How to Write Killer Case Studies

1. How to Write Killer Case Studies Michelle Boucher & Jill Rose

2. What you will learn Introduction • What does it take to write a “killer” case study? • Do case studies really work? Challenge • Purpose, topic, client • Structure and data • Emotion and voice • Asking questions Solution • Build your case study Template Results • Maximizing content • Taking Notes vs. Recording Lessons learned • Examples & Resources

3. Introduction “Whatever story you're telling, it will be more interesting if, at the end you add, "and then everything burst into flames.”― Brian P. Cleary, You Oughta Know By Now

4. What does it take to build a “killer” case study? • A reason • A client • A story • A writer • A plan

5. Do case studies work?

6. Strategic self-promotion

7. Challenge “I never learn anything talking. I only learn things when I ask questions.” --Lou Holtz

8. Purpose, topic, client • Getting the mix right • Multiple audience, same content • Putting it in context • Short or long? • Identifying the “sweet spot”: the right interviewee(s)

9. Short form

10. Long form

11. Invitation and permission

12. Structure • Case study structure: introduction, challenge, solution, results, lessons learned • Let the writer know your usual structure • Let them know they can change it if necessary

13. Ask for data • A great case study includes data (before the project/after the project) • Make sure you ask for data • Understand that they may not have data • Understand that if they DO have data, they may not have it quickly available • Understand that if they DO have data, they may not want to give it to you • Bottom line: you may have to inch toward getting data, but it’s worth it

14. Emotion and voice • Generally, the tone for case studies is less formal than white papers. • What’s important is successfully telling a story so readers can connect to it. • Who is your audience? They need to see themselves in this story. • Use quotes, but don’t overdo them. Quotes must be strong, not dull. • Use the summary to drive home every key point.

15. Questions to ask Ask open-ended questions (“Tell me about the last time you had a headache” rather than “Do you get headaches?”) Follow up with more questions on that topic, filling in details The most important question to ask: “What would you tell others in the same situation?” This gets you the best testimonial quotes.

16. Taking notes vs. recording • Pros and cons of recording and notetaking (accuracy vs time) • Either way, you'll need to clean up quotes to some degree • If someone said something poorly, paraphrase rather than quote • You'll recognize a great quote when you hear it: write it down and read it back to the source at the end of the interview

17. Solution “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” --Bill Gates

18. Now it’s your turn… • State your purpose for this case study. Identify the client company and the title of the person or people to interview; • Write the introduction: describe the situation that led to the problem, and their pain points. • Describe the challenge: what problem are they trying to solve? • Describe the solution: Ask 3-5 open ended questions. Be sure the answers include how they leveraged your solutions – be careful not to turn into a sales pitch; Include the most important question! • Explain the results; include before/after stats, differences in impact to the business, how things improved using your solution. • List the lessons learned: unexpected – good and bad – and how they handled those things; results of those lessons learned

19. Make it interesting • Specific title (instantly understandable as to what this is about) • Company profile (vitals) • Quotes • Statistics/Quantitative Data • Pictures • Charts/Graphs • Before/After • Pictures of the subjects or location • Boilerplates, bios and updates

20. Lessons Learned “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” --Bill Gates

21. Compelling presentation of content

22. Consider your reader’s expectations

23. One page • Scan-able, easy to read • Don’t make your reader work to find value • Forces concise, crisp writing style

24. Infographic • Very brief stories • Message should be discernable without reading any small type • Simplify the complex

25. Combination • Text and infographic • Sometimes more is more: High points with additional detail give readers a choice

26. Video • Use testimonial from your interviews • Keep them under 5 minutes • Speaker must be well prepped

27. CTA • Invitation to join • Creating interest, not leads

28. Landing page • Minimal gating for content marketing campaigns only

29. Using case studies for lead generation • The higher the value, the bigger the gate

30. Maximizing and repurposing content • Press release • Educational session/presentation • Email marketing CTA • Sales Tool • Give to your clients • Blog posts • Newsletter articles • Gated web content • Content Marketing • Social Media posts • Webinars

31. Resources • www.landscape-creative.com • www.transcriptionhub.com • https://readability-score.com/ • http://www.storiesthatsellguide.com/download/Top10Mistakes.pdf • https://blog.kissmetrics.com/creating-a-great-case-study/ • https://zapier.com/blog/effective-case-study/ • http://www.slideshare.net/ZacharyCohn/18-customer-interview-tips • http://marketeer.kapost.com/how-to-write-case-studies-2/ • http://www.articulatemarketing.com/case-studies-help-you-sell • http://writtent.com/blog/how-to-write-a-case-study-interview-questions-and-tips/ • http://www.joepulizzi.com/