere from $11-30 on a CPM or cost per thousand (m as in roman numeral) for banner and skyscraper ads.
advergame is saying 40 million per month so if I had to put a figure on it, it would be $50,000 or more a month depending on the games popularity.
Keep me updated on what you do, and don't be afraid to ask me anything, if I don't know it I'm around people who might be able to answer.
#11
Thanks for your advice having some sort of idea as to what I can charge is helpful in determing my financial plan.
I feel a little silly in asking this but is the CPM mean that they are charged X amount per 1000 clicks?
Also what kind of Return on Investment or stats measurement tools are availble to us?
I'm sure these companies want proof that X amount of clicks or customers are on your site at a given time.
08/17/2005 (7:55 am)
@ JoshThanks for your advice having some sort of idea as to what I can charge is helpful in determing my financial plan.
I feel a little silly in asking this but is the CPM mean that they are charged X amount per 1000 clicks?
Also what kind of Return on Investment or stats measurement tools are availble to us?
I'm sure these companies want proof that X amount of clicks or customers are on your site at a given time.
#12
I'm not the techie, but I've seen web hosts that track the traffic on your site. I know if you have banners or links, you should be able to track how many clicks they get, and can charge a CPC. (Cost Per Click) If you are wanting to do the magazine, or even a newsletter, you could charge based off of your the number of subscribers to that letter. I think thats around $10 per 1000 subscribers.
If you are making games and placing ads in those games, you should be able to program it to notify you everytime some starts the game.
Other than all that, first start up your newsletter, and build your website. You may want to spent money on getting it up to speed first. Advertisers aren't even going to listen unless you can say you get X amount of visiters, or have X amount of subscribers. Do your newsletters for free as an email, build up your database and then you can start placing ads. Another way is to be like gamespy or MSN and show ads between pages on your site. If you get an average 100 visits per day, tell your client, that for x amount you'll let them have x days no matter how many more visitors find your site. You'll have to play around with how you are willing to charge, until you have built yourself up good, and have the stats to look at.
oh and always get feedback from you clients. Find out if they are getting that boost. If not, work with them on your "dime" until you can. That will help you get loyal clients.
08/17/2005 (11:50 am)
Gamespot would know how many visitors visit their site per day, hour, minute, second. So they would charge per viewing, which can be hundreds per minute. So they would give their clients a general average and charge based on that. If you look at gamespy, I typed in gamespy.com and was first shown an ad for sincity and then had to click to bypass that ad to reach the site. MSN does this also. They may have clients lined up, so lets say I pay for 1000 views, then the company behind me takes that spot for a X amount of views. Each visitor is forced to view it.I'm not the techie, but I've seen web hosts that track the traffic on your site. I know if you have banners or links, you should be able to track how many clicks they get, and can charge a CPC. (Cost Per Click) If you are wanting to do the magazine, or even a newsletter, you could charge based off of your the number of subscribers to that letter. I think thats around $10 per 1000 subscribers.
If you are making games and placing ads in those games, you should be able to program it to notify you everytime some starts the game.
Other than all that, first start up your newsletter, and build your website. You may want to spent money on getting it up to speed first. Advertisers aren't even going to listen unless you can say you get X amount of visiters, or have X amount of subscribers. Do your newsletters for free as an email, build up your database and then you can start placing ads. Another way is to be like gamespy or MSN and show ads between pages on your site. If you get an average 100 visits per day, tell your client, that for x amount you'll let them have x days no matter how many more visitors find your site. You'll have to play around with how you are willing to charge, until you have built yourself up good, and have the stats to look at.
oh and always get feedback from you clients. Find out if they are getting that boost. If not, work with them on your "dime" until you can. That will help you get loyal clients.
cheese_phantom
I would ask the following question:
What is/will be the strong point of my company?
Maybe you should go the other way and tell why current companies, despite their impressive case studies, could *have done* better and why you *will* definately do better. What is the difference you bring in the markets. You can present their case studies as examples to learn lessons from what should be done better. All it has to boil down to is: I have all that other companies have, plus _____________ (fill in some good stuff, please).
So I think first you should really define your strenghts as a company. Once you put down your "competetive edge", you can choose how to back it up (What kind of argumentation, rethoric as well as what sort of visuals, graphs, images) Maybe you don't need any case studies at all. It depends on what you want to communicate with your document.
Why should you mention "similar" companies anyway? You are not "similar", you are "different". ;-)