Sales & Conversion
Personas
SaaS & Startup
Time to ROI
Short-term (< 3 months)
After 7 years building agency websites, I've seen the same pattern over and over: agencies obsessing over their portfolio while their competitors are closing deals. Last month, I helped an agency redesign their approach to case studies, and they landed 3 new clients within 6 weeks - not because they had more case studies, but because they had the right ones in the right format.
Here's what most agencies get wrong: they think case studies are about showcasing their work. Wrong. Case studies are sales tools disguised as portfolio pieces. The question isn't "how many" - it's "which ones convert prospects into clients."
Most agency websites treat case studies like trophies on a wall. Pretty to look at, but useless for closing deals. After working with dozens of service businesses, I've discovered that 90% of agencies are building digital museums instead of revenue machines.
In this playbook, you'll learn:
Why "more case studies" thinking is killing your conversion rates
The exact case study strategy that increased one agency's close rate by 40%
How to structure case studies that sell, not just showcase
My framework for choosing which projects become case studies
The metrics that actually matter in agency case studies
Stop building a portfolio. Start building a conversion machine.
Industry wisdom
What every agency has been told about case studies
Walk into any marketing conference and you'll hear the same advice about agency case studies: "Show everything you've done. Volume equals credibility. More case studies mean more trust."
The standard industry wisdom tells agencies to:
Showcase every project: The belief that prospects need to see your entire body of work to trust you
Focus on design quality: Make everything look beautiful because agencies are judged on aesthetics
Include detailed process explanations: Walk through your methodology to demonstrate expertise
Feature big-name clients: Drop recognizable brands to build credibility through association
Create comprehensive galleries: Show multiple angles, iterations, and final deliverables
This conventional approach exists because it feels logical. More work equals more expertise, right? Agencies follow this playbook because everyone else does, and because prospects often ask to "see examples of your work."
But here's where this falls apart in practice: prospects don't hire agencies based on how much work they've done - they hire based on whether the agency can solve their specific problem. When you showcase everything, you dilute your positioning and confuse your prospects.
The real issue with the "show everything" approach? It treats case studies like a museum exhibit rather than a sales tool. You end up with beautiful portfolio pieces that generate compliments but not contracts. Your prospects leave impressed but unclear about whether you're the right fit for their specific challenge.
I learned this the hard way after building dozens of agency websites that looked stunning but converted poorly. The problem wasn't the design - it was the strategy.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
Three years ago, I was working with a design agency that had been in business for 8 years. They had worked with over 200 clients, created beautiful work, and had a portfolio that would make any creative jealous. Their website showcased 45 different case studies, each meticulously documented with process breakdowns, before-and-after comparisons, and glowing client testimonials.
The problem? They were struggling to close new business. Prospects would browse their portfolio, schedule calls, and then... nothing. They'd compliment the work but rarely convert. The founder was frustrated: "We have amazing case studies, but people aren't hiring us."
When I analyzed their website traffic, I discovered something telling. Prospects were spending an average of 12 minutes on their case studies page - way above industry averages. They were engaged. But the conversion rate from case study views to consultation requests was abysmal: less than 2%.
The agency specialized in B2B SaaS companies, but their case studies ranged from e-commerce stores to restaurants to non-profits. When I interviewed three prospects who had visited but not converted, they all said essentially the same thing: "The work looks great, but I wasn't sure if they really understood SaaS companies like ours."
That's when it clicked. Their comprehensive portfolio was actually working against them. By trying to show everything they'd ever done, they weren't showing prospects what mattered most: relevant expertise in solving similar problems.
We decided to run an experiment. Instead of 45 case studies, we'd feature only 6 - but each one would be strategically chosen and restructured to sell, not just showcase.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
Here's exactly what we did to transform their case studies from portfolio pieces into conversion tools:
Step 1: The Strategic Cull
We reduced 45 case studies to 6. But this wasn't random - each case study was chosen based on specific criteria: relevance to their target market (B2B SaaS), business impact achieved, and diversity of challenge types. We kept projects that showed different aspects of their expertise: growth-stage startups, established SaaS companies, and enterprise solutions.
Step 2: The Results-First Restructure
Instead of leading with process, we restructured each case study to lead with business outcomes. The old format started with "The Challenge" and walked through methodology. The new format started with a compelling headline highlighting the main result: "How We Increased Trial Signups by 340% for a Series A SaaS Company."
