How Do Software Development Companies Write Case Studies?
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Case study “sells” a company. It serves as a visual proof of your experience — one of the main factors in the buyer’s decision making process.
Before making a decision to contact you, a prospect checks a number of pages on your website. They might be searching for information about a particular subject, looking for a solution to solve their problem, or comparing your agency to your competitors.
Case study is important in all stages of the buyer’s journey. It’s what helps you move your prospects from awareness to consideration to purchase. According to Eccolo Media’s B2B content survey report, case studies outrank white papers, video, technology guides, infographics, and blog articles during the consideration phase, and they are the second most used information source during the awareness stage.
In our experience, the absolute majority of leads who send a letter to a company’s email box do this after checking out at least one case study.
But what should a case study look like?
We’ve put together a dozen popular companies that provide software development services and looked at case studies on their websites.
So here is what we found.
A case study is typically divided into five parts: headline, opening, main body, conclusion, and call-to-action. Let’s discuss each part in more detail.
Headline
Most companies give long headlines to their case studies, or add descriptions that tell a bigger story about a project.
For example, one of Accenture’s case studies is called “Garanti Bank: world’s first socially integrated mobile banking service.” This name gives a clear idea of the project: its type, industry, client, and what was implemented.
A short project explanation in the headline allows to understand the company’s capabilities without even diving into details.
Opening
Just like any story, a case study starts with an opening. But instead of “Once upon a time”, companies start their case studies with one of the following options:
1. Project summary.
The purpose of this introduction is clear — to give specific information without wasting too much time.
For example, for the Adidas miCoach project, Itransition lists tasks that have been implemented, such as:
- Collecting data from smart gadgets, automated pairing and data extraction
- Data analysis and rich visualization
- Two-way data transfer between web portal, desktop app, smartphone and devices
N-iX shows a fact sheet with key facts about a project, such as location, industry, services, expertise delivered, and technologies.
Thirteen23, an interactive product studio, provides a short summary of the project: brief, solution, outcome.
2. Results
Some companies prefer to start with the end. In other words, they put the results of their work upfront. For example, Infosys starts with:
- Why (To reduce the kilometers driven, deliver more parcels per hour, and provide a great experience)
- Who (Canada Post)
- What (leveraged Zero Distance and Design Thinking)
- Results (This enabled them to power their journey on digital transformation, and build dynamic routes to manage their expanded delivery business, and meet customers’ expectations).
Pivotal starts with a client testimonial:
This testimonial serves as a proof of work and highlights Pivotal’s value proposition.
3. Problem actualization
A lot of software development companies open a case study with a problem actualization where they introduce their client and a problem they wanted to solve.
Thoughtbot, for example, says:
“SplitFit was founded by three childhood friends who own several gyms in the greater Boston area.”
Then it goes on talking about how these three friends came up with an idea of the product that Thoughtbot delivered, and the problem that this product solves.
Some companies have confidentiality agreements under which they can’t disclose any names associated with a project. Here is how SoftServe deals with this:
“Our client is a public company providing legal, compliance, and risk management professionals around the world with a broad range of technology-enabled insights and consulting services. The integrated risk management solutions allow customers to achieve business excellence and assure sustainable growth by helping organizations proactively manage risks.”
Most introductions in case studies provide answers to how a client learned about an agency, how a client perceived their business’ challenge, and why the agency was the best option.
Main body
The main body of the case study talks about the solution. But solution can mean different things to different companies. Most often, solution relates to product, process, or service.
1. Product.
If a company’s solution is a product, then a company talks about its features and challenges implementing these features. For example, in Yalantis’ case studies there is always a product description followed by a list of features and technologies used to develop them.
2. Process.
Process is described in the case studies of companies that claim they have an effective development process that results in a successful product, fast delivery or other benefits.
For example, process is Thoughtbot’s competitive advantage. That’s why in their case studies they talk about the process of work from prototyping to user testing to development.
3. Service
The majority of large software development outsourcing companies describe services delivered in their case studies. For example, here is what Ciklum says in the main body of the case study:
“Ciklum has provided Mobli its Extended Team solution. Accordingly, Mobli Media has built a team in Ukraine as an extension of its own Israeli development team. This allowed the core team to concentrate on product development without gearing down on developing features to the already successful Mobli social application.”
In the main body companies typically highlight what discoveries were made during the development process, and how they handled setbacks or challenges during the project.
Conclusion
Conclusion in case studies summarizes the scope of work while listing the benefits of the company’s solution. Quite often companies demonstrate specific metrics that define success in conclusion.
For example, Focus Lab lists services delivered to their client. Frog lists key milestones or accomplishments, established during the project.
Ramotion highlights the main benefit of their solution:
“With the new activation interface, completed sessions skyrocketed to over 60%.”
Thoughtbot emphasizes the speed at which they delivered a solution:
“The first version was shipped and in the hands of users 2 months from the start date.”
A lot of companies add a client testimonial to the conclusion. A testimonial represents the client’s reaction to the work completed.
Call-to-action
The vast majority of case studies end with a CTA “contact us.” But there can also be variations to CTAs. For example, Yalantis invites their readers to check more case studies. Infosys asks readers if they want to learn more about the company’s approach. Readers can also check out Infosys’ offering for organizations of a similar type as the one described in the case study.
When you design a case study, consider each phase of the buyer’s journey and how you can answer questions for prospects.
Your potential clients may be willing to believe what you tell them. But they will want to see proof of your claim. Case study is a “proof point” or an evidence that supports a claim of value that you make about your product, service or company.
If you need advisory on writing case studies for your firm, drop us a message at hello@kaiiax.com
