If you wanted to convince a stranger of your abilities and talents, would you simply announce your genius? Not at all. If you really want to lend credibility to your claims you need witnesses. Little wonder, then, that case studies are such popular and ubiquitous marketing vehicles.
All too often, however, case studies fail to hit the mark. This is because many companies have a fixed idea of what they should contain. So they produce the same kind of case study again and again, without giving adequate thought to the function it is supposed to perform.
The fact is, case studies are highly flexible beasts with the potential to perform a diverse array of functions. The key to making them earn their keep, therefore, is the tried and tested 3F rule: Form Follows Function. Only once you have established the marketing objective (or function), will you be able to give your case study the most fitting and effective form possible. Only, in other words, when the marketing beast has been harnessed, can the real creative work begin.
An outfit for every occasion
The most common and traditional form of case study is one that follows a chronological narrative. The key criterion for these is usually to choose a big name client and give a blow-by-blow account of events. Depending on the project, it is also likely to contain a fairly large smattering of technical detail.
Such case studies, are not, perhaps, the most entertaining pieces of literature, but then they don’t aim to be. For an audience that is already familiar with the company and is merely seeking evidence of a successful project, this type of case study will more than suffice.
When thought of as part of an overall marketing strategy, such case studies are clearly used in a ‘supportive’ way. In other words, they assume that the audience has already been primed and are pro-actively seeking more information.
But not all case studies can assume this. Often, case studies are used to ‘evangelise’ to the audience. They become, therefore, the first marketing contact with an audience that, almost by definition, is not listening.
In such circumstances it makes no sense to write chronologically, or in any detailed way, because you’ll lose your audience in the first line. Instead you must bait your audience. Know their needs almost better than they know them themselves, and address the business issues that affect them most deeply. Once readers have recognised their own peculiar problems they are far more likely to keep reading because they will have identified with the story.
Evangelical case studies are, therefore, rather more challenging than their more traditional cousins. The hook, for example, becomes all-important. As does the style. Such case studies must be interesting, compelling, easy to read – even surprising. And, as always, a little controversy can be worth its weight in gold.
Paul Ayling is the founder and CEO of Writing Machine.
Read more about writing case studies here:
Which case study format is right for your marketing objectives?
If you or your marketing team are writing lots of case studies, you might be interested in the blended learning version of our Structured Business Writing training course. The course is based on the Structured Writing Method and is customised for each team to focus on the particular documents that they need help with.
Meanwhile, Writing Machine Agency has been writing case studies or running credibility programmes for many of the world’s largest companies for nearly 30 years. If you want to chat about how we create such content so that it can be used in all your sales and marketing channels, please get in touch.