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3 Quick Tips for Better Case Studies

3 Quick Tips for Better Case Studies

Tips for better case studies

Case studies are important tools in an agency’s sales process.

In our work, we often see cases that only tell part of the story, miss key elements or are simply uninteresting. And we see agencies often send “canned” case studies that either lack relevance or the relevance is not obvious.

We’ve seen it all. And, we have some specific suggestions that are easy to adopt that can enhance your case studies immediately.

These three tips will help your case studies stand out from competition:

Explain Clearly Why You Selected the Case

Help your prospect appreciate your case by explaining why you are showing the specific case. This is especially true in a written proposal or credentials presentation, but also can help in a case on your website. Frame, for the prospect, why the case is special and how they should think about it.

For example, if you are responding to an RFP and part of the “ask” was to share your agency’s experience with helping a retailer in a highly competitive industry increase ecommerce sales, play that request right back at the reader at the beginning of the case:

Retailer is a premium retail brand that sells its modern furniture products both online (national) and in brick-and-mortar retail stores (with regionally-limited footprint). Ecommerce sales are disappointing. This case study was included because it highlights Agency X’s experience with retail brands within highly-competitive industries, and demonstrates our holistic approach to rapidly driving ecommerce sales gains.

Help your prospect appreciate your agency by telling them what to look for in a case!

Include a “Quick Hits” Summary Upfront

A sound approach is to quickly capture the reader’s attention with a quick, easy to read summary upfront, including the great results. This is in addition to the longer case story.

Remember, it is not unusual for a prospect to skim much of a proposal. Prospects love a brief summary, and you can help yourself by telling your case story in a few well written bullet points like the example below.

Include a “Quick Hits” Summary Upfront

With a compelling summary upfront, a “skimmer” will know what they want to know, and a committed reader will be eager to follow up by reading the entire case.

Use Storytelling Principles

Make your cases “inviting to read”.

The keys to making your case inviting to read include:

  • An engaging title
  • A consistent theme
  • Compelling visuals that tell the story of the case
  • All the key chapters in the story:
    • The challenge & objective
    • Your analysis & insights
    • The strategy
    • Tactics
    • Results

Steve Boehler, founder, and partner at Mercer Island Group has led consulting teams on behalf of clients as diverse as Ulta Beauty, Microsoft, UScellular, Nintendo, Kaiser Permanente, Holland America Line, Stop & Shop, Qualcomm, Brooks Running, and numerous others. He founded MIG after serving as a division president in a Fortune 100 when he was only 32. Earlier in his career, Steve Boehler cut his teeth with a decade in Brand Management at Procter & Gamble, leading brands like Tide, Pringles, and Jif.