When was the last time your firm published a case study?
You may have drafted a few. But something’s keeping you from pulling the trigger and publishing them.
Maybe you’re waiting on the final numbers.
Or a testimonial. Or someone said, “Let’s hold it until the new site goes live.” Or you don’t think legal will approve it. Or maybe the client’s too busy to send it over.
While you’re waiting, the case study dies.
Buried in Google Drive, forgotten by the project lead.
I see this all the time. Teams have great stories, but they just never ship them. They wait for the perfect version. And by the time it’s “ready,” the moment’s long gone.
This is how good case studies die.
You Need a Minimum Viable Case Study (MVC)
Minimum Viable Case Study (MVC) is simple: If the case study has stakes, specificity, and a business shift, it’s ready.
Even if it’s missing a logo. You anonymize it and publish it.
You can either wait six weeks for a logo or publish something usable for your sales team tomorrow.
It’s your choice.
Once your client’s team approves the full, named version and provides a quote, you edit and publish it. Once you get specific data about the impact of your work, you edit and publish again.
But you don’t wait.
So why aren’t more firms publishing case studies?
Legitimate Reasons and Bullshit Excuses
I’ve heard all the excuses for not publishing case studies. They fall into categories: Bullshit and legitimate excuses.
(Spoilers: there are only four legitimate excuses.)
| The Excuse | The Truth | What To Do Instead |
| No Logo | “We think the logo is the proof. The results don’t prove value.” | If you don’t have a logo, you need a better story. Results still close deals. |
| No Testimonial | “We don’t trust the story can stand on its own.” | Buyers trust specificity. Make the details undeniable. |
| No Final Metrics | “We didn’t track impact, and now we’re afraid it looks incomplete.” | Metrics can be added later. Add clarity on change now. |
| Not Our Best Work | We only want to show work we think is interesting.” | Sales teams need proof that looks like their deals. |
| Too Busy | “We keep choosing urgent work over strategic leverage.” | Case studies are your most important sales asset. Reprioritize. |
| Don’t Want to Bother the Client | “We don’t believe we’ve earned the right to ask.” | Frame it as a win for the client. |
What Actually Disqualifies a Case Study?
There are a handful of reasons that are legitimate for not publishing a case study.
What actually counts:
- The work didn’t align with your positioning and business goals.
- The project or relationship went sideways and the client’s pissed.
- You’re legally barred from sharing any version of the story, even anonymously.*
- Your team hasn’t finished the project yet.
These are self-explanatory .
Every other reason is an excuse that keeps your stories from going live, creating more problems.
*If in doubt, ask legal what is allowed. You might be allowed to publish something.
The Real Cost of Inaction
Every day you sit on a case study, you’re actively undercutting your sales team.
They’re walking into deals without proof, trying to build urgency without stakes.
Clients, partners, and prospective buyers are asking them, “Have you done something like this?” And they have no relevant work to highlight.
So, they default to generic slides and vague anecdotes. Or worse, they’ll make something themselves (slowing down their sales activity while resenting marketing in the process). Or, they’ll send over a dated case study because “at least it’s something.”
Sales cycles grow longer because they don’t have sharp, recent, relevant stories that excite buyers and calm anxieties.
Win rates drop because those champions don’t have assets to shop among their team, building buy-in internally.
Outreach takes a dive because they’re sharing projects from three years ago, making people wonder why you don’t have recent stories.
Partners have no recent work to help them co-sell accounts, forcing them to rely on competitors and refer business to them.
Meanwhile, marketing teams publish blogs sales don’t want to use. The frustration builds, and teams become further siloed.
The head of sales at a 1500-person service firm once told me, “I’ve been at this company for 5 years, and I have no clue what marketing does.”
He later left the company.
That’s the cost of inaction.
Case Studies Close Mid-Funnel Deals
Sales teams are eager for proof that helps them close deals.
Thought leadership doesn’t do that. Case studies do.
Thought leadership is great for building trust at the top of the funnel. When done right, it shows your team is sharp and forward-thinking. It can even spark interest in new services.
But once the buyer’s in the room, you need proof.
That’s why sales teams ignore most marketing assets—they’re not what’s needed.
The business already has LinkedIn posts, blogs, and a sales deck. But it’s missing sharable proof that calms customer anxieties once they’re considering firms (or when they’re already customers missing out on key services).
That’s what buyers need.
Your proof (the story behind your work) keeps the sales conversation moving forward.
Where Unbranded Case Studies Shine
Most people think a branded case study is the gold standard. You’ve got the logo, the testimonial, the name recognition.
But that comes at a cost.
Branded stories usually go through multiple rounds of legal and compliance review. And every revision pulls detail out of the story. You lose the nuance. You forget what actually happened. You lose the stakes. The things that made the work sharp get softened or cut entirely.
Unbranded stories don’t have that problem.
You can go deeper. You can say what really happened. You can discuss the political barriers, internal resistance, and budget constraints. You can describe how the client actually made the decision and what it took to get there.
That’s what buyers care about. They’re not looking for polish. They want to see how your team thinks when things aren’t easy. They want to see what problems you faced, how you worked through them, and what it took to get results.
You get more tension. More credibility. More value.
Branded stories aren’t all bad. For many enterprise-level deals, those logos can make or break credibility.
But an unbranded case study is far better than no story at all. So, publish what you got.
Don’t sit on it.
If It Helps Sales, Ship It
Case studies are the most important asset your marketing team can produce for sales. We know this from the work we do with our clients.
Yes. Even more important than your pitch deck.
Proving you can do the job is the most important part of the sales process. No one wants to pay to be your guinea pig.
And at a time when trust is questionable, firms are heavily commoditized, and buyers have more power than ever, proof goes a long way to putting your potential buyers at ease.
Even better, you can get them excited about working with you.
So don’t wonder. If the draft is ready to go or the project your team just finished is worth discussing, do it. Get it done and get it live.
It doesn’t need to be perfect. It needs to be useful.
And you can always update it later when you have more details.