Structure a case study as problem, hesitation, what changed, and result, in that order, using the customer's own words. Spend more of the piece on the before than the after, because the reader is currently in the before and that is what they are checking for.
Most case studies invert this and become a description of your product with a customer's logo attached.
The interview is the whole job
A case study is only as good as the conversation behind it. Half an hour, recorded, with permission, produces more usable material than any amount of writing afterwards.
Ask these and let them talk.
- What was happening before that made you start looking
- What had you already tried, and why did it not work
- What almost stopped you from going ahead with us
- What surprised you, in either direction
- What is different now, specifically enough that a colleague would recognise it
- What would you tell someone in the position you were in
Why the hesitation belongs in the piece
The doubt your customer had is the doubt your reader has, and it is the most persuasive material you will get.
A case study that admits the customer thought it looked expensive, or doubted it would work at their size, and then explains what changed their mind, does the work of a sales conversation. One with no obstacle in it reads as selected and is discounted accordingly.
This is the section most companies cut, and cutting it is why case studies are widely ignored.
Numbers, and what to do without them
Specific numbers are the strongest evidence available and many customers cannot share them.
When they can, use exact figures rather than rounded ones, and say what they are measured against and over what period. A percentage with no baseline is not evidence.
When they cannot, use specific non-financial detail instead: time saved per week, a process that used to take four people, a thing they stopped doing entirely. Specificity is what convinces, and it does not have to be money.
Never invent or estimate a number on a customer's behalf. It is fabrication, and it is the kind that gets discovered.
Keep their voice
Quote them directly and resist tidying. The slightly awkward phrasing is what makes it read as a person rather than a press release.
Send the draft for approval and be explicit that they can change anything that misrepresents them. That is both courteous and the thing that gets it signed off quickly.
Format and length
Aim for something a busy person can absorb: a short summary at the top with the result, then the full story for whoever wants it.
Include the customer's name, role, company and a photo or logo where permitted. An anonymous case study is worth a fraction of a named one, and it is worth asking twice before settling for anonymity.
Then put it where the decision happens, not on a case studies page. Next to pricing, in the sales follow-up, in the relevant product page.
When not to write one
If the customer is not genuinely happy, a case study will not fix that and the strain shows in the copy.
If the result was mostly luck or mostly their own work, saying so is more credible than claiming it, and a modest honest case study beats an overstated one that a prospect quietly disbelieves.
Common questions
- What is the best structure for a case study?
- Problem, hesitation, what changed, result, using the customer's own words. Spend more of the piece on the before than the after, because the reader is currently in the before and that is what they are checking for.
- What if the customer cannot share numbers?
- Use specific non-financial detail instead: time saved per week, a process that used to take four people, something they stopped doing entirely. Specificity is what convinces and it does not have to be money. Never estimate a number on their behalf.
- Why include the customer's doubts?
- Because their hesitation is your reader's hesitation. Unbroken praise reads as selected; praise that names a real reservation reads as reported, and it answers the objection in the voice of someone who had it.
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