7 Steps to writing a Successful Case Study

One of the main challenges a Digital, Marketing, and Social Media consultants deal with, is that many case studies companies produce (technology providers AND their clients) lack credibility. Over the past 5 years, I came across too many “case studies” outlining the objective of the campaign or initiative, the method of delivery, and a fluffy outcome. Of course, this is a gross generalization, but this has been my experience to date, reading literally hundreds of case studies, in various fields, to be able to provide my clients with helpful information.

I may be “old skool”, but I’d like to follow certain formulas and adhere to conventional guidelines when using business terminology. If I don’t, the terminology is likely to lose its’ meaning.

Today I noticed a LinkedIn advertising campaign, which looked really interesting:

There was an engaging question, a company name I recognised from previous dealing with them, and a compelling CTA (Call-To-Action).

The advert not only caught my attention, but also really got my hopes high, that I would receive a “Thought Leadership” level answer to this question. I was disappointed…

I do understand there is a lot of pressure on marketing teams to produce Case Studies, to showcase the company’s products and services in a quick turnaround. Especially in the technology space, those teams have to produce the marketing literature very quickly, as the products are evolving very fast, and there’s a need to acquire more and higher-level clients quite quickly. But like the old and widely accepted combination of Cheap/Good/Quick, you can’t have all three.

Producing a proper case study takes time, and research. After all – it’s a study! It also requires resources, to conduct research and make sure the facts are correct, and up-to-date. Lastly, a case study has a structure to be followed, to have the greatest impact:

1. Background
2. Problem
3. Vision & Objective(s)
4. Proposed Solution
5. Implementation
6. Results
7. Learnings

For a Case Study to be effective and useful, you’d have to have all 7 elements. You don’t have to have these elements written down as headers, but the information has to be included in that order. The real objective of a Case Study, in a marketing sense, is to be helpful and insightful enough for a prospective client to identify with the problem, understand the approach to get the solution, understand the level of complexity (or ease!) in the implementation process, on the way to solve the problem, and apply the learnings from the practical results to solve his own challenges.

If we agree on that, here’s my approach to building a case study.

Background

Describe briefly the “lay of the land”. Provide a brief background describing the situation and the entity /organization / people involved. Not too elaborate, but a description good enough for anyone to understand the case study in the right context.

Problem

Here is where it gets a bit tricky. In this section, you need to identify and clearly articulate the problem you’re trying to solve. The challenge you’re  (or someone else) facing, and would like to solve. Quantify the situation if you can, and provide elaborate description of the issues. The goal of this section is to get the reader to buy-in and empathize, and create an emotional connection. This is crucial for the success of this case study.

Vision & Objective(s)

In this section, it is important to showcase where you’re going with this case study. What exactly do you want to achieve, and how do you see the situation, and an ideal (yet realistic) outcome. Again, quantify the objectives; provide real forecasts and KPI’s as it was planned from the outset. In my experience, many case study fail here. They provide “fluid” measurement methods, if at all. The vision is often blurred by dreams and “nice to have’s”. No concrete objectives = very weak case study!

Proposed Solution

If this is your product or service you’re promoting, this part can be tricky. It’s way to easy to dump all features and benefits of your solution in here, but if you provide too much information, you will quickly lose the attention of the readers, and the effectiveness of the whole study will diminish here. Instead, articulate in your own words, a description of the relevant solution in strict accordance to the problem mentioned above. No need to over-complicate – the simpler and more concise – the better!

Implementation

The implementation description is one of the most elaborate of the steps. Here you’d need to include various factors, such as costs, resources, technology, people and processes involved in the implementation, including timelines. If this part was complex, no need to describe everything, but provide a good overview, with hard numbers. You would want to make this look real and authentic, and not just sell the dream. Many marketers will disagree with me here, I’m sure!

Results

Throw the confidentiality out of the window. This isn’t the time to keep secrets! This is your time to shine, and convince the reader that the solution actually solved the problem. It may have had challenges in the process, but overall the results were….

Like any other marketing activity, putting a Case Study together should generate results – clicks, shares, leads, inquiries and ultimately – sales! To be effective, you must include enough information in your marketing materials to help the reader make an informed decision. Giving them the right information, in a believable and easy to digest format, will go a long way in helping you achieve your marketing goals.

Agree? Share your views in the comments below, and share with your peers.

Disagree – I’m happy to be proven wrong… do share your experience below…