Incomes the belief of potential clients is usually a main problem. Earlier than you’ll be able to count on to earn their enterprise, you’ll have to exhibit your skill to ship on the guarantees of your services or products. One of the best ways to win new enterprise is with chilly, arduous proof.
A good way to show your value is thru a compelling case examine. HubSpot’s 2024 State of Marketing report discovered that case research are so fascinating that they have been the fifth mostly used kind of content material that entrepreneurs relied on.
That statistic nonetheless holds true in Forbes Advisor’s 2024 examine, which provides that 78% of B2B businesses report using case studies and buyer tales as a result of they’re “essential for demonstrating real-world worth.”
Having written these ever extra steadily over the previous ten years, I hope to function your information by means of a course of that may really feel daunting, however I promise is definitely worth the effort. Under, I will stroll you thru what a case examine is, tips on how to put together for writing one, what to incorporate in it, and the way it may be an efficient tactic.
Desk of Contents
Case Research Definition
A case study is protection of a particular problem a enterprise has confronted, and the answer they’ve chosen to resolve it. Case research can range tremendously in size and give attention to a number of particulars associated to the preliminary problem and utilized answer, and might be offered in varied varieties like a video, white paper, weblog put up, and so on.
In skilled settings, it‘s frequent for a case examine to inform the story of a profitable enterprise partnership between a vendor and a consumer.
Maybe the success you’re highlighting is within the variety of leads your consumer generated, clients closed, or income gained. Any considered one of these key performance indicators (KPIs) are examples of your organization’s providers in motion.
When performed appropriately, these examples of your work can chronicle the optimistic affect your enterprise has on current or earlier clients, serving to you appeal to new shoppers.
Why write a case examine?
I do know, it feels like an enormous endeavor — is it actually value it?
The reality is that whereas case research are an enormous enterprise, they’re highly effective advertising and marketing instruments that permit you to exhibit the worth of your product to potential clients utilizing real-world examples.
Listed below are a number of the reason why it’s best to write case research.
1. Clarify advanced subjects or ideas.
Case research provide the area to interrupt down advanced ideas, concepts, and methods, exhibiting how they are often utilized in a sensible means.
You need to use real-world examples, like an current consumer, and use their story to create a compelling narrative that demonstrates how your product solved their subject. Most significantly, it explains how these methods might be repeated to assist different clients get comparable, profitable outcomes.
2. Present experience.
Case research are a good way to exhibit your data and experience on a given matter or business. That is the place you get the chance to point out off your problem-solving expertise and the way you’ve generated profitable outcomes for shoppers you’ve labored with.
3. Construct belief and credibility.
Along with exhibiting off the attributes above, case research are a superb method to construct credibility. They’re typically full of information and completely researched, which reveals readers you’ve performed your homework.
A sturdy case examine instills confidence within the options you current as a result of the reader has now vicariously skilled the issue — they usually adopted, step-by-step, what it took to resolve it. These parts work collectively, enabling you to construct belief with potential clients.
4. Create social proof.
Utilizing current shoppers which have seen success working together with your model builds social proof.
Persons are extra probably to decide on your model in the event that they know that others have discovered success working with you. Case research do exactly that — put your success on show for potential clients to see.
All of those attributes play collectively like an orchestra that will help you achieve extra shoppers. Afterward, the case examine acts as a reference. You’ll be able to pull quotes from clients that have been featured in these research to repurpose them in different advertising and marketing content material.
How lengthy ought to a case examine be?
Now that you just’re extra acquainted with the advantages of manufacturing a case examine, let’s discover how lengthy these paperwork needs to be.
The size of a case examine will range relying on the complexity of the undertaking or matter mentioned. Nevertheless, as a normal guideline, case research usually vary from 500 to 1,500 phrases.
No matter size you select, it ought to present a transparent understanding of the problem, the answer you carried out, and the outcomes achieved.
This can be simpler mentioned than performed, but it surely‘s necessary to strike a steadiness between offering sufficient element to make the case examine informative and concise sufficient to maintain the reader’s curiosity.
The first purpose right here is to successfully talk the important thing factors and takeaways of the case examine. It’s value noting that this shouldn’t be a wall of textual content. Make it enticing to dive into by utilizing headings, subheadings, bullet factors, charts, and different graphics to interrupt up the content material and make it extra scannable for readers.
I’ve additionally seen increasingly manufacturers incorporate video parts into case research listed on their website for a extra partaking expertise, which is extremely beneficial on condition that video is at the moment the most effective performing advertising and marketing content material format.
Finally, the size of your case examine needs to be decided by the quantity of data essential to convey the story and its affect with out changing into too lengthy. Subsequent, let’s have a look at some templates to take the guesswork out of making one.
