write-case-study

Write a B2B Case Study

Structure a customer success story using situation, solution, and results to convert skeptical buyers into confident ones.

Why This Is Best Practice

Adopted by: HubSpot, Salesforce, Deloitte, McKinsey, and virtually every B2B company with a sales cycle over 30 days. Impact: Demand Gen Report (2023) found that 79% of B2B buyers rely on case studies during vendor evaluation; CMI (2024) reports case studies as the top content type for late-stage pipeline acceleration. Why best: The situation-solution-results (SSR) framework mirrors the buyer's own mental model — they are experiencing a situation, seeking a solution, and want proof of results. This alignment reduces cognitive load and builds trust faster than any other format.

Sources: Hennig-Thurau et al. "Electronic Word-of-Mouth Via Consumer-Opinion Platforms" (2004); Demand Gen Report "B2B Buyer Behavior Study" (2023); Content Marketing Institute "B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends" (2024); HubSpot "How to Write a Case Study" (2023).

Steps

1. Select the right customer — Choose a customer whose before-state matches your ideal buyer's pain. A fintech startup and an enterprise bank have different persuasive value for different prospects. Prioritize customers with measurable, defensible results and willingness to be named publicly.

2. Conduct a structured interview — Ask six core questions: (a) What was the problem before? (b) What alternatives did you consider? (c) Why did you choose us? (d) How did implementation go? (e) What specific results have you seen? (f) What would you say to a peer considering this solution? Record and transcribe verbatim for authentic quotes.

3. Open with a hook headline — Lead with the result, not the company name. Format: "[Customer] [achieved X result] in [timeframe] with [your product]." Example: "Acme Corp Reduced Churn by 34% in 90 Days." Quantified headlines increase click-through rates by 36% (Conductor, 2022).

4. Write the Situation section — Describe the customer's world before your solution in 100–150 words. Use the customer's own language from the interview. Make the pain visceral and specific — budget constraints, manual hours wasted, lost deals. This is where the target reader recognizes themselves.

5. Write the Solution section — Describe how your product was implemented in 150–200 words. Focus on the customer's experience, not your feature list. Include implementation timeline, who was involved, and any obstacles overcome. Avoid jargon; write what actually happened.

6. Write the Results section — This is the most-read section. Lead with the three strongest metrics in bold callout boxes. Follow with supporting narrative. Use before/after comparisons: "Previously took 8 hours; now takes 45 minutes." Include both hard metrics (revenue, cost, time) and soft outcomes (team morale, customer satisfaction).

7. Insert direct quotes at key transitions — Place one pull-quote after the Situation section, one after Results. Quotes must be specific, not generic. "It saved us time" is useless; "We recovered 12 hours per week per account manager" is compelling. Edit for clarity with customer approval.

8. Add a visual summary sidebar — Include a 3-cell summary box: Industry, Company Size, Result. Buyers who skim (most of them) must grasp the story in under 10 seconds. This sidebar does that work.

9. End with a soft CTA — Close with a forward-looking quote from the customer about continued use, then a single call to action: "See how [your product] can do the same for your team." Link to a relevant demo or contact page. Avoid hard-sell language at this stage — the case study has already done the persuasion.

10. Distribute strategically — Publish as a web page (SEO), a downloadable PDF (gated for lead gen), and a 3-slide summary (sales deck insert). Tag by industry, company size, and use case so sales reps can retrieve the right case study during calls.

Rules

• Always get written approval from the customer before publishing any names, logos, or metrics.
• Never fabricate or round up metrics; use the exact figures the customer provides and note any estimation methodology.
• Keep the word count between 500 and 900 words for the main narrative; longer case studies lose readers after the results section.
• Write in third person; resist the urge to insert your brand voice over the customer's voice.

Common Mistakes

• Leading with your company, not the customer — Buyers do not care about your founding story in a case study. The customer is the hero; you are the tool they used. Start with the customer's pain.
• Vague or missing metrics — "Significantly improved efficiency" is worthless. Every result must be quantified: percentage, dollar amount, time saved, or volume increase. If the customer won't share hard numbers, use a percentage range with their approval.
• Ignoring the before-state — Results only resonate when the reader understands how bad "before" was. A 40% efficiency gain means nothing if the reader doesn't know they were spending 20 hours a week on a manual task.
• Writing for search instead of for buyers — SEO matters, but the primary reader is a skeptical late-stage buyer. Optimize structure and clarity first; add keywords without compromising the narrative flow.

Examples

SaaS case study: Zendesk publishes one-page case studies with a metric-first headline, a 3-line situation summary, a 4-line solution description, and three bold outcome stats — a model of brevity and impact.

Professional services: McKinsey case studies use anonymous client references ("a global logistics company") when clients won't allow naming, focusing entirely on methodology and results, which still builds credibility through specificity.

When NOT to Use

• When the customer relationship is under NDA and no details can be disclosed — use an anonymized "client story" format instead.
• When the result is marginal or unverifiable — a weak case study damages credibility more than no case study.
• When the deal is still in progress — wait for measurable outcomes before writing.