9 Legendary Case Study Designs and Examples to Inspire your Strategy

Winning in today’s business world is no longer a question of whether or not your product is legendary.

 

That was ten years ago (and your product is epic, btw). 

 

Nowadays, it’s about whether or not your customers know it is. What’s the point anyway of having a great product that nobody knows about?

 

However, this is nothing new; and you’ve probably gone to hell and back in the name of marketing your product to your customer.

 

You’ve told them about your insane value; the best on both sides of the Rio Grande.

 

Then stressed on your impeccable quality.

 

And spent a few more minutes talking about your dollar-general prices and insane value for money(once again).

 

However, most of the time, your customer won’t take your word for it and won’t believe it by the mere fact you mention it.

 

Telling doesn’t cut it anymore; you have to go the extra mile and show—this is where case studies come in handy.

 

What is a Case Study?

 

A case study is a niche of content marketing that focuses on displaying how a specific product is used in real-world situations.

 

In doing this, case studies take an in-depth look at the problem-solving process and display a product’s value while at it. 

 

Case studies are based on the concept that the practical application of a theory is the best way to demonstrate its utility.

 

Here's our guide on How to Write a Winning Case Study that Gives Real-life Application to Your Prospects

 

Why Should You Invest In Case Studies

 

All this leads us to one question, Why? 

 

Of course, there’s the option of Tik Tok marketing. Armed with a few thousand bucks, you can easily get some teenager on the site to advertise your brand to her army of loyal fans.

 

Then, why write case studies?

 

Well, this one’s quite simple; the physiological phenomenon of social proof. By this concept, people are conformative beings, more likely to do something after proof that they’re not alone doing it.

 

Did you know that 9 out of 10 consumers read reviews before buying a product and products with reviews outsell other products 3 to 1?

 

And that’s not all. A case study will have several advantages over your teenage Tik Toker in that:

 

  • It will build your brands authority
  • Case studies allow you to niche down to a very specific audience
  • Case studies back your claims with real results
  • It leverages your past successes to gain future leads

 

And if you’re not convinced, 79% of B2B users share whitepapers with colleagues


 

9 Case Study Examples and 9 Lessons

 

Enough of that. Let’s get to what brought you here in the first place. Here are 9 case study examples, each packed with lessons and valuable nuggets you can start applying today:

 

1. Slack and The Art of Storytelling

 

 

 


 

22% of people remember stories more than facts and figures. That’s why you still remember OJ Simpson over all the maths formula teachers drilled into your head for 16 years.

 

By reading this case study, it’s clear that the people at Slack take storytelling very seriously, and going by their success, they’re rewarded for it.

 

With that in mind, storytelling is essential because:

 

  • It draws the reader’s attention
  • People in stories humanize your corporation and brand
  • It makes your brand stand out from all the generic case studies out there

 

Fortunately, adding stories to your case studies isn’t rocket science. With just a few tips, you can be halfway on your journey to epic storytelling. Consider:

  • Dig into the history of a problem like Slack did here
  • Tell a story from your client’s perspective
  • Tell a story from your client’s customer perspective



 

2. Moz and The Essence of Numbers

 

 

 

 

Did you know that using headlines and header pages with numbers tends to generate 73% more social shares and engagement?

 

 This Moz case study shows just how essential data, numbers, and statistics are in selling your value proposition through a case study.

 

Think about it; your clients measure their success in numbers; these include ratios, statistics, and percentages.

 

Isn’t it natural to present your value to the audience in their metric, which is numbers? This is something Moz had in mind when they crafted this epic case study.

 

By looking at it, you can see the data and numbers Moz sprinkled throughout the case study. You can see it in the:

 

  • 29% increase in organic traffic after 90 days
  • 122% increase in organic traffic year over year
  • 2+ hours saved on link building and SEO daily

 

And it’s not only on the front page. This culture of data continues even to the end of this case study. If you take your time and read it, you’ll note:

 

  • We used Moz to disavow 66 out of 72 links
  • Organic traffic is up 40% from their website numbers
  • John and his team identified nearly 400 links in two weeks

 

3. Omnivore and Why Graphics are Second to None

 

 

 

 

 

The author of this piece of art should never have to buy themselves a beer, ever. It’s an example of how graphics can transform an average case study into a masterpiece.

 

With just a few well-chosen graphic images (or one hero image) on your case study, you can achieve things even Shakesphere, as your writer, couldn’t.

 

Look at how the image in this Omnivore case study draws you in. The fact that it’s a large beautiful restaurant with nobody in sight will leave you itching to read the case study and find out why.


 

Pictures draw in your target audience; the exact opposite of a wall of text that will drive everyone, their mother and money, away.


 

Some of the ways you can embed graphics into your case studies include:

 

  • Use color coding to highlight the header of your case study
  • Use relevant graphic images that tell a story
  • Use eye-catching imagery that leaves your clients wanting to know more

 

4. Hubspot Leading With the Customer Done Right

 

 

 

 

 

Whenever you’re writing a case study, there will always be an itch to lead with everything about your company but the client.

 

That’s a terrible idea, and you’ll know why in a few seconds.

 

Not only does it leave a bad taste in your reader’s mouth, but it also comes out as salesly and trying too hard.

 

Fortunately, the curators of this HubSpot case study knew better.