Case Research Templates
That will help you arm your prospects with info they’ll belief, I’ve put collectively a step-by-step information on tips on how to create efficient case research for your enterprise with free case study templates that will help you create your individual.
To make issues much more actionable for you, I’ll spotlight some helpful templates that serve completely different wants.
However keep in mind, there are infinite prospects relating to demonstrating the work your enterprise has performed, and varied audiences can have varied reactions to what your enterprise does.
I can get you began — however by no means rely out the creatives in your staff with recent concepts.
1. General Case Study Template
Beginning off with a simple, generic template is usually a nice basis in your case examine. With this primary template, your enterprise can elaborate on any answer offered to a happy buyer — from their background to what led to them doing enterprise with you, and the outcomes they’ve seen.
Together with the simplistic design of this template, every part is clearly distinct and descriptions the kind of info or course to take to inform you and your buyer’s story higher.
And for additional advantage, while you obtain this template you’ll discover bracket prompts for ideation and directions to observe as you fill it in, which is extremely useful.
2. Data-Driven Case Study Template
For these trying to showcase goal and numeric options, HubSpot’s Information-Pushed template is a superb template to work with.
It’s structured to focus on probably the most notable achievement metrics {that a} particular buyer has seen together with your product and/or service.
As you’re employed by means of this template, you’ll discover comparable bracketed prompts and sections because the generic template — however with extra eye-catching visible cues in your buyer’s success factors to be correctly showcased.
3. Product-Specific Case Study Template
Do you’ve a particular services or products that you just’re attempting to promote, however not sufficient evaluations or success tales? This Product-Particular case examine template will assist.
This template depends much less on metrics, and extra on highlighting the shopper’s expertise and satisfaction.
As you observe the template directions, you’ll be prompted to talk extra about the advantages of the precise product, fairly than your staff’s course of for working with the shopper.
4. Bold Social Media Business Case Study Template
You’ll find templates that symbolize completely different niches, industries, or methods that your enterprise has discovered success in — like a daring social media enterprise case examine template.
On this template, you’ll be able to inform the story of how your social media advertising and marketing technique has helped you or your consumer by means of collaboration or sale of your service.
Customise it to mirror the completely different advertising and marketing channels utilized in your enterprise and showcase how effectively your enterprise has been in a position to enhance site visitors, engagement, follows, and extra.
5. Lead Generation Business Case Study Template
It’s necessary to notice that not each case examine must be the product of a sale or buyer story, typically they are often informative classes that your individual enterprise has skilled.
An important instance of that is the Lead Technology Enterprise case examine template.
For those who’re trying to share operational successes relating to how your staff has improved processes or content material, it’s best to embrace the tales of various staff members concerned, how the answer was discovered, and the way it has made a distinction within the work your enterprise does.
Now that I’ve mentioned completely different templates and concepts for tips on how to use them, let’s break down tips on how to create your individual case examine with one.
How one can Write a Case Research
- Get began with case examine templates.
- Decide the case examine’s goal.
- Set up a case examine medium.
- Discover the suitable case examine candidate.
- Contact your candidate for permission to jot down about them.
- Guarantee you’ve all of the sources it’s worthwhile to proceed when you get a response.
- Outline the method you wish to observe with the consumer.
- Obtain a case examine e-mail template.
- Make sure you’re asking the suitable questions.
- Lay out your case examine format.
- Publish and promote your case examine.
1. Get began with case examine templates.
Telling your buyer’s story is a fragile course of — it’s worthwhile to spotlight their success whereas naturally incorporating your enterprise into their story.
For those who’re simply getting began with case research, I do suggest that you just obtain HubSpot’s Case Study Templates to kickstart the method should you haven’t already.
2. Decide the case examine’s goal.
All enterprise case research are designed to exhibit the worth of your providers, however they’ll give attention to a number of completely different consumer targets.
Your first step when writing a case examine is to find out the target or purpose of the topic you are that includes. In different phrases, what is going to the consumer achieve doing by the tip of the piece?
The consumer goal you give attention to will rely upon what you wish to show to your future clients because of publishing this case examine.
For instance, your case examine may give attention to one of many following consumer targets:
- Complying with authorities regulation.
- Decreasing enterprise prices.
- Turning into worthwhile.
- Producing extra leads.
- Closing on extra clients.
- Producing extra income.
- Increasing into a brand new market.
- Turning into extra sustainable or energy-efficient.
3. Set up a case examine medium.
Subsequent, you‘ll decide the medium by which you’ll create the case examine. In different phrases, how will you inform this story?
Case research definitely do not need to be easy, text-based one-pagers. Utilizing completely different media in your case examine can permit you to promote your closing piece on completely different channels.
