How to Create Killer Case Studies and 10 Examples to Learn From
One thing that customers consider during the buying journey is—getting the most accurate information to influence their buying decisions.
What can be more powerful to convince prospects of your product solution than a compelling customer story? SaaS case studies are the most effective type of content that answers your prospect's most pressing questions.
In this article, we'll share the best strategic tips for creating killer case studies that will help to improve your brand’s credibility and showcase your product solution. We'll also provide 10 examples of SaaS case studies from well-known SaaS companies.
Firstly, let's explain what a case study is and why it is important for your business.
Table of contents
- What is a case study?
- Why are case studies important for your business?
- How to Write a SaaS case study
- 10 Examples of SaaS case studies
What is a case study?
A case study is a piece of content that narrates the success a particular customer achieved with your product.
You can think of a case study as an additional marketing and sales tool that acts as social proof to improve your brand awareness while encouraging leads to become paying customers.
Why are SaaS case studies important for your business?
97% of companies say that real success stories impact their buying decisions more than traditional. This shows that a well-written SaaS case study is a valuable marketing tool that not just builds relationships with customers but also provides answers about your product that will make a customer journey less challenging.
If you have plenty of SaaS case studies then you have powerful marketing collateral that can change the trajectory of your marketing efforts. A compelling SaaS case study can:
- Boost your brand credibility and authenticity
- Showcase your product solution
- Provide a clear option for potential customers and improve their search for information
How to Write a SaaS case study
When it comes to writing a compelling saas case study, you need to set the right systems and processes to make it successful. The process of creating a case study is divided into three stages:
- The foundational stage
- Structure stage
- Distribution stage
In this section, we'll explain each of these stages and how to use the insight to create a compelling case study for your saas business.
Foundational stage
As the name implies—this stage is everything from setting goals, to finding the right customer for your case study. Let's dig deeper into the necessary steps you can take in this stage.
1. Figure out the goal of your case study
Before you begin writing a handful of SaaS case studies, you need to figure out the purpose of the content piece.
Do you want to increase website traffic? Or do you want to build trust with B2B buyers? Once you figure out what you want to achieve from your case studies, you can start planning your case study in a way that aligns with the interest of your audience.
Other reasons for writing a case study include:
- To nurture potential customers
- To educate your ideal customer persona about your product
Setting the right goals is the key to laying a solid foundation for a compelling case study.
2. Find the ideal customer that'll participate
This process is crucial because you need an authentic source to write a great SaaS case study. So, how do you identify the right customer? While every customer is unique, each of them might not have a compelling story worth sharing.
The right customer is the person that is a loyal advocate for your business and has derived maximum benefit from your product. If the process of finding the right customer is confusing, you can ask your customer success, marketing, and sales teams for recommendations.
That being said, we have outlined some criteria for choosing the ideal customer for writing your SaaS case studies.
- Customers who share your product solution on social media platforms
- Customers that have written a review after a satisfactory experience with your product
- Customers who actively use your product
3. Gather background information
Once you have chosen the ideal customer for your case study, you need to gather enough background information. This includes details about the customer, their industry, and the problem that you hope to address.
To get the best results, you can ask your customer directly about what you need. You can set up an email series with a customer and ask for some information. Or you can send a survey via in-app messages to know about their pain points.
Structuring your saas case studies
The truth is that writing SaaS case studies are all about telling a good story. A customer story that captures your audience's attention, helps to visualize themselves in the story.
4. Create an outline
After you’ve gathered enough information for your case study, you need to start working on an outline.
Each section of your outline should include:
- A compelling headline with a maximum of 70 characters
- A short introduction with approximately 100-150 words. That gives a short overview of your customer, the opportunities they see in your product, and the success they achieved
- A problem statement that highlights customer pain points
- Solution statement highlighting your customer’s decision process that led to your product
- The outcome
- Well designed visuals
- Conclusion
5. Tell a story
Think of your case study as a story, not a report. This involves taking numeric data, a compelling narrative, and quotes and weaving them into a compelling customer story.
Ensure that quotes from your customers are included creatively and blend well with the overall design.
6. Keep it short
Brevity is key when creating your SaaS case studies. While you aim to write a compelling story, you also need to keep your customer story clear and focused without rambling.
Include bullet points, short paragraphs, and subheadings to make your content easy to read.
7. Highlight the customer not your product
While it may be tempting to showcase the awesomeness of your product, you need to remember that potential customers don’t want to hear about your product. They expect to hear what customers think about your product solution.
For this reason, you need to share your story from your customer’s point of view by including direct quotes and the results they achieved from your product.
Distribution stage
After structuring your case study accordingly, it's time to share it with the world. You can turn it into a lead magnet, or upload it to your website.
10 examples of SaaS case studies
1. Gong
This case study by Gong instantly highlights Drift's major challenge and how Gong helped the company to solve it.
Even more, the case study includes customer quotes, and short paragraphs and reads like a conversational copy that makes the content piece more engaging.
2. Buffer
Buffer's case study includes well-designed graphics and immediately shows how Campaign Monitor was able to use the platform to solve a major problem.
3. Heap
This case study is well-formatted and highlights customer results. It also includes relevant quotes from many employees to help potential customers understand how Heap provided a solution to their problems.
4. DataBox
This case study from DataBox starts with a compelling headline that highlights customer results (saving 40hours per week). The study's two content formats (video and transcript) provide options for prospects.
5. Chilipiper
Just like DataBox, Chilipiper also starts its case study with a compelling headline that highlights customer results (300% revenue increase). The study combines numerical data and a compelling story to engage prospects.
6. Typeform
This case study from Typeform includes customer quotes to reveal the benefits they have gotten from the platform. It also includes actionable tips for prospects to replicate their positive outcome.
7. Drift
Drift's case study includes quotes from many employees to highlight the benefit the product provides. The content also includes great design and applies a more conversational approach.
8. Amazon web services
This case study provides visuals, customer quotes, and subheadings to the content easy to grasp while highlighting value.
9. HubSpot
In this SaaS case study, HubSpot reveals how Airstream generated 78% more leads with its platform. The study is well-formatted and includes relevant customer quotes as well as visuals.
10. Slack
Slack starts its case study with a compelling headline and customer quotes that make the content a great story. It reveals customer problems and how the Slack platform was able to provide a solution.
Conclusion
SaaS case studies are useful marketing resources that can not just shorten the customer journey but also increase conversions. Use the strategic tips mentioned above to help you create a compelling case study for your business.
Remember you need to establish the purpose of your case study and gather concrete information on the ideal customer. Then use the customer data to create a customer story that aligns with your prospect's interests.
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