How to write a great Case Study

 Testimonials and words of praise from genuine customers are incredibly powerful.

If you have a website, you should showcase good reviews and testimonials wherever possible as they “prove” the promises you make about good customer service and great products.

What is a Case Study?

A case study is a more detailed way of presenting great customer feedback and they’re particularly useful for demonstrating how your company excels in certain areas and performs better than the competition.

Your case study needs to tell a story, featuring real customers and what they think about your business.

How do Case Studies help win new business?

A good case study can represent the conversation you’d want happy customers to have with their friends over a coffee or a pint!

Sharing their “conversation” on social media, on your website and in printed materials can reach a huge audience of potential customers.

Your aim is to get readers to identify with your case study subject and desire a similar solution for themselves.

Where do I find good customer feedback?

If you’re a great business, providing great customer service, you should have plenty of satisfied customers who will be more than happy to share their experiences and praise your company.

Make sure you provide lots of opportunities to gather feedback – from inviting people to leave reviews on your Facebook page, the facility to collect testimonials on your website, sending feedback questionnaires with correspondence and saving customer “Thank You” letters. Take every opportunity to ask for feedback and testimonials.

You should create a “library” of good feedback that you can revisit and re-use when you want to promote different features of your service offering.

Every good Case Study needs one key message

Every good case study needs to focus on a single objective – if you’re trying to create a “Look how fantastic we are at everything we do” kind of case study, it will probably be boring, unbelievable and look too much like an advertisement.

Choose one core message – which needs to be around solving a common customer problem or misconception.

It could be “Nobody provides a better service for elderly people than your company,” “How your company helped a customer to achieve xxx (their goal),” “How the personal touch from your company saved the day.”

Think about the one thing that makes your business stand out from the competition – your Unique Selling Point (USP) – and try and develop case studies which demonstrate this competitive advantage.

If you haven’t got a customer testimonial that says what you want

It’s very unlikely you’ll have a testimonial that says exactly what you want.

What you need is a satisfied customer who has told you how happy they are with the service they received. Contact them to chat about their experience, and focus a couple of questions around your key message.

Explain you are going to write up your chat and that you’ll show them the finished article before it is published. Gather any personal information that’s relevant to why they used your services and ask if they are happy to be named (can simply be Miss Jones, Mr and Mrs Smith etc.)

For example, if you’re a florist, you may have provided flowers for a wedding so get the names of the bride and groom, location of the wedding and what the job involved. Ask what they and the guests thought of the flowers, and what the customer particularly liked about the service you provided and how it was different / better than competitors.

Ask if they are happy to have their photograph taken – if not, think of a suitable image (the florist example is easy!).

Get something down on paper

You don’t have to be Shakespeare to write a good story.

Use the following structure as a guide.

1. Headline – around your key message (it’s sometimes easier to leave this until last)
2. Introduction – Summary of who you helped and how
3. Background – why the customer approached your business – what problem were they looking to solve?
4. Personal information – bring your customer to life with the personal information you have gleaned from them
5. Tell me more – a more detailed explanation of the service you provided and why it was right for your customer
6. Conclusion – quote from the customer on why your service was so great
7. Call to Action – how potential customers can access the same great service
8. Contact details – Make sure your website, telephone number and email address are all included.

How long should a Case Study be?

As short as possible. Ideally, a maximum of 500 words unless you work in a really technical industry and need to provide additional background information.

Check your facts and your spelling

Once you’ve written your draft case study, ask a colleague to read through and give you their honest feedback. If you’re a sole trader, ask a friend or family member to read it and then double check for any spelling mistakes.

How to use a good Case Study

Please don’t let all your hard work go to waste!

• Use your case study as a blog on your website and promote it on your Facebook and LinkedIn business pages.
• Print it and use it as a promotional leaflet that you can deliver or post to potential customers.

I need help writing a case study

A professional copywriter can provide the expertise you need to create a great case study.

Find one with a journalistic background and they’ll be able to interview your clients and write up the story in short, snappy style that people will enjoy reading.

Contact a few copywriters and ask for examples of their work and testimonials. You want someone who can quickly understand what your business is about and reflect the company tone of voice in a style that your customers find engaging.

Brandabble is a small, friendly marketing company based in West Sussex.

We specialise in helping small to medium-sized business to punch above their weight with beautifully-designed websites, creative marketing ideas and professional copywriting that grabs attention.

If you’d like to hear how Brandabble can give your business the voice and look it needs to win new business, contact us today.