For instance, whereas a written case examine would possibly simply dwell in your web site and get featured in a Fb put up, you’ll be able to put up an infographic case examine on Pinterest and a video case examine in your YouTube channel for optimum affect.
Listed below are some completely different case examine mediums to think about and methods to learn from them:
Written Case Research
Take into account writing your case examine within the type of an book and changing it to a downloadable PDF. Then, gate the PDF behind a touchdown web page and kind that your readers fill out earlier than downloading the piece. This allows your case examine to generate leads for your enterprise.
Video Case Research
Plan on assembly with the consumer and taking pictures an interview. Seeing the topic, in individual, speak in regards to the service you offered them can go a great distance within the eyes of your potential clients. Plus, you’ll be able to create cross-channel posts with the video, or take nonetheless photographs from the video to make use of with any social media account.
Infographic Case Research
Use the lengthy, vertical format of an infographic to inform your success story from prime to backside.
As you progress down the infographic, emphasize main KPIs utilizing greater textual content and charts that present the successes your consumer has had since working with you.
Professional tip: Make the highest of your infographic visually fascinating to draw clicks. Don’t be afraid to front-load a very fascinating statistic or element — there’s no such factor as losing it if no person was studying it, proper? Lead with one thing your audience will discover juicy.
Podcast Case Research
Podcasts are a platform so that you can have a candid dialog together with your consumer. This kind of case examine can sound extra actual and human to your viewers — they’re going to know the partnership between you and your consumer was a real success.
4. Discover the suitable case examine candidate.
Writing about your earlier initiatives requires greater than selecting a consumer and telling a narrative — you’ll want that consumer’s participation.
You’ll want permission, quotes, and a plan to make it as straightforward on them as doable. To begin, right here are some things to search for in potential candidates.
Product Information
It helps to pick a buyer who’s well-versed within the logistics of your services or products. That means, they’ll higher converse to the worth of what you provide in a means that is sensible and sounds good to future clients.
Exceptional Outcomes
Shoppers which have seen the most effective outcomes are going to make the strongest case research. If their very own companies have seen an exemplary ROI out of your services or products, they’re extra prone to convey the keenness that you really want your prospects to really feel, too.
One a part of this step is to decide on shoppers who’ve skilled an sudden stage of success out of your services or products.
While you‘ve offered non-traditional clients — in industries that you just don’t normally work with, for instance — with optimistic outcomes, it may possibly assist to take away doubts from prospects.
This may widen your enchantment and appeal to extra and diverse shoppers.
Recognizable Names
Whereas small corporations can have highly effective tales, greater or extra notable manufacturers are likely to lend their credibility to your individual.
Actually, 89% of consumers say they’re going to purchase from a model they already acknowledge over a competitor, particularly in the event that they already observe them on social media.
Professional tip: It may be intimidating to revisit older shoppers, particularly large names, and particularly in the event that they moved on with one other firm. However hear — should you did good work for them and noticed outcomes, you might be pleased with that and they are often sincere about what labored. Don’t be afraid to ask for his or her assist together with your case examine.
Switchers
Prospects that got here to you after working with a competitor typically have fascinating highs and lows that make for an incredible story.
Switchers might help spotlight your aggressive benefits and would possibly even sway choices in your favor when you’ve got prospects on the fence.
5. Contact your candidate for permission to jot down about them.
To get the case examine candidate concerned, you need to set the stage for clear and open communication.
Meaning outlining expectations and a timeline straight away — not having a plan in place earlier than you name your candidate is likely one of the largest culprits in delayed case examine creation.
Most significantly, having a plan lined up helps in getting your topic‘s approval.
When first reaching out to your case examine candidate, present them with the case examine’s goal and format — each of which you’ll have give you in steps #2 and #3 above.
To get this preliminary permission out of your topic, put your self of their footwear — what would they need out of this case examine?
Though you‘re scripting this in your personal firm’s profit, your topic is much extra within the profit it has for them, so make the deal candy.
Advantages to Supply Your Case Research Candidate
Listed below are 4 potential advantages you’ll be able to promise your case examine candidate to realize their approval.
Product Low cost
This can be a extra tangible incentive you’ll be able to provide your case examine candidate, particularly if they seem to be a present buyer of yours.
If they comply with be your topic, provide them a product low cost — or a free trial of one other product — as a thanks for his or her assist creating your case examine.
The larger the scope and measurement of the examine, the extra you may make the case to your finance division to justify bigger items and get extra buy-in.
Model Publicity
Clarify to your topic how and to whom this case examine might be uncovered.
This publicity might help improve their very own model consciousness each in and past their very own business.
Within the B2B sector, model consciousness might be arduous to gather outdoors one‘s personal market, making case research significantly helpful to a consumer trying to broaden their title’s attain.
