Four Steps To A Better Case Study
By Bill King
If you remember a couple of months ago, we published our annual study of content produced by water and wastewater equipment manufacturers. Of all the different types of content that we reviewed, the tried-and-true case study continues to “hold its water” in our industry. It’s a great example of what we call decision content because it helps to bridge the gap between initial engagement and product purchase.
A well-constructed case study reinforces your product’s aptitude for the job and your competence as a vendor to meet your customer’s challenge. And because it reports on a real installation, it resonates with the hands-on, functional concerns of the plant personnel and engineers you want to influence.
We analyzed 882 case studies as part of our study. Here are our top suggestions for making sure your case study resonates with your potential customer.
Voice Of The Customer
The stronger the voice of your customer in your case study, the more potent a piece of content you’re going to end up with. Force yourself to start your writing process with your customer’s issue and not your solution. Go long in explaining the problem your customer was faced with.
This can get complicated in the water and wastewater industry, especially if the municipality is facing non-compliance charges from a regulatory body. However, that information is already in the public record and a case study is a great way to show consumers and the industry at large that the issue has now been resolved.
Make The Most Out Of What You’ve Got
Wouldn’t it be nice if every customer found the time, energy and legal permission for you to publish their story? In light of the fact that you’ll only be able to publish a small fraction of the successful projects you participate in, you have to make the most of it.
When discussing your customer’s challenge, don’t make it so unique a challenge and so unique a resulting application that your readers quickly opt out as they conclude your solution wouldn’t help them. Make sure you broaden the appeal of your case study as much as possible to capture the attention of as many potential customers as possible.
Convincing A Muni To Buy
It’s not easy getting a cash-strapped municipality to invest in your equipment. You deserve a medal every time your products get included in a successful project. Too often in the water and wastewater industry, end users put off projects, deprioritize maintenance, and carry on with what’s currently in place however inefficient the status quo might be.
It’s important that your case study not only addresses the technical challenge that your product solves but also the process that your customer followed to determine to pull the trigger. It’s not always evident to readers that they need to fix something. By writing down the methodology that your customer followed during the purchase process, you can subtly highlight to your reader the high cost of doing nothing.
What’s In It For Me?
Once you’ve completed your first draft, pretend to be your customer, read through your case study and ask yourself “What’s In It For Me?” This question forces you to assess whether or not your case study is addressing the challenges your customers face. If there’s not a lot of reader value, the chances are that you’ve oversold your product’s features and undersold the actual benefits.