B2B Case Study: Do’s and Don’ts to Write a Riveting Piece

A B2B case study is one of the best ways you can promote your business’s capabilities and credibility. These case studies are an invaluable marketing tool used by countless businesses. They work to assure your potential customers, investors, and other contributors that your company’s claims about itself are valid before pushing them through your sales funnel.

Fortunately, these B2B case studies are not difficult to write, especially if you have a solid game plan going in. So, to help you discover the steps you need to follow and key points you need to focus on when drafting your case study, here are our top tips on how to write a B2B case study.

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Pick the Right Customer

Perhaps the most important part of your B2B case study is choosing the right customer. You need to make sure you select an individual who genuinely loves your product or service and who has no problems openly discussing their love of your brand candidly. Then, when you approach someone about the study, make sure you don’t ask an individual who has just started working with your product or service. Instead, select someone who has had the opportunity to work with you long enough that they’ve been able to see results from your product or service.

Additionally, you need to make sure that this customer fits with your ideal customer model. That way, you can help guarantee that their message will reach the people you’re trying to engage in an impactful manner.

Once you’ve found the right candidate for the job, you need to get them to agree to be part of your B2B case study. Let them know how the study may benefit them, and don’t be afraid to talk them through what the process entails including any content requirements and timelines.

Create a Case Study Brief

Preparedness is key in many aspects of both life and work, and writing case studies is no exception. By preparing a case study brief ahead of time, you can reduce the amount of time and effort your writers will need to invest in this project, and you can ensure you have an easier time transitioning through the various stages of the project’s creation process.

This brief will note the key messages you want to convey, provide general guidance, address why a specific client or customer was chosen for the study, and it will also include information on your target audience to ensure that the right group is being addressed in your case study.

Conduct a Solid Interview

The majority of information you will be featuring in your B2B case study will come from your customer–specifically through the interview you conduct with them, so make sure you use your interview time well.

Don’t waste your customer’s time by demanding lengthy interviews. Typically, an hour is more than enough time to get the information you need. Additionally, you need to cater the interview’s time to your customer’s schedule if possible. Let them choose a date and time that is convenient for them and prepare them for the interview by sending them a copy of your questions ahead of time focusing on the solution and results they got from your product.

Focus on Your Customer, Not Yourself

When it comes time to draft your B2B case study, make sure that you’re careful not to make it about you and your company. After all, this is your customer’s story, not yours. Your readers already know that you think your company and product are great, so make sure you use this space to provide genuine value to your readers through your highlighted customer’s insights and opinions about your product or service.

You can help accomplish this by including approved details about your highlighted customer including their industry and any direct quotes that may be pertinent to the text. Don’t be afraid to add elements of personality to the case study either as they can work to humanize your featured customer and draw readers in.

Get Your Customer’s Approval

Once you have your case study written, send it back to your customer to get their approval on the piece. Make sure that they’re comfortable with the text you’re publishing, and have them check it over for accuracy. If they have any hesitations or concerns about the project, address them graciously and thank them for their input. Typically, there will be a solution that works to resolve any issues to the satisfaction of both parties.

Have a Compelling Title

The title of your case study needs special consideration before you publish. This title will likely be the first bit of copy anyone sees about your case study, so it needs to effectively communicate important information while intriguing individuals enough for them to want to read on. 

The perfect B2B case study title will include three main elements: your customer’s company’s name, the product or service they used, and the results they received from working with you. These are, perhaps, the most vital pieces of information that your case study will contain, so including them in your title can significantly increase your potential readership. 

Additionally, consider including a statistic if you can. Readers love statistics, especially those relating to customer success, so they can help increase your click rate as well.

Always Have a Call to Action

Finally, make sure you always have a strong call to action (CTA) at the end of each one of your B2B case studies. The point of your study is to draw in more leads and generate more business, so take advantage of your platforms however you can to funnel more potential customers through your sales funnel. These CTAs can direct customers to learn more about you, visit other pages on your website, purchase products, or any number of other suggestions.

Key Takeaways

There are many different steps involved in writing the perfect B2B case study. Fortunately, many of them are quite easy to follow and implement. Just make sure you take your time and choose the best customer to feature for the study and work with them to ensure the project is a success. If you need help with your B2B case study, reach out to WriterArmy today.