Worker Publicity
Enable your topic to supply quotes with credit again to particular workers.
When that is an possibility for them, their model is not the one factor increasing its attain — their workers can get their title on the market, too.
This presents your topic with networking and profession growth alternatives they won’t have in any other case.
Backlinks and Web site Visitors
Backlinks are a profit certain to resonate together with your topic‘s advertising and marketing staff. While you publish your case examine in your web site, be sure that your examine hyperlinks again to your topic’s web site. This is named a “backlink.”
In case your reader clicks the hyperlink in your case examine, it takes your reader to the topic’s web site. Primarily, this small gesture provides them extra web site site visitors from guests who’ve learn your case examine.
Moreover, a backlink from you will increase your topic’s web page authority within the eyes of Google, which is rising in issue as AI infiltrates the web.
This helps them rank extra extremely in search engine outcomes. Touchdown greater on the SERP allows them to gather extra site visitors from searchers who’re searching for details about your topic’s business.
As soon as what you’re going to supply your candidate, go forward and get in touch with them to see if they’re considering that includes in a buyer success story, with the promise of extra particulars to observe.
6. Guarantee you’ve all of the sources it’s worthwhile to proceed earlier than you get a response.
Now it’s time to arrange the sources wanted for if — when! — they comply with take part. On the very least, you’ll want a case examine launch kind and successful story letter.
Let’s break these two down.
Case Research Launch Type
This doc can range, relying on elements like the dimensions of your enterprise, the character of your work, and what you propose to do with the case examine as soon as it’s accomplished.
You’ll want permission to make use of any model names and to share the undertaking info publicly.
You need to usually purpose to incorporate the next in your Case Research Launch Type:
- A transparent rationalization of why you might be creating this case examine and the way it is going to be used.
- An announcement defining the knowledge and probably trademarked info you count on to have the ability to embrace in regards to the firm — issues like names, logos, job titles, and photos.
- An evidence of what you’d count on from the participant past the completion of the case examine. For instance, is that this buyer keen to behave as a reference or share suggestions? Do you’ve permission to move contact info alongside for these functions?
- A be aware about compensation.
Success Story Letter
This doc serves as a top level view for your entire case examine course of so your topic higher understands your entire course of they might be opting into.
You will wish to make sure you outline the small print outlined in your Case Research Launch Type inside your Success Story Letter. There are various particulars you’ll want to consider so as to clearly clarify what the method might be like.
7. Outline the method you wish to observe with the consumer.
Earlier than you’ll be able to start the case examine, you need to have a transparent define of the case examine course of together with your consumer. An instance of an efficient define would come with the next info.
The Acceptance
First, you‘ll have to obtain inside approval from the corporate’s advertising and marketing staff.
As soon as accepted, the Launch Type needs to be signed and returned to you. It is also time to find out a timeline that meets the wants and capabilities of each groups.
The Questionnaire
To make sure that you’ve a productive interview — which is likely one of the finest methods to gather info for the case examine — you will wish to ask the participant to finish a questionnaire earlier than this dialog.
That may present your staff with the required basis to arrange the interview, and get probably the most out of it.
The Interview
As soon as the questionnaire is accomplished, somebody in your staff ought to attain out to the participant to schedule a 30- to 60-minute interview.
This could embrace a collection of customized questions associated to the shopper’s expertise together with your services or products.
The Draft Evaluate
After the case examine consists, you will wish to ship a draft to the shopper, permitting a possibility to offer you suggestions and edits.
The Remaining Approval
As soon as any needed edits are accomplished, ship a revised copy of the case examine to the shopper for closing approval.
As soon as the case examine goes dwell — in your web site or elsewhere — it‘s finest to contact the shopper with a hyperlink to the web page the place the case examine lives.
Don’t be afraid to ask your individuals to share these hyperlinks with their very own networks, because it not solely demonstrates your skill to ship optimistic outcomes and spectacular development, as effectively.
8. Obtain a case examine e-mail template.
You’ve gathered your sources, and shortly your candidate will get to discover the thrilling particulars of collaborating in your case examine.
The case examine launch kind communicates what you will want out of your chosen topic, and your success story letter outlines the method in its entirety.
Hopefully by now they’ve replied that they’re considering working with you on a buyer success story. It’s time to ship your case examine e-mail!
To offer you an concept of what which may seem like, try this pattern e-mail.
9. Make sure you’re asking the suitable questions.
Earlier than you execute the questionnaire and precise interview, ensure you’re setting your self up for fulfillment. A powerful case examine outcomes from being ready to ask the suitable questions.
Listed below are a number of examples to get you began:
- What are your targets?
