Business Case Study
Preview
Synopsis
Case studies are a credible and persuasive way to tell the world about the value of your products or services and thus win new leads and customers. With our Business Case Study presentation, you can demonstrate real-life examples of how your team was able to satisfy your customer's needs or soothe their pain points. As Neil Patel put it: "With great case studies, you will be able to highlight your successes in a way that will make your ideal potential customer become your customer."
Slide highlights
With this slide, list the key challenges your client was facing before you showed up and saved the day. These usually include: complying with government regulations, lowering costs or becoming more sustainable or energy-efficient.
Use this slide to communicate the results of your SWOT analysis to your team and stakeholders. SWOT Analysis should help you identify your client's strengths, weaknesses and opportunities to succeed and defeat potential risks and threats.
The Ansoff Matrix shows four strategies you can use specifically for growth: market development, diversification, market penetration and Product Development. It also is a tool you can utilize to analyze the risks associated with each strategy.
Application
Here is how you can put together a killer case study, according to HubSpot specialists:
- Determine the case study's objective – your first step when creating a case study is to determine the objective or goal of the subject you're featuring. "The client objective you focus on will depend on what you want to prove to your future customers as a result of publishing this case study," the HubSpot team says.
- Establish a case study medium – different case study mediums to consider include written case study, video case study, infographic case study and podcast case study.
- Find the right case study candidate – creating a case study about your previous wins requires more than choosing a subject and telling a story. You also need permission, quotes and a plan. Here are a few things to look for in potential candidates: product knowledge, remarkable results, recognizable names and switchers (customers that came to you after working with a competitor).
- Get your candidate's permission to write about them – getting your subject's approval is one of the most important steps. When you reach out to your case study candidate, provide them with the case study's objective and format.
- Draft and send your subject a case study release form – once your case study is approved, send a release form to your candidate.
- Ask the right questions – a solid case study results from being prepared to ask the right questions and requesting quantitative data where applicable. Here are a few examples of the right questions from the HubSpot team: What are your goals? What challenges were you experiencing prior to purchasing our product or service? What made our product or service stand out against our competitors? What did your decision-making process look like? How have you benefited from using our product or service?
- Lay out the format – your case study format should include the following sections: Title, Subtitle, About the Subject, Challenges and Objectives, How the Solution Helped, Results, Supporting Visuals and Quotes, Future Plans and Call to Action.
- Publish and promote – some case study formats have pretty obvious promotional outlets – a video case study can go on YouTube and an infographic case study is more appropriate for Pinterest. But there are still other, less obvious ways to publish and promote your case study, such as gated behind a blog post or published as a separate page on your website, the experts say.
Example
IDEO "planned parenthood's new way forward"
The challenge Planned Parenthood faced was to "Rethink the delivery of women's reproductive healthcare." Design and innovation company, IDEO, helped Planned Parenthood to find effective solutions to this problem. IDEO then published a case study about the success on their website in the "Explore Work" category.
Notice, how IDEO strategically puts the problem: "Rethink the delivery of women's reproductive healthcare" and the outcome: "A comprehensive patient and employee experience, including waiting and recovery areas, a digital patient-provider counseling tool, easy-to-use online forms, and a unifying vision for Planned Parenthood staff" at the very top of the case study blog post.
The case study post also includes a summary, which expands more on the introduction of the problem and immediately introduces the solution: "Together, the teams designed a number of patient and employee interactions and corresponding prototypes that address different patient needs: education, personalization, connection, and support for any decision." IDEO then proposes a breakdown of the steps taken to resolve the problem, accompanied by compelling visuals of the processes and tools implemented. The case study blog post ends with a call to action to learn more about PlannedParenthoodExperience.org and to hear from the organization's Executive VP and Chief Brand Officer, Dawn Laguens, in a detailed Q&A.