How to create an effective business case study

A case study is a powerful tool for business-to-business marketeers. It provides evidence of how a challenge is overcome through a given solution or solutions, allowing your company to bask in the light of a satisfied customer.

A well-constructed business case study provides many benefits, for example it:

• Brings life to your offering by showing how to overcome a specific customer problem.
• Clearly demonstrates the value your solution delivers and, in so doing, suggests other customers will benefit equally.
• Provides a strong third-party testimonial for your ability to satisfy a customer’s needs.
• Educates, builds trust and provides inspiration for potential customers.
• Can tie you to a respected company.
• Allows a product or service to be promoted in an alternative way to standard sales and technical information.
• Is a useful training document for new employees.
• Aids website SEO and provides useful content for social media and media releases.

For these reasons, research shows that case studies are a favoured resource for business-to-business marketing.

Building an effective case study

Case studies involve storytelling and all good stories have a beginning, middle and end. Start with a description of the challenge and objectives and then move into the solution and how it is applied. End with specific results, including data if the client can provide it, and draw conclusions.

Teamwork is essential. The solution has been reached together, so show evidence of both product and service effectiveness, if indeed it is a product-orientated case. By the end, the primary prospects reading the narrative should be mentally applying your solution to their challenges and be buoyed by the evidence the case provides of how effective that solution will be for them.

What information do you collect?

Consider addressing the following list of questions internally in your organisation before approaching the customer for further clarification and quotable responses. Naturally, information is also required about the customer’s company, the person being interviewed and the product or service being supplied.

1. What were your company’s challenges/problems?
2. What were the negative effects of these?
3. Have you or your company worked with us before and in what regard?
4. Have you tried similar solutions from other suppliers previously and what were the outcomes?
5. (If yes and a positive outcome.) Why didn’t you use the same solution this time?
6. What alternative solutions were considered to ours? (These might need to be kept generic).
7. Why was our solution chosen? (Try to get the reasons prioritised, where possible.)
8. Did you have any reservations or concerns prior to signing the contract?
9. (If yes.) How did you overcome these?
10. Why were the alternative solutions not chosen? (Again, it is possible that the customer wants to keep the answer generic.)
11. How was the solution implemented – please provide detail – and in what time frame?
12. What was your experience of working together as a team (roles, planning, reporting, consultancy, follow-up, etc.)?
13. Were there any particular issues to overcome? If so, how did you address them?
14. What benefits has the solution provided since it was implemented?
15. Do you have documentation that supports such claims? For example, can we detail productivity increases, efficiency gains, cost reductions or ROI?
16. What impresses you the most with a) the solution, and b) the service supporting the solution (both pre- and post-sale)?
17. What surprises you the most about a) the solution, and b) our company? For example, does the solution provide unexpected benefits?
18. Based on your experience, what plans do you have in the future to reuse this solution or employ other solutions supplied by our company?
19. What advice can you give to others who are considering purchasing the product or service from our company?
20. Is there anything you wish to add?
21. Is there anyone else we should speak to in relation to this case?

Don't oversell it

Sit back and let the facts do the talking. There’s no need to be overly salesy. The proof of your solution’s effectiveness should be evident, as is the customer’s inherent endorsement. Try to include a direct customer quote or quotes, perhaps using previously published statements from white papers or press releases, if direct case-study quotes prove difficult to obtain.

Although less popular, podcasts or other audio formats, for example, can differentiate your case library from the competition’s and increase access to your information.

Cases reproduced in video format are growing in popularity and provide a better platform to present your information and engage your audience. They help viewers visualise the solution and provide greater potential for creativity, allowing your customer to speak directly to your audience, if they are willing. Furthermore, as video case studies are used less than written alternatives, they also help to differentiate your message.

Promote the case study

Once production is complete the final step is promotion. The first question is – how media worthy is your case? If you feel it is of particular interest, you may well want to submit it to an industry journal or website for consideration before publishing it on your own website and social media. When a media organisation can be first out with the news, then the attractiveness of the submission increases and your presentation is ultimately brought to a wider audience.

If you would like help producing case studies for your business, then we can assist with the complete process.