- What challenges have been you experiencing earlier than buying our services or products?
- What made our services or products stand out towards our opponents?
- What did your decision-making course of seem like?
- How have you ever benefited from utilizing our services or products? (The place relevant, at all times ask for information.)
Remember that the questionnaire is designed that will help you achieve insights into what kind of sturdy, success-focused inquiries to ask through the precise interview.
And when you get to that stage, I like to recommend that you just observe the “Golden Rule of Interviewing.” Sounds fancy, proper? It is truly fairly easy — ask open-ended questions.
For those who‘re trying to craft a compelling story, “sure” or “no” solutions received’t present the small print you want. Give attention to questions that invite elaboration, akin to, “Are you able to describe …?” or, “Inform me about …”
When it comes to the interview construction, I like to recommend categorizing the questions in a means that the solutions stream into six particular sections that may mirror a profitable case examine format. Mixed, they’re going to permit you to collect sufficient info to place collectively a wealthy, complete examine.
Open with the shopper’s enterprise.
The purpose of this part is to generate a greater understanding of the corporate’s present challenges and targets, plus how they match into the panorama of their business. Pattern questions would possibly embrace:
- How lengthy have you ever been in enterprise?
- What number of workers do you’ve?
- What are a number of the targets of your division at the moment?
Cite an issue or ache level.
To inform a compelling story, you want context that helps match the shopper’s wants together with your answer. Pattern questions would possibly embrace:
- What challenges and targets led you to search for an answer?
- What might need occurred should you didn’t establish an answer?
- Did you discover different options earlier than this that didn’t work out? In that case, what occurred?
Focus on the choice course of.
Exploring how the shopper determined to work with you helps to information potential clients by means of their very own decision-making processes.
Pattern questions would possibly embrace:
- How did you hear about our services or products?
- Who was concerned within the choice course of?
- What was most necessary to you when evaluating your choices?
Clarify how an answer was carried out.
The main focus right here needs to be positioned on the shopper’s expertise through the onboarding course of. Pattern questions would possibly embrace:
- How lengthy did it take to stand up and operating?
- Did that meet your expectations?
- Who was concerned within the course of?
Clarify how the answer works.
The purpose of this part is to raised perceive how the shopper is utilizing your services or products. Pattern questions would possibly embrace:
- Is there a specific side of the services or products that you just depend on most?
- Who’s utilizing the services or products?
Finish with the outcomes.
On this part, you wish to uncover spectacular measurable outcomes — the extra numbers, the higher. Pattern questions would possibly embrace:
- How is the services or products serving to you save time and improve productiveness?
- In what methods does that improve your aggressive benefit?
- How a lot have you ever elevated metrics X, Y, and Z?
It’s a wise concept to ship a duplicate of your interview inquiries to your topic forward of time to allow them to put together sturdy solutions and gather the numerical information you want from them.
10. Lay out your case examine format.
When it comes time to take all the info you‘ve collected and truly flip it into one thing helpful, it’s straightforward to really feel overwhelmed. I at all times do, however I additionally know that it really works out in the long run, so I simply bounce on in and work it by means of.
So the place do you have to begin? What do you have to embrace? What’s the easiest way to construction it?
It‘s necessary to first perceive that there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all relating to the methods you’ll be able to current a case examine.
They are often very visible, which you’ll see in a number of the examples we have included beneath, and might typically be communicated by means of video or pictures with a little bit of accompanying textual content.
Listed below are the sections I’d counsel, and I will cowl these in additional element after #11 beneath:
- Title. Hold it quick. Develop a succinct however fascinating undertaking title you may give the work you probably did together with your topic.
- Subtitle. Use this copy to briefly elaborate on the accomplishment. What was performed? The case examine itself will clarify how you bought there.
- Govt Abstract. A 2-4 sentence abstract of your entire story. You will wish to observe it with 2-3 bullet factors that show metrics showcasing success.
- In regards to the Topic. An introduction to the individual or firm you served, which might be pulled from a LinkedIn Enterprise profile or consumer web site.
- Challenges and Goals. A 2-3 paragraph description of the shopper’s challenges, earlier than utilizing your services or products. This part must also embrace the targets or targets the shopper got down to obtain.
- How Product/Service Helped. A 2-3 paragraph part that describes how your services or products offered an answer to their downside.
- Outcomes. A 2-3 paragraph testimonial that proves how your services or products particularly benefited the individual or firm and helped obtain its targets. Embrace numbers to quantify your contributions.
- Supporting Visuals or Quotes. Choose one or two highly effective quotes that you’d characteristic on the backside of the sections above, in addition to a visible that helps the story you might be telling.
- Future Plans. Everybody likes an epilogue. Touch upon what’s forward in your case examine topic, whether or not or not these plans contain you.
