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5 Steps for Writing a Case Study for Business (+Templates)

Get professional tips for writing a case study that drives business impact. Learn the best format and research method to use alongside examples & templates.

Author John McTale

5 minute read

How to write a case study

helped business
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Nice Meta RTL Spot Xerox Pepsi

SHORT ANSWER

What are the 5 steps to write a case study?

  1. Open with an introductory overview
  2. Explain the problem in question
  3. Detail the solutions that solved the problem
  4. Refer to key results
  5. Finish with recommendations and next steps


Keep reading for a full breakdown ⤵

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What is a case study?

In business, a case study, or customer success story, is a marketing tool that showcases how your product or service helped clients overcome business challenges. It uses statistics, quotes, and specific examples to convincingly highlight your ability to produce results.

What is the purpose of a case study?

The purpose of a case study, usually, is to provide your prospective clients with specific examples of how your products or services can help solve business problems they might be facing.

Case studies legitimize your business activities allowing you to go beyond explaining what you do and focus on how well you do it.

And, in case you were wondering just HOW important case studies are, here’s an item of data to ponder: according to a DemandGen report, 78% of B2B buyers want to review case studies before making a purchase decision.

Another study by Uplift found that at the end of 2023, for the third year in a row, marketers ranked case studies the #1 most effective marketing tactic to increase sales—ahead of general website content, SEO, blog posts, social media, paid ads and other tactics.

How to write a case study?

In business, everyone claims to be the next big thing, but a case study is how you prove it. It shows the real value of your product or service and backs up your claims with real results.

A well-written case study builds trust by showing you can deliver on what you promise and proving the impact your actions have on the bottom line.

Here's how to write a case study that engages readers and makes them excited to work with you.

NOTE: If you don't want a slide-by-slide breakdown and just want to see real decks, check out the best case study presentation examples.

Effective case study outline

  1. Introductory overview

  2. The problem or challenge

  3. The solution

  4. Key results

  5. Recommendations and next steps

1. Open with an introductory overview


People don’t usually read case studies. At least not immediately. First, they skim the contents to see if the subject is relevant enough.

How to make sure your case study sticks? At the beginning, place an introductory overview (also called an “executive summary”).

Provide an overview of the whole case. It’s not supposed to be a catchy intro but a full synopsis, detailing the problem at hand, your assumptions, the solutions implemented, and the results achieved.

How to write a case study introduction?

  • Introduce the company: Start by giving a brief overview of the company that’s the focus of the case study. Share who they are, what they do, and any relevant background.

  • Introduce the purpose of the case study—specify exactly what you were aiming to achieve.

  • Define the problem or the most significant challenge. For instance, low conversion rates, a technological issue or high costs. (It could also be a combination of such factors!)

  • Explain briefly what the solution to the problem was.

  • Share the most important results your actions produced. Don’t go into too much detail, a few key points will do. It’s best if you can quantify the results: numbers pop!

  • Keep it short. Usually, 2–4 paragraphs + a few bullet points with key results will do. Consider using an AI rewriter to help you break down complex sentences into clear and concise sentences that effectively convey your message.

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Case study introduction slide example

Pro tip

While, as its name implies, this section comes at the beginning of your case study, write it last. First, craft the rest of your document, then pick the most important bits and compile them into the introductory overview.

2. Explain the problem in question

In the problem section of your case study, you want to put your reader in the shoes of your client, so that, later on, you can present your company as the miraculous savior.

Paint a clear picture of the challenge your product or service solves, and focus on how difficult the situation was for the client before your solution came along.

The goal is to create a sense of urgency and connection—making it easy for readers to relate and feel the weight of the problem. This emotional engagement is key to highlighting just how valuable your solution is.

How to write a “problem” section in a case study?


  • In a single sentence, describe your customer’s business challenges and objectives.

  • Explain the problem your customer faced that prevented them from achieving those objectives prior to working with you.

  • If that was the case, mention other solutions your client experimented with that didn’t work out and explain why.

  • Make it clear how the issue or problem impacted the client’s business results so that it’s easy to understand why a solution was badly needed.

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Case study problem slide example

3. Detail the solutions implemented to solve the problem

Here comes the moment to toot your own horn a bit (and also that moment when you can get slightly technical).

