Our Guide to Writing Compelling Case Studies

A quality case study has the power to turn potential leads into valuable clients for your business.

Prospects can visualize their own success by reading examples of how your company uses its expertise and resources to generate concrete results for others.

Structuring the Case Study

Every case study should follow the same structure—

              Impact > Challenge > Solution > Impact

There are a few reasons for structuring it this way:

1. It gets people’s attention on what they care about: results
2. It tells the complete story. When telling a story, you have to guide your reader from the beginning to the end. You can even think of “challenge > solution > impact” as “before > during > after.”  
3. It keeps the focus on the client. Writing about your company’s great work makes it tempting to brag about your skills. Starting with the impact in the headline and then sandwiching your solution between the client’s problem and the results will keep the client at the forefront. Your solution will stay within the lens of the client's initial problem.  

How to Write Each Case Study Section

Headline 

Summarize the impact. 

The impact should be clear before actually diving into the meat of the case study.

Leading with positive results strikes prospects instantly. They want to read on to find out how you accomplished it.

You may have had an idea of what you wanted to emphasize in the study’s headline before you wrote it. You can always begin with a tentative headline and revisit it after writing. 

Challenge Section 

Introduce the client and establish the business challenge.

Including the business’s entire biography in the beginning will put people to sleep. Focus on the relevant business details that will place the company’s initial problem in context. 

State the challenge. How did the company convey the issue when they came to you for help? Setting the challenge up this way makes it easier to detail how you catered your solutions to their specific needs.

Set up how your company is the right fit to solve the problem.

To transition to the solution section, prove you have the answers. You can get more specific on the problem, sharing exactly what the company needs. Demonstrate your ability to diagnose the problem by stating the problem well. Then you can move right into your company’s solution.

Solution Section 

Explain your process and expertise.

The solution section should be specific. Consider including visuals (charts, diagrams, images) to create more tangible examples of your work.  

Explain the steps you took and why. You have the expertise. You leveraged it into a creative solution. 

Share individual steps you took and the subsequent result (you can elaborate more on big-picture results in the impact).

Impact Section

Prove your results

The impact section should be clear and direct. 

Prove the work that was done translated into definitive results.

What were the client’s goals? Use specifics to detail the metrics that were used to measure their success. 

Don’t just say that the company is doing better in that particular area. That’s vague. 

Prove it. Do your due diligence in backing up the ROI.

Follow this framework and write a successful case study.

Case studies prove your positive impact on clients and show what you can do for future clients. Having a positive impact on your clients is why you do what you do. 

Writing it out for potential clients allows you to make beneficial connections and share more of your company with others.