- Name-to-Motion (CTA). Not each case examine wants a CTA, however placing a passive one on the finish of your case examine can encourage your readers to take an motion in your web site after studying in regards to the work you’ve got performed.
When laying out your case examine, give attention to conveying the knowledge you’ve got gathered in probably the most clear and concise means doable.
Make it straightforward to scan and comprehend, and make sure you present a sexy call-to-action on the backside — that ought to present readers a possibility to study extra about your services or products.
11. Publish and promote your case examine.
When you‘ve accomplished your case examine, it’s time to publish and put it on the market.
Some case examine codecs have fairly apparent promotional retailers — a video case examine can go on YouTube, simply as an infographic case examine can go on Pinterest.
However there are nonetheless different methods to publish and promote your case examine. Listed below are a few concepts.
Lead Gen in a Weblog Publish
As acknowledged earlier, written case research make terrific lead-generators should you convert them right into a downloadable format, like a PDF.
To generate leads out of your case examine, think about writing a weblog put up that tells an abbreviated story of your consumer‘s success and asking readers to fill out a kind with their title and e-mail tackle in the event that they’d prefer to learn the remaining in your PDF.
Then, promote this weblog put up on social media, by means of a Fb put up or a tweet.
Printed as a Web page on Your Web site
As a rising enterprise, you would possibly have to show your case examine out within the open to realize the belief of your audience.
Fairly than gating it behind a touchdown web page, publish your case examine to its personal web page in your web site, and direct folks to it out of your homepage with a “Case Research” or “Testimonials” button alongside your homepage’s prime navigation bar.
Case Research Format
The standard case examine format consists of the next components: a title and subtitle, a consumer profile, a abstract of the shopper’s challenges and targets, an account of how your answer helped, and an outline of the outcomes. You may additionally wish to embrace supporting visuals and quotes, future plans, and calls-to-action.
1. Title
The title is likely one of the most necessary components of your case examine. It ought to draw readers in whereas succinctly describing the potential advantages of working together with your firm. To that finish, your title ought to:
- State the title of your buyer. Immediately, the reader should study which firm used your services and products. That is particularly necessary in case your buyer has a recognizable model. For those who work with people and never corporations, chances are you’ll omit the title and go along with skilled titles: “A Marketer…”, “A CFO…”, and so forth.
- State which product your buyer used. Even should you solely provide one services or products, or if your organization title is identical as your product title, it’s best to nonetheless embrace the title of your answer. That means, readers who usually are not aware of your enterprise can develop into conscious of what you promote.
- Allude to the outcomes achieved. You don’t essentially want to supply arduous numbers, however the title must symbolize the advantages, shortly. That means, if a reader doesn’t keep to learn, they’ll stroll away with probably the most important info: Your product works.
The instance above, “Crunch Health Will increase Leads and Signups With HubSpot,” achieves all three — with out being wordy. Preserving your title quick and candy is crucial.
2. Subtitle
Your subtitle is one other important a part of your case examine — don’t skip it, even should you assume you’ve performed the work with the title.
On this part, embrace a short abstract of the challenges your buyer was going through earlier than they started to make use of your services and products. Then, drive the purpose dwelling by reiterating the advantages your buyer skilled by working with you.
The above instance reads:
“Crunch Health was franchising quickly when COVID-19 compelled health golf equipment all over the world to shut their doorways. However the firm stayed agile by utilizing HubSpot to extend leads and free trial signups.”
Professional tip: I like that the case examine staff expressed the urgency of the issue — opening extra places within the midst of a pandemic — and positioned the give attention to the shopper’s skill to remain agile.
3. Govt Abstract
The chief abstract ought to present a snapshot of your buyer, their challenges, and the advantages they loved from working with you.
Assume it’s an excessive amount of? Assume once more — the aim of the case examine is to emphasise, time and again, how effectively your product works.
The excellent news is that relying in your design, the manager abstract might be combined with the subtitle or with the “In regards to the Firm” part. Many occasions, this part doesn’t want an specific “Govt Abstract” subheading. You do want, nevertheless, to supply a handy snapshot for readers to scan.
Within the above instance, ADP included details about its buyer in a scannable bullet-point format, then offered two sections: “Enterprise Problem” and “How ADP Helped.”
Professional tip: Generally conserving it easy sells higher than an excessive amount of element. I really like how easy and straightforward the format is to observe for individuals who are unfamiliar with ADP or its typical buyer.
4. In regards to the Firm
Readers have to know and perceive who your buyer is.
That is necessary for a number of causes:
- It helps your reader probably relate to your buyer.
- It defines your ideal client profile (which is crucial to discourage poor-fit prospects who might need reached out with out understanding they have been a poor match).
