When you're trying to decide on a particular solutions provider for your personal, household, or workplace needs, what piece of evidence serves as the final tipping point? While some technically-minded folks might fixate on a particular specification or feature, many others will respond to a first-hand account of how that provider helped somebody else in a similar situation. You can (and probably should) spread the word by sharing your success stories through in-person networking opportunities. But if you'd rather dazzle your whole target market in one fell swoop, it's time to start writing case studies for your company.
A typical case study takes a short-and-sweet form, unlike its more detailed big brother, the white paper. You'll want to include the following basic elements:
Introduction
Introduce the subject of the case study to your readers. Give a brief description that includes the client's line of work, its status within its industry or profession, and anything else that might make a prospective buyer say, "Yep, that's a lot like what we do."
Challenge
What kind of challenge brought this client to your door? What problem did the company have, and how was it damaging either their current business or their ability to grow? What other solutions, if any, had they tried without success? (Don't slam another company by name; just indicate how they tried and failed to solve the problem before discovering you.)
Solution
How did you evaluate the client's problem, and what steps did you take to diagnose any underlying causes? What measures did you recommend to fix the problem? How did you implement those measures, and how long did the process take? You don't have to go into a huge amount of detail. but make sure you explain your strategies and tactics in enough detail that the reader can get an impression of your expertise.
Results
None of the sections above will really matter unless you go on to describe their final effectiveness. Get specific here by providing whatever hard numbers will really make an impact. "As a result of our efforts, Company X increased its annual revenue by 32% percent within just 2.5 years," and so on.
Testimonial
A testimonial quote from a client representative serves as the icing on your case study cake; it's the closest thing to a direct referral in terms of its ability to sway readers. but resist the temptation to drop an entire wall of praise, no matter how glowing, into your case study. Isolate the most powerful sentences in your client's account and position them at the end of the case study for maximum impact.
Once you've collected all the necessary data for your case study, do you have to write it yourself? Certainly not! If you're looking for a professional writer with years of experience writing case studies and other kinds of marketing content, bring your success story to me and let's tell the world in style!
