How to publish a client case study: interview, draft, approval, page

Ask before the project ends

The best moment to ask is when the client is visibly pleased, often at handover. Ask in writing and be specific about what you'd publish: their name and logo, a quote, results, images of the work. Some clients will say yes to the story but not the numbers, or yes to the work but not their name. Record exactly what they agreed to; it decides what you can write.

The interview

Thirty minutes on a call, recorded with permission, beats a questionnaire. Useful questions:

1. What was happening before you started looking for help?
2. What had you tried, and why didn't it work?
3. Why did you choose us, honestly?
4. What was the hardest part of the project?
5. What's different now, day to day?
6. Is there a number that shows the change, and may we use it?
7. Who should read this, and what would you tell them?

Draft it to a simple shape

Five to eight hundred words is plenty. Avoid round, unsourced claims ("tripled sales") unless the client gave you the number and the period. A modest, specific result reads as more believable than a dramatic vague one.

Get approval on the exact text

Send the draft as a document first, so the client can correct facts and soften anything their legal or comms team won't accept. Ask them to mark every number they're happy to have published. Then build it on the site, where the route depends on how you hold case studies:

As a page or section of the site

Ask for it in a sentence ("add a case study section for Northbank Dental to the Work page"), paste the approved wording, and make a client review link. The client sees the preview without an account, can comment on each section, and the link expires after 14 days by default. Publish only after their written yes.

As an entry in a CMS collection

Entries in a case-studies collection get their own pages at /case-studies/<slug> as soon as they're saved, so save the entry only after the client has approved the document, and send them the live link to check.

Publish and share

1. Publish, and open the page on a phone.
2. Send the client the link with thanks; many will share it on their own channels.
3. Add the case study to your proposals and sales emails, where it does most of its work.
4. Note the date and what was approved alongside the client's permission email.

When things change later

Clients rebrand, change staff or ask for a number to come out. Treat any request to change or remove the case study as urgent: edit or delete it the same day and publish again. Version history keeps earlier versions of the site for a while if you need to check what was on the page before.

What goes wrong

• The client's comms team rewrites everything. Agree at the start who approves; route their edits through the one contact.
• A number without context. Always give the period and the baseline: "enquiries per month, March against September".
• The quote sounds invented. Use their words from the recording, lightly trimmed, and have them approve it.

Limits

Anticode provides the page, review links with section comments, CMS collections and version history. It doesn't record a formal approval, hold contracts or permissions, or schedule publishing; keep the written yes in your email. Pages are public once published; there are no private, password-protected case studies. See client review links, collecting testimonials ethically and the case study page builder.

Questions people ask

Can I publish a client case study without permission?

Check your contract, but don't rely on it. Asking protects the relationship and usually gets you better material.

Can the client review the case study before it's live?

Yes. Send the draft as a document, then a client review link to the page in the preview, which needs no account.

What if the client wants it taken down later?

Do it the same day: delete or edit the page or entry, then publish again.