Novo Writing: How to Write a Case Study For Your Business (In Under 3 Minutes)

REDONDO BEACH, Calif. - Nov. 8, 2013 - PRLog -- Learning how to write a case study for your business will only take you two minutes and fifty-four seconds—maybe a little longer depending on how fast you can read this short article. Simply put, other than writing high-quality articles for your company’s blog, case studies are the most effective way to demonstrate your industry expertise and build trust with prospects.

I got the idea to write this article earlier this week at the end of a conference call with a client. They said they just landed two new customers and wanted to write and distribute a press release. That’s a no-brainer, of course. But I started to dig a little deeper and discovered they landed these new clients after hearing how they achieved such great results with one of their larger customers.

I suggested they write a case study and put it on their website to showcase these results. It turns out that they had hard data on over a dozen other clients about how much they increased sales in their businesses as well.

Needless to say, we’re writing several case studies to go along with the press releases. Now their Services page won’t just talk about what they do. It will also include real world examples of how they helped a real client achieve real results.

The Anatomy of Writing a Case Study

Are you timing this? You should be at about fifty-eight seconds. Now, let’s get into the specifics of how to write a case study. Break it up into three sections:

1.     The Challenge: This is where you describe the problem your client was having before you started working with them. If sales of widgets were down 26 percent and they needed help improving the quality of those widgets, this is where you lay out their specific situation.

2.     The Solution: What, exactly, was your strategy? How did you swoop in and save the day? Explain the steps you took—such as putting your experienced team on the case, implementing a proprietary system, or using an award-winning product—to solve their problem and achieve their goals. Be as specific as possible.

3.     The Results: This is the most important section of writing a case study. It’s where you give very specific data. In fact, if you don’t have any statistics to back up the results of your solution, you probably shouldn’t have gotten this far. Did you increase that 26 percent loss to a 62 percent gain in widget sales? Improve productivity by 150 percent? Give your prospects an idea of the results they can expect.

This before, during, and after structure is the best way to write a case study—whether it’s 250 words or 2,500 words. (Do yourself and your prospects a favor by keeping it as short and sweet as possible.) It may sound obvious, but you also need to be proactive about gathering the before and after data. Many companies are uncomfortable when it comes to asking a client for specific stats, but most them are more than happy to share their great results. You just have to ask.

Now What?

So far, it’s taken you two minutes and six seconds to read through this article about how to write a case study. I hope it was helpful. Now you just need to take a look at the results you’ve achieved for your clients and start writing about all of your success. Remember to make your case studies available on your website—preferably in a downloadable format on a Resources page.

Oh, and remember to share your case studies on social media like you share links to articles on your blog. When it’s natural to do so, include links to case studies within your articles to drive prospects deeper into your website. It’s just one more way to boost engagement and show the benefits of using your products/services without sounding like a commercial.

That’s it! You’re clocking in at two minutes and fifty-four seconds. Contact Novo Writing at 310.792.8888 for more tips on how to write a case study or to get help crafting great case studies for your business. You can also learn more about the benefits of implementing a comprehensive content marketing program for your business by visiting http://www.ContentMarketingProgram.com.