 

Their dedication to customer-centricity shines bright in this example. If you missed it, take another look, and it will all start to unravel. First, notice how they dedicate the header entirely to the customer.

 

Just shy of 20 words, it tells you:

 

  • Who the Customer is “Handled”
  • What the client achieved “Scaled from Zero to 121 locations in 18 months.”
  • The specific Hubspot service that helped them achieve such a feat “Hubspot CRM platform.”

 

5. Google Ads: Brevity at Its Finest

 

Someone wise once said that never blow an opportunity to say less. And going by this case study, it’s obvious that the people at Google took this seriously in their most epic case study yet.

 

 

 


 

Attention spans have fallen precipitously, and anyone on marketing today will tell you that people gave up on reading years ago; nowadays, they’d rather skim. 

 

The case study is so concise that you already know everything about it before you even get to the case study itself.

 

Before you even read the case study and in the fewest words possible, Google covers:

 

  • A header that informs the audience about the company in 11 words
  • Goals, approach, and results in just 84 words
  • A quote they highlight from one carpenter
  • A history of the company in just 12 words


 

The more lengthy paragraphs, dozens of pages, and heaps of bluff you have in your case study, the less the number of people who will actually read it. 

 

Fortunately, there’s a method to the madness, and you can perfect brevity by:

 

  • Have a summary
  • Break up your case study into sections ( Goals, approach, and results)
  • Use short sentences that go straight to the point
  • Using bullets for the benefits, you give to your clients
  • Consider a bulleted quick facts bar for your side

 

6. Happeo A Masterclass on The Customer’s Perspective

 

You’ve probably experienced lifeless product descriptions that are written from the company’s perspective.

 

They’re not hard to pick out, and you can tell by how bored you’ll be a few minutes into reading them. 

 

However, there’s another perspective you can use to tell a story, and that’s one of the customer.

 

If you’re unsure of the perspective to take when crafting your case study, you’ll never go wrong with the angle Happeo took—the customer.

 

 

 

 

 

With that in mind, if you look at the above Happeo case study, it won’t be long before you note that:

 

  • The case study begins with the customers perspective
  • Every single paragraph in the case study is a quote from the customer’s mouth
  • The entire case study ends with a quote from the customer


This case study is from the customer’s perspective, and it’s not by accident. Some of the benefits of this excellent approach are: 

 

  • Most of your prospective clients can resonate with the voice of their fellow client
  • The client’s perspective humanizes your brand
  • This perspective allows your prospects to read about their challenges in 3rd person
  • Your client has walked in the same shoes as your prospects more than you have

 

7. Fractl Proof that Results Eat Theory for Breakfast

 

 

 

 

 

The best thing about case studies is that you hardly ever have to go into details. Subsequently, the worst thing about case studies is that you hardly ever have to go into the details.

 

It’s this balancing act where you risk saying everything or nothing at all.

 

This makes it a competition to say essential things in the fewest words possible, and focussing on results is the best way to get there.

 

Fractl understood this assignment and executed it with godly precision. You can see this in the title of their case study. 

 

However, it’s even more visible in how they don’t waste time and go directly to the results:

 

  • 23,000 frequent organic visitors added
  • 931 unique linking domains
  • 3, 565 press mentions
  • 425 high domain authority links
  • TV coverage by Whoopi Goldberg on The View
  • 37, 919 social shares

 

Note that all this is deliberate. It’s not that Fractl didn’t have the option of explaining how they added 23,000 new visitors in 3 pages. It’s just that they understood that nobody would read that crap even at gunpoint.

 

8. Google On Why Social Proof Remains Undefeated

 

 

 

 

Every once in a while, you’ll run into a customer with lots of positive things to say about your company.

 

They’re easy to spot, and you’ll learn to tell them from a mile with time. They’ll call your product:

 

  • A great value
  • Just what they need
  • What they’ve been looking for

 

Such customers are a terrible thing to waste, and you’d be surprised at the number of companies who don’t use them in their case studies and marketing in general.

 

Given that the front page of your case study is limited space consider throwing in a quote from your customer or CEO of a favorable review.

 

This is exactly what Google did with this Opimizely review. You’ll note that Google deliberately makes the head of online marketing’s words quote stands out.

 

An excellent way of doing this is by:

 

  • Open up your case study with a quote from your beloved customer
  • Use the client’s words as much as possible to humanize the case study
  • Also, you’ll never go wrong with closing your case study with a quote

 

9. Figma and leveraging Long Term and Short Term Goals

 

 

 

 

A good case study features a mixture of both short-term and long-term goals, priorities, and objectives.

 

This is a technique that’s visible in this Spotify-Figma case study.

 

 By nature of their short-term gratification, most people will be drawn to short-term goals.

 

On the other hand, the end of your readers will be long-term thinkers. To them, they’re not planning to build their empires in a day and will be attracted to the longer-term goals and objectives.

 

An excellent case study is one that applies to both sides of this spectrum and helps both sides feel heard. 

 

Here are 6 Foolproof Tips to Make Your Case Study Writing Less Boring and More Goosebumps-Raising.

 

That’s a Lot of Work: But It’s Nothing Zoey Can’t Handle

 

Contact us today and let Zoey turn your brand into a case study of exceptional content marketing. This is your only chance to learn more about our case study writing services; don't pass it up.


 

 

Photo by charlesdeluvio on Unsplash. Thanks, Charles:)