Present your solutions in reference to the issue your client was dealing with and make it obvious that those are easily replicable for all future cases.

Of course, the exact formula for this section will depend on your industry and mode of operation.

Sometimes a 2–3 paragraph summary will be enough. In other cases, you’ll need to include more detailed technical specs regarding the solution you implemented.

How to write a "solution" section in a case study?


  • Focus on your customer’s experience in using your product or services.

  • Explain the process: say how long it took to get the solution up and running and what teams on your customer’s end were involved.

  • Highlight the features of your product or service that turned out to be the most beneficial to your customer.

  • If possible, attach or link to relevant assets that will work as real-life examples of your solution (unless, of course, the information is highly sensitive).

  • Always run your case study by your client’s marketing team before you go live. Even if you’re using direct quotes or verifiable results, it’s ultimately their decision whether or not to make certain information freely available.

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Case study solution slide example

4. Refer to key results

In business, nothing speaks louder than ROI and you know it.

Prospective customers reading your case study won’t be bothered to take notice of your state-of-the-art technology or innovative approach. Neither will they care about your past customers’ happiness.

What they want to know is this: Will that help me save or make money?

When writing a case study, your job is to present results in a way that answers the above question with a resounding YES.

Here’s how to write about results:

  • In a few bullet points, list numerical results your solution delivered to the client.

  • Ideally, you’ll want to include revenue-related data: increase in clients’ base, more demos booked, higher conversion rates, or optimized pricing.

  • If you can’t (or aren’t allowed to) share hard sales numbers, refer to softer KPIs: time saved, customer happiness scores, expanding the community, or enhancing brand visibility.

  • Make it blatantly obvious that such results are easily replicable.

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Case study key results slide example

Pro tip

If possible, by all means include quotes from your client. Results should speak for themselves, obviously, but showing the real human whose problems you solved makes for a much more powerful narrative. Plus, it further adds credibility to the case study. Start by preparing a list of powerful case study questions to guide your client interviews.

5. Finish with recommendations and next steps

Everyone enjoys a solid epilogue. To end on a high note, include a list of key findings from your case study.

Even if a given reader won’t decide to get in touch with you, at least you’ll provide them with a valuable source of knowledge—sometimes that’s enough to keep your company top of mind in the future.

Now, not every case study requires a call to action (especially if your main purpose is to inform and educate rather than convert, which is okay, too), but for those more commercially-oriented ones, do add it.

Make your CTA singular and clear—if the most desired action is to reach out to you, leave your contact details, if you’d rather direct prospects to a landing page or a welcome screen, add a button.

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Case study next steps slide example

For your reference, here’s an example of our very own case study, showing how, at Storydoc, we helped the Spot company boost some of their key metrics: Learn How Spot by NetApp boosted their conversion rates 2x.

Interactive case study templates

No matter how great the contents of your case study might be, if you fail to present it in an eye-pleasing way, most likely, no one will really read it.

Interactive case study templates help bring your story to life with features like data visualization, clickable elements, and the option to add links or multimedia.

This makes it easier for your audience to follow along and understand your message and helps you stand out from the competition.

Just grab one.

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Tips on preparing a case study

Before writing a case study, it’s important to take the time to prepare properly. It’s more than just sharing a success story—you want to gather the right details and present them in a way that really connects with your audience.

By doing this groundwork, you can ensure your case study demonstrates your value but also builds a sense of credibility and trust that sticks with potential clients.


Case study preparation tips:

  1. Determine a customer use case

  2. Go over existing clients

  3. Reach out to the happy clients

  4. Set success criteria

  5. Set measurements

  6. Set time period for observation

  7. Conduct post interview to assess results

  8. Get data from client

  9. Get client approval


For more information, check out our guide on how to create a case study.

John McTale

Hi, I'm John, Editor-in-chief at Storydoc. As a content marketer and digital writer specializing in B2B SaaS, my main goal is to provide you with up-to-date tips for effective business storytelling and equip you with all the right tools to enable your sales efforts.

Table of contents
What are the 5 steps to write a case study? What is a case study? What is the purpose of a case study? How to write a case study? Case study outline Interactive case study templates How to prepare for writing a case study?
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