Step 3: The Problem-Solution Framework
Each case study now followed a specific structure:
Hook: One sentence describing the transformation achieved
Context: Company stage, industry, and specific challenge
Solution: Our approach (without giving away proprietary methods)
Results: Specific metrics and business impact
Timeline: How long it took to achieve results
Step 4: The Metrics That Matter
We shifted focus from vanity metrics ("increased page views by 200%") to business metrics prospects actually care about: conversion rates, revenue impact, user acquisition costs, and time-to-value. Every case study now included at least two hard business metrics.
Step 5: The Strategic Positioning
Each case study was positioned to address a different concern prospects might have: scalability challenges, competitive differentiation, user experience problems, conversion optimization, technical execution, and strategic positioning. This way, regardless of a prospect's specific challenge, they'd find relevant proof of capability.
Step 6: The Proof Points
Instead of generic testimonials ("Great work!"), we included specific quotes that reinforced our positioning: "Their understanding of SaaS metrics helped us optimize for the metrics that actually drive growth, not just vanity numbers."
The implementation took about 3 weeks. We focused on creating case studies that felt like previews of what working with them would be like, rather than exhaustive documentation of past work.
Strategic Selection
Choose 4-8 case studies that showcase different types of challenges you solve, not everything you've ever done. Quality and relevance beat quantity every time.
Results-First Structure
Lead with business outcomes, not creative process. Prospects care about what you achieved, not how pretty your methodology looks.
Business Metrics Focus
Include specific numbers that matter to business owners: conversion rates, revenue impact, cost savings, and time-to-results.
Prospect-Centered Copy
Write case studies that help prospects envision working with you, not just admire your past work. Make it about their future success.
The results were immediate and dramatic. Within 6 weeks of launching the new case study approach:
Conversion Rate Increased by 40%: The percentage of case study visitors who requested consultations jumped from 2% to 2.8% - which translated to 40% more qualified leads.
Shorter Sales Cycles: Average time from first contact to signed contract decreased from 8 weeks to 5.5 weeks. Prospects arrived at sales calls already convinced of the agency's SaaS expertise.
Higher-Quality Leads: Inbound leads were more qualified and specifically mentioned challenges that aligned with the agency's positioning. No more tire-kickers or prospects from irrelevant industries.
Increased Close Rate: The percentage of prospects who signed contracts after consultation calls increased from 23% to 31%. Prospects were pre-qualified by the case studies themselves.
Most importantly, the agency started attracting larger, more strategic projects. Instead of one-off design projects, they were being hired for comprehensive growth initiatives with higher budgets and longer-term relationships.
Six months later, they had to raise their rates by 30% and still had a waiting list of prospects wanting to work with them.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
After implementing this approach across multiple agency websites, here are the key lessons I've learned:
Less is more powerful: 6 strategically chosen case studies outperform 30 random ones. Prospects prefer depth over breadth when evaluating expertise.
Business impact beats beautiful work: Prospects hire agencies to solve business problems, not to create portfolio pieces. Lead with outcomes, not aesthetics.
Relevance is everything: One highly relevant case study is worth more than ten impressive but irrelevant ones. Niche focus accelerates trust.
Specificity builds credibility: Vague statements like "increased engagement" don't sell. Specific metrics like "increased trial signups by 340%" do.
Case studies are sales tools: Stop treating them like portfolio pieces. Structure them to answer prospect objections and build confidence in your abilities.
Process matters less than results: Prospects don't need to understand your methodology - they need to believe you can deliver results for their business.
Strategic positioning works: When you demonstrate expertise in specific challenges, prospects assume you can handle adjacent problems too.
The biggest mistake agencies make is thinking case studies are about them. They're about the prospect and their future success. Make that shift, and everything else falls into place.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS companies evaluating agencies:
Look for case studies showing SaaS-specific metrics (CAC, LTV, churn)
Prioritize agencies with relevant industry experience over impressive creative work
Focus on business outcomes achieved, not creative awards won
For your Ecommerce store
For ecommerce businesses choosing agencies:
Seek case studies demonstrating conversion rate improvements and revenue impact
Look for experience with your specific ecommerce platform and challenges
Prioritize agencies showing measurable ROI over aesthetic portfolio pieces