Making Your Point with a Case Study

Case studies can be effective in marketing to your target audience. Make sure you know how to tell your story using a case study.

Case studies can be an incredibly effective marketing tactic. Whether your case study is a detailed examination of your industry or presents the effectiveness of your products or services, it is important to convey a strong, accurate message. While they are often thought of as a method for scientific researchers, case studies can be an analysis of people, events, projects, and systems.

Case studies do not have to be long documents. In fact, more concise case studies will help your audience become engaged and will make it easier for them to understand the content. A good model to use is the problem-oriented method.

Present the Problem

First, provide the audience with helpful background information and a detailed account of the problem, often within a historical context. Walking through the struggles faced and giving a detailed description of the background will help your audience understand the issue from your point of view. Introduce the key players. Outline the objectives and challenges. Give specific examples and data. Finally, be careful with your word choices if your audience is not familiar with your industry’s jargon. Remember to whom you are marketing.

Explain the Solution

Describe the problem-solving process involved in getting to your solution. Be sure to include details about the actions taken to resolve the problem. Sometimes including what did not work can be just as informative as what did work. Your audience will want to know how you went about resolving the situation or what actions were taken around the industry issue. This is the part of the case study where you can really demonstrate how you apply your expertise in the real world. Your potential customers will be able to relate to the problems you describe and understand the value of your solutions.

Results, Results, Results

This section should tell the reader how your solution was successful. Be sure to include an account of how the situation turned out. This is the chance to show the great results you are capable of or show yourself as a thought leader in the industry. Showing statistics and the value provided to the customer is an effective way to convey your results to your audience.

Supplemental Information

While your case study may be able to stand strong alone, including some supplemental information can make a big difference. Include relevant research that contributed to your success. Visuals can also be a great asset. If you created any visual pieces to help reach the goal or have any charts or graphs showing the effectiveness of your efforts, be sure to include these – readers love visual aids.

A successful case study analyses a real-life situation where existing problems need to be solved. It makes the reader think critically about the information presented and makes you look like an expert problem-solver. Remember that your case study is all about putting your best foot forward, so make sure that your case study accurately represents your brand and leads to a well-thought-out solution or recommendation.

Wondering what a case study looks like? Read some of FrogDog’s here.

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