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Market Smart: How to Gain Customers and Increase Profits with B2B Marketing

Case studies should be one to two pages; four is acceptable
if you have a lot to say and need more space for visuals and
technical drawings. Any longer—unless the product / solution
is particularly complex—and you will lose your audience.

It’s tempting when you’re writing case studies to go with the
easiest customer first—the one you have the best relationship
with, and the one you know will be happy to sign off on
anything you develop. That’s a fine way to get going. But be
mindful that it isn’t where you stop. Think strategically about
your target market, and which customer situation is most like
the customers you want to attract. It’s ok to start with the easy
ones, but make sure to keep going and tackle the harder—and
more valuable—case study options.

In order to gather the information you need for your case study,
you’ll likely need to interview your client. Keep your interviews
simple and structured. Send them the questions in advance, so
they know what you want to cover. Here’s a structure I use as a
starting point (always adapt it to the specific client and situation):

Challenge
• Describe the business problem/challenge that needed
to be solved.
• Have you tried to solve this problem in the past?
• What impact did this problem have on your business?

Solution
• How did you hear about our company?
• How did you decide to use our company for your solution?
• Describe the solution and how it was implemented.
• Comment on the people you worked with at our company.
• How long did it take to implement?

Results
• How did the solution help solve the problem/challenge?
• What benefits did you derive from the solution?

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© 2012 Lisa Shepherd