How to write a case study
Demonstrate your value to customers and clients, or even people within your own org.
Below is a transcript of the video.
Case studies can be a brilliant way to promote your business.
A case study allows you to tell the story of how your product or service helped a client.
And a great case study gives prospective clients a real insight into the benefits of your product or service and an idea of what it’s like to work with you.
Here’s how to create one.
Who should I choose for my case study?
First of all, you should obviously choose a client for whom you did a great job. One where they saw demonstrably outstanding results from working with you.
Did your product help them increase sales or cut costs by 50%? Or did your advice lead to an uplift in customer satisfaction or employee engagement?
Whatever it is, if you can prove measurable results as a result of working with you, that’s something to shout about.
If you’ve worked for a well-known brand, that’s a great choice too. The bigger and more famous the name, the more impressive you’ll look to prospective clients.
You’ll also need to choose a client who’s willing and able to be interviewed, someone who can talk enthusiastically about what you did for them.
Now some clients, particularly bigger companies, like to be discreet about their business relationships. So you’ll need to be sure that you get written permission to use the case study, for example on your website, and final sign-off of the proposed text.
What should I include in my case study?
A typical case study is relatively short - no longer than a page - or around 500-750 words.
So you’re going to want to cram all the good stuff into a relatively short space.
Here’s a three-part structure that I’ve used that allows you to distil all the key points you want to get across in any case study.
1. Start with the challenge. Explain who the client was and what problem they came to you with. Did they need to increase sales? Cut costs? Or respond to a change in the market?
Whatever it is, you want to talk about your client’s pain points – and why they needed your help.
2. Next, we talk about the solution, or how you responded to the client’s challenge. And this is an opportunity to talk about what’s unique about your business or product, and how you approached the challenge so that you could help the client get rid of their pain point.
3. Finally, we come to the outcome – or the results you delivered for the client. Whether it’s helping them cut costs, helping them increase business, or helping them boost engagement on social media.
Whatever it is, you need to provide the proof points of what you did. In other words, the facts and the figures that show you made a demonstrable and measurable difference to your client’s business.
How should I research my case study?
To create your case study, you’re going to want to pick up the phone and talk to your client.
Even if you’re confident of the ins and outs of the product or service that you provide, it’s still really important to get the story in their words.
You may uncover unexpected benefits that you didn’t even know you had delivered, and telling the story in their words will also show potential clients a perspective that’s very client centric on what it’s like to work with you.
So here are examples of the sorts of questions you can ask to solicit great material for your case study.
So let’s take each section of your case study in turn, starting with the challenge. Questions you can ask to create content for this part might include:
Why did you approach us for help?
What problem were you facing?
What effect was the problem having on your business?
What made you choose us over our competitors?
Next, for the solution you can ask things like:
How did you find working with us?
What did you like about our approach?
Why was our proposed solution right for your business?
Finally, ask them about the outcome of the work. So things like:
What difference has our product/service made to your business?
How have you measured that difference?
Are there any facts and figures that illustrate the impact our product or service has had on your business?
And when it comes to writing up your case study, think concise, punchy, and jargon free.
So keep your sentences short and your paragraphs short. And divide the text up into those three constituent parts, challenge, solution, and outcome.
Finally, top the case study off with a compelling headline that neatly encapsulates how you solved the client’s problem.
For more writing advice, enrol in my online course, Writing With Confidence, available at the Doris and Bertie Writing School.
