Last Updated on May 2, 2023 by Anthony
Is your company a business-to-business (B2B) enterprise? If so, how do you go about marketing your products or services to customers? You have options, one of which is the case study. The case study represents a way to make a case for your business as being a better choice than the competition.
Connotations’ case study writing service focuses on utilising one of the most effective forms of B2B marketing ever conceived. A well-written case study demonstrates a company’s capabilities through real-life scenarios buttressed by factual data. They are to B2B marketing what customer reviews are to business-to-consumer (B2C) advertising.
Customer Reviews Sell
Digital marketers encourage customer reviews among B2C organisations for one particularly important reason: they work. Customer reviews sell product and services. That’s just the way it is. New customers are more likely to believe reviews than company sales literature. They are more likely to trust what other consumers say rather than digital advertisements.
Case studies accomplish the same thing for B2B enterprises. And frankly, they accomplish it much better because the data they offer isn’t mere opinion. It is actual data from real-life scenarios through which a company has proved its ability to deliver. That really is the key.
A Real World Example
Legitimate case studies are written based on real-world examples. Imagine you have a company that specialises in server migration and upgrades. The case studies on its website are all based on actual server migration jobs they have done. The jobs were performed for real clients whose names and addresses can be verified.
Why produce and publish such studies? Not only do they demonstrate a company’s capabilities, but they also connect with new clients in a more personal way. Clients are more capable of comparing their own circumstances to those of the customers described in the case studies. When they can see themselves facing the same issues, they can also see the vendor as the one providing the needed solution.
What a Case Study Looks Like
The most important thing about a case study is the information it provides. First and foremost, it needs to be legitimate. Making up case studies may fool potential customers from time to time, but it only takes one curious discovery to uncover fakes and completely ruin a company’s reputation. That being said, a typical case study includes:
- the name of the vendor
- introductory information about the client
- the challenge presented by the client
- the solution presented by the vendor
- the benefits of said solution
- the verdict (solution implementation and how it all worked out)
- a customer quote.
Where possible, verifiable stats and other sorts of hard data help make a stronger case. Where hard data isn’t available, factual statements are still preferred over opinion and conjecture. If nothing else, case studies are all about the facts.
Detailed but Not Overbearing
Case study writing is most effective when it gets right to the point. A good case study absolutely includes plenty of details. You need enough detail to satisfy a prospective client’s curiosity and drive home the point that your company can get the job done. At the same time, you do not want so much detail as to be overbearing.
A word count of between 600 and 1,000 words is ideal for a case study. The closer one can stay to the 600-word mark without being too vague, the better. Why? Because potential customers are looking for a vendor. They are not interested in reading long-winded dissertations on extemporaneous information they don’t need to know.
Information Offered with Clarity
Hand-in-hand with managing word count is presenting information as clearly as possible. Remember that a case study is designed to market a company’s products or services to another company. Clarity is key to doing so.
Case studies should be written in plain English form. Shorter sentences and paragraphs are preferred, though not necessarily mandatory. Most notably, it is important to say what you mean. Case study language should be direct and to the point. It should not be ambiguous in any way.
Not Easy to Write
As important as case studies are to digital marketing, it is better to not utilise them than to write them poorly. Truth be told, case studies are not easy to write. That’s one of the reasons Connotations offers professional case study writing services. Case studies need to be well written to be effective.
Case studies follow a particular format. They need to be written with a professional tone. They need to convey a company’s message in a very succinct and pointed way but still make a connection with readers. We say all that to say this: our team can produce the professional case studies your organisation needs to reach new clients.
The case study can go a long way toward presenting your organisation as the best choice. Case studies are to B2B marketing what customer reviews are to B2C advertising. If you run a B2B enterprise and are not yet using case studies, you are leaving a valuable tool on the table. Perhaps it’s time we talk about how case studies can make your case to new customers.