Writing Compelling Case Studies & Winning New Businesses – 5 Tips

December 3, 2020 by

Red Sky Blue Water in Blog, Tips

Case studies are invaluable assets for a company as it serves as the proof of the quality of service the company is providing. It directly promotes your product or services as the best solution, and real data back up the claims. Maybe, case studies are not as welcoming as viral blog posts, but they are useful in persuading potential customers.

According to HubSpot’s State of Marketing Report 2020, 13% of marketers name case studies as one of the primary forms of media used within their content strategy.1 This makes them the fifth most popular type of content, outshined only by visual content, blogs, and ebooks.

Here are the five tips to remember when writing a case study

1. Decide the goal of the case study

Before you begin researching content from the sales and customer support team, it’s vital to decide on the case study’s purpose––the main focus. For example, should the case study examine you are offering, the client, or the overall journey?

Why? Because your case studies aren’t for the general audience but prospects who are already looking into your company. Though relatively smaller than your broad audience, this designed audience is more qualified and is strongly looking to convert.

It is also essential that you set realistic goals. Don’t impose unreasonable expectations about your work and your team in terms of viewers.

2. Plan the structure of the study

The format of the case study is equally important as the content of the case study. A structured layout breaks information down into manageable chunks to not overload the readers with facts and details. It goes easy on readers’ eyes and helps them follow the logical flow of the case study.

Here are typical yet necessary elements to be included. Of course, you may personalize some features accordingly to the client’s need or the case study.

Title or Headline: Giving an insight into customers, their problems, and the result.

Executive Summary: Briefly summarize the case study’s content.

The Subject: Tell your audience the purpose of the case study.

Problem/ Challenge: Address the troubles that customers faced before.

Solution: How did your product or service resolve the issue and deliver a benefit?

Outcome: Present data on the extra revenue the customer made. Use statistics.

3. Think of a captivating heading

Take a look at the following headings used by our expert for the case studies-

● Business Process Investment (BPI) Reduced $1.5 Million in Annual Costs (2)

● Effective Marketing Execution Resulted in 250% Growth in One Year (3)

● Driving $1B in Channel Revenue (4)

● Identified 8 Business-Critical UX Needs (5)

The above headlines give readers the context of the study and promise a difference in terms of numbers. Such as – ‘reduced 1.5 million’, ‘resulted in 250% of growth’, ‘drove $1 billion revenue’, and ‘identified 8 critical needs’.

Headings can hook the reader to read the article. So it’s imperative to write gripping and exciting headlines that easily convey your case study’s goal. The crossheads or the subheadings are equally essential to make your audience skim-read. It helps the reader to access the right details without digging into everything.

4. Create a storyline

After promising a compelling context in the heading, you don’t want to disappoint your readers in the main section. So it’s essential to create a storyline to engage your audience while you structure the case study. Like any other good story, the case study should include a beginning, middle, and end.

You can introduce the client as well as their problem in the beginning section. The middle is where you present your product or service. The final part should show how your services made a difference to your client, what they have achieved, and how they benefitted. Including data and statistics in this part will be highly effective.

5. Include data and statistics

Including quantitive data in the last part supports your claims about the work and make your case studies look appealing to the readers. It helps potential clients imagine what tangible results look like, as the numbers speak for themselves.

The more powerful the statistics are, the less you need to say. The data and numbers in your case studies directly reflect the challenges faced by your client and how your product or service helped to overcome them.

Winding Up!

If you want your case studies to be action-oriented, your writing should eliminate every objection in the mind of your prospects. Make sure every point and opinion in your content should be from credible sources. Above all, no two companies are alike, which means every case study should have a unique style, tone, and format. The ultimate purpose is to convince your prospects and get them on board to do business with you.

Red Sky Blue Water offers content creation facilities to help you impress your clients with compelling case studies and win new business. Get in touch with us to know more.