A Guide to Writing Case Studies
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The essence of marketing is persuasion. You need to persuade your
potential customers that you can provide them with the results
they are looking for.
One way of doing this is to use case studies to show in
detail how you have achieved those results for other similar
people or businesses, they can be very persuasive.
And because case studies are still shockingly under-used by
many businesses, it's a way of showing how much more
professional you are compared to your competitors.
Why they work?
1. They allow readers to see themselves and their concerns
mirrored by the case study and give them hope that you will
be able to solve their problems like you did in the case
study.
2. They confer credibility. Lots of businesses say how good
they are without giving enough proof. The fact that some of
your customers have allowed their name to be used publically
gives validation to your claims.
3. The structure of case studies allows you to provide alot
of detailed information, which is what most prospective
purchasers are looking for when they are thinking of making
a purchase.
4. With their beginning, middle and end, the case study has
a story format, which we find much easier and more
interesting to read. People like to find out what happens
next.
The structure of case studies
Case studies have a very simple format:
1. Existing situation/challenge. It's important to start
with the problem that your client was facing and the
implications this had for their business.
2. Action taken. You should then explain exactly what you did and
why you did it, showing, if possible, that you:
- caused as little upheaval as possible
- used resources cost-effectively
- customised your solution for the particular situation.
3. The results. Finally you need to describe what the
results of your work were.
You can also add in, where appropriate:
- quotes from your client
- an introductory summary to entice people to read further
- a business profile of your client.
The case study process
1. Define what you want to achieve with your case studies.
It is crucial to do this right at the beginning because your
goals will determine which case studies you choose and how
you write each one.
Here you need to work out clearly what you want your readers
to know, believe and feel when they have finished reading
the article.
2. The next step is to define who your target audience is,
what their problems are, what their concerns/objections are,
and their current level of knowledge and information etc.
etc.
By knowing as much about your target audience as possible,
it's easier to work out exactly what you need to get across
in your case studies and therefore make them more
persuasive.
3. It is also important to be clear why prospects should
purchase from you rather than your competitors.
While you probably wouldn't overtly mention competitors in a
case study (unless it is to mention that a customer has
tried solutions from other businesses in the past and not
achieved the results they wanted), you can subtly get across
why you are different and how that benefits your customers.
4. Now you are clear about the points you want to get over, it
should be easy to decide which clients to use . It's important to
ask their permission about using them in a case study and I would
recommend not just getting an initial written agreement from them
but also approval of the end result.
5. The next step is to start writing the case study using
the exisiting situation-action taken-results structure. The case study will
be more persuasive if you can be as specific as possible in
terms of:
- exactly what the problem was and how it was affecting the
client
- exactly what you did to analyse the problem and then to
solve it
- the specific benefits that your client received and the
impact this had on their business.
6. Once you have written a draft, you should either send it
to your client and ask them to fill in any gaps.
Alternatively, you can interview them on the phone.
7. Before completing it, you should ensure that:
- you have a call to action. Once you have decided what
action you want your readers to take, you need to offer this
next step at the end of the case study and then explain the
benefits to them of taking it
- your contact details are included
- you have achieved the goals you decided upon at the
beginning.
Length
Normally case studies are one or two A4 pages long. However
you can make them shorter, as David Ferrers has done very
effectively at
www.personalperformancecoaching.com/how-you-benefit.asp
By using short descriptions, he has managed to use 13 case
examples in a short space and, in the process, make a very
persuasive case for using his services.
Ways of using case studies
Your options include:
- incorporating the case studies into an information report, which prospects can either download from the website or request to be sent to them
- having a link to a case studies section on your website,
which is openly available to everyone
- ensuring that people enter their email address on your website before they
are allowed access to the case studies
(this can be a good way of capturing email addresses as long
as there is valuable information in the studies and that you
can persuade people that it's worthwhile handing over their
email address)
Tips
- the more case studies you provide, the more professional
you will look
- if you have different target audiences, then you will need
different case studies for each target audience
- it's important not to give too much away if there is a
danger of your competitors copying your mode of working or
your customers' competitors copying a particular strategy
you have designed for them
Getting assistance
One of the benefits of using someone external is
that people often have difficulty excavating all their
knowledge and information on their own.
Having someone else interview you and your clients can be a very effective
way of collecting information, particularly when they can
identify newsworthy points that you may well have ignored if
you were trying to do it all yourself.
If you would like assistance with writing a case study,
please contact me at francis@francismiller.com and
we can have an introductory conversation.
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