If you search for tips on how to write a good case study, a strange and rather ironic thing will likely happen: you’ll be overwhelmed with a flurry of some truly terrible tips.
And the reason these tips are truly terrible is that many business gurus have forgotten – if they ever knew in the first place – that case studies are not academic books that are supposed to impress people with citations, references, charts, graphs, and so on. Sure, these elements are pieces of the puzzle, and they can turn a bad or so-so case study into a good one.
But the heart and essence of a case study – and the starting point when it comes to discovering how to write a good case study – is to embrace the fundamental fact that case studies are NOT technical documents. They’re marketing collateral. That is, their function is to inform, impress and influence customers at certain stages of the buyer’s journey.
Sometimes case studies illustrate to customers what’s possible. Other times, it’s the business world’s version of “social proof” that shows customers that they can and will solve their problems once they buy a product or service (or both). And of course, sales professionals LOVE case studies and can’t get enough of them, because they’re often the ideal way to help customers focus on benefits and outcomes, but in a very “non-salesy” way. Truly, the only thing that today’s sales professionals may love more than a well-run inbound marketing campaign is a library of case studies – glorious, glorious case studies.
However, none of this happiness unfolds if case studies are off-message, outdated, undeveloped, irrelevant, poorly designed, or just plain boring. Fortunately, you won’t face any of these dangers if you follow these 3 tips on how to write a good case study:
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Choose the right customer.
The right customer for a case study is one whose problem and solution are “bigger than the details”.
Here’s what we mean: no two businesses are alike, and as such the problems they face won’t be identical. You want to build case studies that highlight key themes and issues that transcend the details, so that other customers can read them and find relevance. Often, we come across case studies that are so specific and nuanced, that they’re really not accessible or of interest to anyone else.
Remember: case studies are about a customer in profile, but they are never FOR that customer – they are for OTHER customers. After all, the customer in profile is (obviously) already on your roster. But you want your case study to help you attract and onboard new customers. It has to be interesting and relevant to them, or they won’t read it – and the case study won’t be a case study. It’ll be more of a vignette (which may be delightful, but it’s not the business tool you need).
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Reach out and coach.
This is a major gap in the case study creation world, and probably responsible for more failures and headaches than anything else.
Here’s the scoop: customers who are featured in a case study don’t work for you. Yes, they may be flattered that you’d like to shine a spotlight on them, and they may (wisely) recognize that a case study is free publicity for them. But that doesn’t always translate into the customer being responsive and efficient, or even giving you the basic information you need.
As you can imagine or may have experienced, this is a delicate situation. If you push too hard, then your customer may pull the plug. Not only will this leave you without a case study, but the relationship will be damaged. Yet at the same time, if you let your customer call the shots, you might not wrap-up your case study for months – if ever. And even if you do, the time loss will be excessive and you’ll essentially be spending thousands for something that should cost you hundreds.
The best solution here is to try and prevent the problem from happening in the first place. Once you identify a candidate, provide them with a workflow and (very important) get them to agree to schedules, deadlines and approvals. As noted by HubSpot: “The biggest reason why the case study process is delayed is due to the customer not having a timeline set or authorization rights to approve the case study, so you want to be sure that you're covering all of the bases before you get in too deep.”
And along the way, constantly remind your customer that they’ll also benefit from being the rock star of your killer case study. That can help get them focused and productive, which is in everyone’s best interest -- including theirs.
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Use a consistent format.
Not every case study will have the same length – which is normal. Some customers have a huge list of problems they need to solve, while others have one or two specific needs. Or some customers solve their problem with a single solution, while others need to implement a multi-phase approach.
However, despite these differences, it’s very important to have a consistent format for all case studies. That is, don’t have some of them start with a quote while other starts with statistics, or some of them start with a “customer snapshot” while others go straight into the problem.
You want consistency in format and approach, because many customers who read case studies (digitally) thumb through a bunch of them at the same time. Dramatically different formatting is not just disorienting, but the optics are lousy. Customers want an omni-channel experience, and a disparate ad hoc pile of case studies doesn’t align with that.
Learn More
To learn more about how to write a good case study – including how we can do all of the heavy lifting in the background so that you can focus on running your business – contact the Leap Clixx team today. Your consultation with us is free.
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Topics: Inbound Marketing
