Best Practices To Create A Case Study That Is Compelling & Gives You Great Brand Positioning

With all the competition that exists today in almost every niche, customers need certain parameters to weigh their options. Case studies let the customer dive deep into previous customer experiences and derive an idea of what it’d be like to engage with your business. 

A case study typically details how a product or service successfully addresses a customer's need or solves a particular problem. It includes background information, challenges, the approach taken, the solution implemented, and the results or benefits realized, often supported by data and testimonial evidence.

Moreover, case studies can also be summarised into a single-line conclusion and become statistics. Additionally, they serve the purpose for anyone who wants to get a more insightful view of what goes under the hood. 

We will discuss how you can also create compelling case studies and build a great brand reputation as a result of that. 

Best Practices for Creating Compelling Case Studies

In this section, we will discuss a step-by-step plan and approach for how you can create engaging case studies and also talk about what to include in a case study so it is informative yet compelling. 

Choosing the Right Client and Project

Choosing the right client, project, and details is what makes a good case study great! Focus on success stories that align with your brand's core values and demonstrate the efficacy of your product or service. 

Look for clients who have seen transformative results and projects where your solution played a crucial role. Moreover, the client must be relatable and must fall in the same demography as your target audience. 

Create a case study that ideally reflects the typical challenges faced by your prospects, offering relatable scenarios that prospective customers can identify with. 

The more relevant and impactful the client's journey, the more compelling your case study will be, positioning your brand as the ideal solution provider. For instance, the following Codeacademy’s customer success story/case study shows in great detail how a graphic designer switched his career to becoming a front-end engineer. 

Crafting a Compelling Narrative: How to Setup a Case Study To Tell A Great Story

Human beings, by evolution, love listening to stories. Storytelling is the way by which brands are built, a vision is communicated, people come together to create something, and more. 

Hence, your case studies must be narrated with that “storyteller” perspective. There are many ways to story-tell, and whatever we suggest here are just rules of thumb you can use, but not rules. We suggest you take these tips, get creative, and tell stories your way.

Start by setting up a goal or an endpoint that the client/customer wants to reach. You can set the scene with the client's background, the challenges or needs they faced, and the stakes involved. This builds empathy and context, drawing readers into the narrative.

Then, move into the core of the story – the journey. Detail the implementation of your service or product, the collaboration between your team and the client, and the strategic decisions made along the way. Use direct quotes and perspectives from key stakeholders to add depth and authenticity.

You can also break down the case study into small questions or subheadings that make the case study more readable, like how Codeacademy did.

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Finally, bring the story home with a strong conclusion showcasing measurable outcomes, the client's reflections on the process, and an overarching message that ties back to your brand's value proposition. 

The goal is to demonstrate clear before-and-after contrasts and ensure the narrative draws a line from the client's initial concerns to their satisfaction and success, thanks to your solution.

Highlighting the Problem

To captivate your audience, the introduction of the client's challenge or problem must be relatable and evocative. Begin with a vivid description of the issue, setting the context in a way that allows the reader to understand the significance and feel the client's pain points as if they were their own.

Incorporate compelling statistics to quantify the problem and provide a frame of reference for its impact. This adds a layer of credibility and urgency. 

Testimonials from the client can offer a personal, emotional angle to the narrative, detailing the challenges in a voice that is authentic and trustworthy.

Illustrate the challenge using real-world scenarios, drawing parallels to familiar issues faced by the audience. The more tangible and specific these examples are, the easier it is for potential customers to see themselves in the client's shoes, recognize their own needs, and consider your brand as a viable solution.

Presenting the Solution

If there’s a problem, there must be solution. You have to present your brand as the knight in shining armor that helps the client solve their problems. Depict your solution as tailor-made for the problem, nailing down how it addresses the client's specific needs.

Begin by explaining the solution in layman's terms, avoiding jargon to ensure accessibility to all readers. Walk the audience through the step-by-step process of how your product or service was implemented, shedding light on the logic and strategy behind each decision.

Focus on the unique aspects of your solution that differentiate it from competitors. Describe the features with a direct link to benefits experienced by the client, and if possible, substantiate these claims with supportive data.

For example, if you’re an IT company that offers data management services to businesses, you can display the unique solutions that your company provided that the competition could not. 

By making a direct correlation between your solution's features and the benefits realized, you ensure a compelling and persuasive narrative that highlights the effectiveness of your product or service.

