A case study is a type of research to better understand a particular problem. It mostly focuses on strategies and refers to a specific person, an action, a company, or an event, even. The idea is to understand an overall path a company or person took around a specific goal. The main objective of a case study is to learn beforehand from a particular case or scenario to improve similarly applicable processes.
To achieve the above, this method seeks to analyze information around a given topic, including its context and all relevant factors that affect it. It goes in-depth on a particular area with the hopes of solving a problem. This kind of analysis is moreover useful to avoid making a similar mistake in the future.
Most reliable or trust-worthy case studies include lots of evidence. The truth is that case studies base their strength on diverse data to prove what’s typically the same and a single point. Through either quantitative or qualitative approaches, a convincing case study tackles a situation from several angles at once. And it highlights new facts that alter a situation to the point of proving a proposed solution to a common problem.
Now that we’ve clarified the definition of a case study, we should get to its importance for a business. The obvious plus to working on a case study for your company is how that knowledge sheds light on your standing processes. Analyzing a client’s experience is an epicenter for tons of new knowledge about your company. Researching a particular case in depth can help you figure out changes you can make to your business. That’s especially true in terms of why a specific action worked beautifully in non-traditional ways to solve rather common trouble. Doing that can ensure you keep delivering top-notch solutions to industry commonalities.
As if that weren’t enough, writing a case study based on your company is also a great tool to highlight your success. It quickly lets others see what you’ve done right and how you’ve achieved that level. Think what this does to your brand and reputation to solve customer problems extraordinarily; so much so that it makes a case for any industry standard.
You can write case studies on your most successful programs, for instance, to promote them, but also understand better how those successes came to be. You can then plan on achieving similar results in other projects. Case studies can also help tell a story about your company and share information on your products or services.
The above alone bears the potential of drawing in new customers. These can be people who are either impressed with your uniqueness in how you handled matters or who simply need similar solutions to their long-standing struggles. A case study that’s very well done will also gain a company a leading positioning as an expert or go-to point in an industry.
Now, on the other hand, there’s also lots to learn from failure through case studies. Say you read up on common startup mistakes that ruin a business. Through a case study, you could be going deep into at least 1 of the startup myths that kill companies, for example. You’ll be learning through examples that constitute qualitative and quantitative evidence as to why a standard error was uniquely avoided in a particular scenario.
For those planning to build a startup, case studies give room for foundational knowledge. It’s a way to gain trajectory before going down excruciating roads. Reading up on variables, choices, and circumstances that resulted in failure can prevent you and your company from going in the same direction.
Case studies that examine decisions made over time, such as funding, IPOs, and investments, make up great examples. And how each of those affected a startup in terms of sales, market growth, projections, and so much more. Persuasive case studies offer alternate solutions and perspectives on matters.
And rather than just base this type of analysis on success or failure, some also work on projections. They focus on alternatives that weren’t taken and portray what could’ve happened in diverse scenarios had circumstances changed in one way or another.
Now that those options are out of the way let’s see how to write a convincing case study.
If you’re wondering how to write a case study, primarily if you aim to write a convincing one, there are at least five sections for the sake of structure on which you should focus. We’ll describe those shortly. Yet, before you do that, know every case study goes through a state of contemplation. First, look for the key and diverse elements that will help you analyze the problem you’re discussing.
If you’re trying to write a compelling case study about someone or a company other than yourself, you should go over as much information as you can about them. One missed detail can bring down your hypothesis, so aim to know as much as possible to avoid that.
For better results yet, clarify for yourself what issue is the precise one you’ll be analyzing. Make sure you come to the bottom of it succinctly. Doing so will help you significantly in the first section that we detail below when you aim to state that for others.
Once you have the objective of your case study, go through all the required analytic steps before you literally jump to conclusions. Be part of the process, don’t accelerate it ahead of time. Let’s get to the 5 sections we promised.
The first is an introduction that explains the problem. You can see this as a critical issue of a case.
A piece of advice here if you’re going to write about your company is to define your target audience. Include real figures. Use only crucial information throughout and determine the specific strategy you’ll be discussing.
Then, position this problem in context by going over background information, which needs to include the most relevant information to said case. Remember, convincing data stands on factual research.
Do your actual evaluation next. This is where you explain vital elements and the proposed solution to the matter. Be as specific as possible. Focus on what you did right (or wrong, in case you’re studying a failure). Make sure you have a full grasp of the specifics of what happened. Analyze your information and systematize metrics here. Use graphs or other tools to present your results, and state your solution or learnings clearly.
The wrap-up refers to final steps or recommendations, if not just conclusions drawn from the case.
We like being here to make life easier and more efficient for you. Here’s our case study ppt template to use online or download to PDF. You’ll just need to enter your project name on the cover and give an overview on the second slide. Give details on the matter of study or client you’re analyzing via name, size, location, and a short bio. Then, move on to graphs or other visual aids to answer how you assisted this party in the case you’re analyzing.
From there, describe the challenge you faced through goals, risks, and the problem. Explain your approach with the detailed set of steps you took to come to your solution. Describe that solution in more depth in a new slide before you finish with a display of your main results.
And there you have it! All you needed to know about case studies with valuable insight, resources, and much more!
