…and why they’re worth the effort
Why are case studies such an integral part of your PR strategy and why spend the effort? Let’s explore why, what and how to write a case study. Picture this: you’re perusing the menu outside a Chinese restaurant, deciding whether to eat there. Someone steps out of the door and says “You’ve got to try this place. It has the BEST dumplings!”. Whose testimony would you find more compelling? The restaurant’s owner’s, or a departing customer’s, one with a small chili oil stain visible on their shirt? Happy clients or customers participating in a case study, are one of the best forms of promotion your business can have.
Not just because they carry more weight, but because they’re the ultimate multi-purpose public relations and marketing tool. As well as being more convincing, case studies can make abstract ideas more concrete and offer a framework for solving similar problems.
But if you’re only posting your case studies on your website, you’re not getting your money’s worth. You can also publish case studies as blog posts, whitepapers, or downloadable PDFs. You can share them in newsletters or as part of lead-generation campaign. And don’t forget to break down case studies into smaller pieces of content, such as social media posts, infographics, or quotes.
Last and most importantly, if it’s a strong enough story, they’re a terrific public relations tool. Journalists love data and real-world examples, so you can pitch your case studies as either stories on their own, or pepper them through your media releases, interviews and op-eds.
Perhaps befitting such a valuable resource, case studies are often hard won. With so many stakeholders and layers of approval, creating them can feel like running a15km Tough Mudder.
But, when considering how to write a case study, there are a few things you can do to set yourself up for success, both in securing a case study and making it really sing.
Making the right approach
The first step is getting buy-in from your customer. This can be tricky. Some people can see it as an imposition on their time – they’ve already given you their business, isn’t that enough? Others are hamstrung about how much they can say. Sometimes this is because they like to control how much information is in the marketplace – a juicy target for hackers will be reluctant to disclose details of its cybersecurity posture, for instance. Other times, high profile brands have a “no case study” policy because every supplier wants to claim as a customer, and well, there are so many hours in a day.
The best way to get a customer on board is to promote it as a win-win – readers get to see their business presented as a market-leading organisation looking to serve their customers better. It also helps if your sales team initiates conversation about case studies early. This isn’t to say that they need to commit the minute the deal is inked, but
When you’re making the approach, don’t be coy about the benefits a case study provides you, either. A good case study presents both the customer and the service provider in the best possible light and done well, will create leads – and possibly press coverage – for both parties.
How to write a case study to tell a great story?
A compelling story with solid supporting evidence engages the reader and builds excitement that they could reap the same benefits
But you need to bring the receipts. It’s not enough to make statements like “productivity was increased,” or “we gained new customers,” or “the bottom line was boosted.” They’re too vague, and don’t provide a real sense of what it achieved. You need solid figures, at the very least, percentage improvements.
Other proof points are also helpful. This could be the amount of time it took to implement the solution, the timeframe for the return on investment, or cost savings compared to previous solutions.
Without numbers, a case study won’t be a compelling sales tool, it won’t provide your clients with the bragging rights to showcase the great decisions they’ve made, how they’re meeting their business objectives and better serving their customers. And without numbers, the media will be far less interested in your story.
Who should you quote?
Ideally, you want to hear from the who made the decision. Readers want someone they can relate to, and they want to know how and why that person made the decisions they did.
It’s also useful to have multiple points of view to make the case study meatier and more engaging. Quotes from a range of people within the customer’s company also makes the case study more likely to be of interest to the media, as it creates a broader fabric the journalist can weave their story from. This can include the employees whose life was made easier by the solution, or even their customers
Streamlining the process
Given the approvals and signoffs needed before case studies see the light of day, it’s important to streamline the process. Take too long to get approvals, and the news value of a deal and the timeliness of its business impact is lost. People don’t want to hear about something that happened twelve months ago. That said, you don’t want to go too early either, before the solution has had a chance to reap the benefits and depriving you of those all-important proof points
Have a single person on point to coordinate the interviews, stakeholder requests and edits on a case study. This makes it much easier to get to a finished product, as well as satisfying the needs of all the chefs in the kitchen.
Interviews are also critical, so if you can get the decisionmaker on a call with the person writing the case study, even if it’s brief, then you’ll end up with a much better product. While email chains are sometimes unavoidable, there’s nothing better than talking to the relevant people, as it makes it easier to get details, follow up on lines of thought, and clarify sticking points.
The reality is there will be lots of people who want to have their say. But by funnelling all those opinions through one point of contact, you’ll end up with better, faster results that capture the timeliness and business benefits of a win.
What’s in name?
Ideally, it’s best to be able to name the customer in a case study. It confers a level of credibility to your claims and some the customer’s kudos may rub off on you. But as mentioned, that’s not always possible.
All is not lost. You might be able to anonymise the case study to the sector the customer operates in. Unless it’s impossible to talk about without showing your hand – “a major Australian airline” kind of gives the game away – you can get some value out of that. It won’t attract much direct media coverage on its own, but can still bring use cases for your offering to life
Case studies are the best way to highlight your great work and position your customer as an innovative organisation. Focus on the story, get the numbers and streamline the process, and you’ll end up with a great sales, marketing and PR tool.
Got a great customer story to tell? Contact us to discuss how we can help your case studies sing