- It provides your buyer an oblique boon by subtly selling their services and products.
Be happy to maintain this part so simple as doable. You’ll be able to merely copy and paste info from the corporate’s LinkedIn, use a quote instantly out of your buyer, or take a extra artistic storytelling strategy.
Within the above instance, HubSpot included one paragraph of description for Crunch Health and some bullet factors. Under, ADP tells the story of its buyer utilizing an interesting, personable approach that successfully attracts readers in.
5. Challenges and Goals
The challenges and targets part of your case examine is the place to put out, intimately, the difficulties your buyer confronted previous to working with you — and what they hoped to attain after they enlisted your assist.
On this part, you might be as transient or as descriptive as you’d like, however keep in mind to emphasize the urgency of the state of affairs. Don’t understate how a lot your buyer wanted your answer — however after all don’t exaggerate and lie, both.
Present contextual info as needed. For example, the pandemic and societal elements could have contributed to the urgency of the necessity.
Take the above instance from design consultancy IDEO:
“To reach as we speak’s data economic system means you’ll be able to by no means cease studying. However instructional alternatives for adults have develop into troublesome to entry in the USA, simply after they’re wanted most. Employers are demanding recent expertise quicker than Individuals can purchase them, and that’s leaving many behind.
To counter this development, IDEO helped the town of South Bend and the Drucker Institute launch Bendable, a community-powered platform that connects folks with alternatives to study with and from one another. Free to all, Bendable is sponsored and run by the town’s library system.”
Professional tip: Lay out the problem, what your buyer needs to do about it, and the way you made it doable. IDEO mentions the difficulties the USA faces at massive, the efforts its buyer is taking to deal with these points, and the steps IDEO took to assist them make it occur.
6. How Product/Service Helped
That is the place you get your services or products to shine. Cowl the precise advantages that your buyer loved and the options they gleaned probably the most use out of.
You may as well go into element about the way you labored with and in your buyer.
Perhaps you met a number of occasions earlier than selecting the best answer, otherwise you consulted with exterior businesses to create the most effective package deal for them.
Regardless of the case could also be, attempt to illustrate how straightforward and pain-free it’s to work with the representatives at your organization. In any case, potential clients aren’t trying to simply buy a product. They’re searching for a reliable supplier that may try to exceed their expectations.
Within the above instance, IDEO describes the way it partnered with analysis institutes and spoke with learners to create Bendable, a free instructional platform.
Professional Tip: Present your proactivity and thoroughness. IDEO did an incredible job to make potential clients really feel that they may do one thing comparable for different shoppers.
7. Outcomes
The outcomes are important, and the most effective half is that you just don’t want to jot down the whole lot of the case examine earlier than sharing them. Like HubSpot, IDEO, and ADP, you’ll be able to embrace the outcomes proper beneath the subtitle or government abstract.
Use information and numbers to substantiate the success of your efforts, however should you don’t have numbers, you’ll be able to present quotes out of your clients.
I can’t overstate the significance of the outcomes. Actually, should you wished to create a brief case examine, you possibly can embrace your title, problem, answer (how your product helped), and consequence.
8. Supporting Visuals or Quotes
Let your buyer converse for themselves by together with quotes from the representatives who instantly interfaced together with your firm.
Visuals may also assist, even when they’re inventory photographs. On one aspect, they might help you convey your buyer’s business, and on the opposite, they’ll not directly convey your successes. For example, an image of a contented skilled — even when they’re not your buyer — will talk that your product can result in a contented consumer.
In this example from IDEO, we see a person standing in a ship. IDEO’s buyer is neither the person pictured nor the producer of the boat, however fairly Conservation Worldwide, an environmental group.
Professional tip: Break up blocks of textual content to maintain your potential buyer’s curiosity. Partitions of textual content get boring shortly. The boat imagery referred to above gives a visually pleasing sample interrupt to the web page, whereas nonetheless conveying what the case examine is about.
9. Future Plans
That is optionally available, however together with future plans might help you shut on a extra optimistic, personable be aware than should you have been to easily embrace a quote or the outcomes.
On this area, you’ll be able to present that your product will stay in your buyer’s tech stack for years to come back, or that your providers will proceed to be instrumental to your buyer’s success.
Alternatively, should you work solely on time-bound initiatives, you’ll be able to allude to the optimistic affect your buyer will proceed to see, even years after the tip of the contract.
10. Name-to-Motion (CTA)
Not each case examine wants a CTA, however I’d nonetheless encourage it. Placing one on the finish of your case examine will encourage your readers to take an motion in your web site after studying in regards to the work you’ve got performed.