Showcasing Results

When presenting the results of your solution, use concrete, quantifiable outcomes, as they can be quite credible. It is crucial to detail the measurable impacts your product or service had on the client's problem, with a strong emphasis on data-driven metrics that reveal the extent of improvement or success.

Continuing on the previous example of the IT company offering data management solutions to businesses. In scenarios like these especially, the results, for example, can be explained as x% reduction in computing power, y% growth in data accessibility, increase in data security, etc. 

Employ before-and-after comparisons to illustrate the stark transformation undertaken by the client. Encapsulate this data visually where possible – using graphs, charts, and tables – as this can make your case study more digestible and impactful.

For example, Medispay, a hair transplant solution company, displays the before/after pictures in its customer success story. 

Integrate client testimonials that speak to the results from their perspective. An anecdote or quote that reflects the client's satisfaction and the benefits they have experienced could be particularly persuasive.

When discussing metrics, focus on those that resonate most with your target audience, whether it be revenue growth, cost savings, time efficiencies, or customer satisfaction rates. By presenting evidence that aligns with your readers' priorities and interests, you show the real-world applicability and effectiveness of your solution.

You can use direct testimonials, quotations, and reviews by your clients and customers to showcase these results. Testimonial Donut is a free testimonial management and collection tool that you can use for collecting and integrating everything from video testimonials to Google reviews on your website, with its friendly interface and streamlined & easy-to-use dashboard. 

Making it Reader-Friendly: Creating a Case Study that is Easy to Comprehend

Creating a reader-friendly case study is essential to ensure that your audience can easily understand and engage with the content. Here are some tips on formatting and presentation to enhance readability:

• Use Clear Headings and Subheadings

Organize your case study with clear and descriptive headings and subheadings. This structure guides the reader through the narrative and key points, making the document easier to scan and digest.

Consider the following case study by ABHRS on hair transplants. Notice how it uses a heading called Case Description and then follows up with subheadings: History, Physical Examination, and Plan. 

• Employ Bullet Points or Bold/Underline Important Content

When detailing complex information on a website case study, such as results or technical data, use bullet points to break down the content into manageable pieces. This helps in highlighting important facts and figures, making them more memorable and easier to understand.

• Incorporate Visuals

Visual elements such as charts, graphs, and images can greatly enhance the impact of your case study. They provide a visual break in the text and can help to illustrate trends, compare data, or simply bring the story to life. 

Ensure that each visual has a caption and is referenced in the text to maximize its effectiveness. You must decide what should a case study look like based on your brand and positioning. 

• Use Short Paragraphs

Keep paragraphs short – ideally, no more than three to four sentences each. That helps in maintaining the reader's attention and makes the content easier to digest.

• Include a Summary or Conclusion

End with a summary or conclusion that encapsulates the main findings and takeaways. This helps reinforce the message and ensures that readers leave with a clear understanding of the case study’s outcomes.

Promoting the Case Study

Effectively promoting your case study is crucial to ensure it reaches your target audience and achieves its intended impact. If people are not aware of your case study, it practically doesn’t exist. 

Here are some ways you can utilize your existing resources to promote the case study:

• Feature on your website
• Utilize Social media posts and ads
• Incorporate into email campaigns and newsletters
• Create video summaries
• Collaborate with industry influencers and credible figures
• Optimize for SEO
• Publish on Professional Platforms (Platforms like LinkedIn Pulse or industry-specific forums allow you to publish articles or white papers.) 

How Long Should A Case Study Be?

A case study should typically be between 500 and 1500 words, long enough to provide detailed analysis and insights yet concise enough to maintain reader engagement and convey the message.

For the rest, we suggest that you create a 60-word case study along with the full-length case study so you can summarise it easily in the preview. Use great headings, subheadings, and statistics to summarise the case study. 

Codeacademy posts summarised success stories along with detailed stories. 

Final Thoughts

Case studies are extremely important to keep your process more transparent and build trust with your potential customers. They are also important for SEO, marketing, and keeping your users engaged. 

While they may seem a little nerdy, they are important for almost every brand. Hope we were able to spark some ideas in you to create a case study that sticks out and proves to be beneficial for your business. 

Alternative ways to build more trust and social proof are posting reviews and testimonials. You must try Testimonial Donut for a more straightforward and simplified workflow of collecting and managing testimonials with our user-friendly dashboard. 

The best part is that we are offering free services for a limited period. So get started on your testimonials and reviews journey right away with Testimonial Donut.