Looking for a Case Study Copywriter? Hi. 🙂

You might think you need a good case study copywriter.

But what you REALLY need is a good storyteller.

Because that’s what an effective case study does: It tells a compelling story about how your business solved a problem for a particular client or customer.

OK, I’m getting ahead of myself a little. First, let’s answer some common questions about case studies. Then, I’ll share some examples of case studies I’ve written (or you can scroll down if that’s what you’re looking for).

What is a business case study?

A business case study tells the story of a customer’s experience with the brand (I’m using the terms brand and business interchangeably here). You can have business-to-business (B2B) case studies or business-to-consumer (B2C) case studies. (I’ve written both.)

Why do businesses and brands write case studies?

Case studies are compelling marketing vehicles because they tell real stories about real people successfully using or benefiting from a brand’s products or services. We humans are suckers for great stories. We also crave true stories that involve real people. It’s why we read reviews on places like Google, Amazon, and Yelp.

Well-written case studies serve as incredibly persuasive social proof because they show that other people are already having success with the brand’s product or service. People who are in the middle of that infamous sales funnel tend to find case studies especially helpful. These folks have already done their initial homework and are now comparing options. A good case study can tip the scale in the brand’s favor.

You can share case studies on the company’s website, in social media, in lead nurturing emails, as leave-behinds during sales calls, at conferences, etc.

How do you write a case study?

This is where good storytelling skills come into play. You don’t want to write a snoozefest. The Internet doesn’t need more boring content.

Good case studies always involve the customer who’s being talked about. That might seem obvious, but I’ve had clients over the years who’ve wanted me to write case studies without the customer’s involvement. (The salesperson would tell me their perspective on the customer’s experience. Oy!)

If you don’t involve the client or customer in the process, you’ll need to 1) keep the case study anonymous, which means it will have less impact, and 2) you won’t have any customer quotes. This defeats the purpose of having a case study. The entire point is to hear from other people who’ve had success with the brand’s product or service.

So the first step in writing a case study is identifying a customer or client whose experience would make a great story and asking them if it would be OK to write about and share their story. Most people are agreeable, but you will occasionally get some no’s. For example, if a b2b company sells into a highly regulated space, its customers might not be allowed to get involved in a case study due to legal issues.

Once you’ve identified a customer and gotten their permission, the writer interviews them about their experience. The writer will draft the case study. The customer should get to sign off on their quotes and how they or their company is presented. Once the copy has been approved, the case study should be designed (whether it’s a nicely designed website page, PDF, or both).

What’s the best business case study format?

One of my favorite case study formats is this: Problem, Solution, Results.

Why? Because it follows the three act format so many of us love.

  • The Problem section outlines the issue the protagonist (the business’s customer) has been experiencing. It discusses their pain, their wishes for a better way, and maybe even their crappy experiences with other companies.
  • The Solution is where the hero swoops in. The hero is the business. This is where you highlight how the business’s product or service saved the day.
  • The Results section is the denouement, the outcome. Here’s what the customer’s life has been like ever since the business came in and saved them. This is the place for impressive stats (e.g., “Our background check software reduced HR’s time-to-hire by 20%”).

Other case study formats include before-and-after (think gyms, personal trainers, hair salons, you get the idea) and question-and-answer. And guess what? Not all case studies have to be text-based. Video case studies can also be extremely compelling. You could even take a combo approach where you write the main case study but then get the customer on video for thirty or sixty seconds with a powerful soundbite.

Do you need to use a case study writer?

Not necessarily. I do recommend using someone who knows how to write. If you have a content writer on your team, they should be able to handle writing case studies. (Most content writers, content marketers, or copywriters worth their salt can write one.) If you don’t have a good writer on staff, you can outsource to a freelance case study writer like me.

Got any case study writing tips?

I sure do!

  • Make sure you understand the goal of the case study. Before anyone talks to the customer, all the decision-makers within the business (meaning the marketing and/or sales department) should agree on what the main goal is in writing this case study. What’s the story you want to tell? As the writer, I like talking to all the relevant people inside the business first, like the salesperson or customer success manager, to get their understanding of their client’s problem before I talk to the actual client.
  • Record your interviews, whether on Zoom or with a recorder. You want to make sure you quote people accurately. Check out my article on how to interview.
  • Be mindful of the tense you choose when drafting the case study. I tend to prefer present tense because it feels more active and recent.
  • Keep case studies short. With rare exceptions, I don’t recommend going over three pages, and two pages is even better. (You won’t always win this argument; a couple of the examples I include below are evidence that I’ve lost this argument before as well.) Think short stories that pack a punch.

A final non-writing tip: I don’t recommend gating case studies. Keep ’em free and clear. They’re too valuable to make people jump through a hoop by filling out a form.

Is a business case study the same thing as a customer story?

It depends on who is defining it. I tend to use the terms interchangeably. Remember, a case study tells the story of a customer’s experience with the brand. You could easily replace “case study” with “customer story” and not lose any meaning: A customer story tells the story of a customer’s experience with the brand.

Here are some of my case study copywriting examples:

Need a case study writer?

Let’s chat! Get in touch here and tell me more about your business, the case study’s goals, and your timelines.