It is going to additionally make it simpler for them to achieve out, in the event that they’re prepared to begin instantly. You don’t wish to lose enterprise simply because they need to scroll all the best way again as much as attain out to your staff.
Enterprise Case Research Examples
You drove the outcomes, made the connection, set the expectations, used the questionnaire to conduct a profitable interview, and boiled down your findings right into a compelling story.
And in spite of everything of that, you are left with a bit of piece of gross sales enabling gold — a case examine.
To point out you what a well-executed closing product appears to be like like, take a look at a few of these advertising and marketing case examine examples.
1. “Shopify Makes use of HubSpot CRM to Rework Excessive Quantity Gross sales Group,” by HubSpot
What’s fascinating about this case study is the best way it leads with the shopper. This displays a serious HubSpot worth, which is to at all times remedy for the shopper first.
The copy leads with a short description of why Shopify makes use of HubSpot, and it’s accompanied by a brief video and a few fundamental statistics on the corporate.
Discover that this case examine makes use of combined media. Sure, there’s a quick video, but it surely‘s elaborated upon within the extra textual content on the web page.
So, whereas case research can use one or the opposite, don’t be afraid to mix written copy with visuals to emphasise the undertaking’s success.
2. “New England Journal of Drugs,” by Corey McPherson Nash
When branding and design studio Corey McPherson Nash showcases its work, it is sensible for it to be visible — in spite of everything, that‘s what they do.
So in constructing the case examine for the studio’s work on the New England Journal of Drugs‘s built-in promoting marketing campaign — a undertaking that included the purpose of selling the consumer’s digital presence — Corey McPherson Nash confirmed its viewers what it did, fairly than purely telling it.
Professional tip: Catch eyes by letting focused visuals do the speaking. Discover that the case examine above does embrace some mild written copy — which incorporates the most important factors I‘ve recommended — however the visuals permit customers to actually take up the studio’s providers.
3. “Designing the Way forward for City Farming,” by IDEO
Here is a design firm that is aware of tips on how to lead with simplicity in its case research. As quickly because the customer arrives on the web page, she or he is greeted with an enormous, daring photograph, and two quite simple columns of textual content — “The Problem” and “The End result.”
Instantly, IDEO has communicated two of the case examine‘s main pillars. Whereas that’s nice — the corporate created an answer for vertical farming startup INFARM‘s problem — it doesn’t cease there.
Because the consumer scrolls down, these pillars are elaborated upon with complete copy that outlines what that course of appeared like, replete with quotes and extra visuals.
4. “Safe Wi-Fi Wins Large for Match,” by WatchGuard
Then, there are the circumstances when visuals can inform virtually your entire story — when executed appropriately.
Community safety supplier WatchGuard can try this by means of this video, which tells the story of how its providers enhanced the attendee and vendor expertise on the Windmill Final Frisbee event.
5. Freshbooks’ “How Zachary Makes use of Tasks and Profitability Instruments to Save $2K/Month”
Within the case study above, Freshbooks makes use of pictures, movies, and useful stats to inform the story of how a small enterprise proprietor is ready to use Freshbooks’ profitability instruments to get a deal with on ROI on his shoppers and initiatives. They do a superb job of lining up the issue, answer, and outcomes proper off the bat.
Professional tip: Widen your portfolio of case research by protecting companies of various sizes and in varied phases of development. This might help you appeal to extra prospects to maintain your pipeline full and your workers working even while you’re not in the course of massive initiatives.
6. Small Desk Plant Enterprise Ups Gross sales by 30% With Trello
This case examine from Trello on Desk Plants is easy and straightforward to grasp. It begins by explaining the background of the corporate that determined to make use of it, what its targets have been, and the way it deliberate to make use of Trello to assist them.
It then goes on to debate how the software program was carried out and what duties and groups benefited from it. In direction of the tip, it explains the gross sales outcomes that got here from implementing the software program and consists of quotes from decision-makers on the firm that carried out it.
7. Fb’s Mercedes Benz Success Story
Fb’s Success Tales web page hosts plenty of well-designed and easy-to-understand case research that visually and editorially get to the underside line shortly.
Every examine begins with key stats that draw the reader in. Then it is organized by highlighting an issue or purpose within the introduction, the method the corporate took to achieve its targets, and the outcomes. Then, in the long run, Fb notes the instruments used within the case examine.
Showcasing Your Work
You’re employed arduous at what you do. Now, it is time to present it to the world — and extra importantly, to potential clients — with an incredible case examine.
Earlier than you showcase the initiatives that make you the proudest, I hope you observe these necessary steps that may assist you successfully talk that work and depart all events feeling nice about it.
Editor’s Word: This weblog put up was initially printed in February 2017 however was up to date for comprehensiveness and freshness.
