How to improve upon case studies that just celebrate the last project

Case studies are one of those marketing assets everyone agrees they “should have”, yet they often end up as dusty PDFs or hidden pages that no one is excited to share. Many read like polite press releases: a bit of background, a list of activities, a nice quote, a result if you are lucky. They celebrate what happened, but they do not actively help a new buyer move closer to a decision.

Done well, a case study is much more than a pat on the back. It is a practical sales tool. It shows the kind of problems you take on, how you think, how you work with people and what changes when you are involved. It helps someone who is already half interested say, “Yes, that sounds like our situation – let’s talk.”

This article looks at how to reshape your case studies so they sell the next project, not just record the last one.

Start with who the case study is really for

It is easy to forget that the audience for a case study is not you. It is the person nervously trying to decide whether recommending you is a good idea.

They might be:

A senior decision-maker checking whether you understand their world
A project lead trying to justify budget
A middle manager who will have to live with the choice day to day

They are scanning for answers to questions like:

“Have they done this for someone like us?”
“Do they understand our kind of complexity?”
“What will it actually feel like to work with them?”
“Can I trust them to deliver what they promise?”

If your current case studies are written mainly as a record of activity – “we did this, then this, then this” – they may not be speaking to those questions at all. Before you draft or rewrite anything, it helps to picture a real person you would love to send this to, and write for them.

Tell a story, not just a sequence of tasks

Most case studies follow a familiar skeleton: client, problem, solution, results. There is nothing wrong with that, but the way each part is handled makes a big difference.

A better way to think about it is as a short story:

A recognisable situation – something your reader can see themselves in
The tension or risk – what was at stake if they got it wrong or did nothing
The way you approached it – the thinking and collaboration, not just the deliverables
What changed – in outcomes, confidence, capability or relationships

That does not mean pages of narrative. A paragraph or two under each heading is enough. The key is to make the client’s situation and your response feel specific and human, not generic.

For example, instead of “The client needed a new website to support growth”, you might say:

“The client had grown quickly through referrals, but their old website made them look smaller and less credible than they really were. Sales were finding it hard to send prospects to a site they did not believe in.”

Suddenly the problem feels real. Many of your readers will recognise it.

Bring in a short “how we thought” section

One of the simplest and most powerful additions you can make to a case study is a short section on your thinking.

Most case studies focus on what you did: the workshops, the designs, the integrations, the campaigns. Buyers want to know that, of course – but they are equally interested in how you think, because that is what they are really buying.

A “how we thought” section might include:

The options you considered and why you ruled some out
The trade-offs you had to make with scope, time or budget
How you balanced different needs – technical, commercial, political
What surprised you and what you learnt along the way

It does not need to be long. Even a few sentences can lift the case study from “we executed a process” to “we were a partner who made good decisions in context”.

For example:

“We explored three approaches to the rollout. A big-bang launch would have been faster, but too risky given the number of stakeholders involved. Instead we proposed a phased rollout, starting with one region, so we could refine the process before going wider.”

For a prospect, this is reassuring. It shows judgement, not just capability.

Keep the client at the centre of the piece

It is tempting to make yourself the hero of every story. The better approach is to make the client (or their customers) the hero, and position yourself as the guide.

That means:

Describing the client’s context clearly: their sector, scale, constraints
Focusing on what changed for them rather than how proud you are
Using quotes that sound like them, not like your marketing team

If you are rewriting existing case studies, look out for paragraphs that start with “We…” and see whether some of them could be reframed in terms of what the client was trying to achieve or overcome.

For instance, change:

“We developed a new reporting dashboard so they had better data.”

to:

“The new reporting dashboard meant their team could see, at a glance, which locations needed attention that week, instead of wading through spreadsheets.”

One sounds like you ticking a box. The other sounds like a change in their working life.

Make the results feel concrete, even when they are not all numbers

Not every project leads to a neat percentage uplift. That is fine. Buyers are looking for signs of real impact, not just headline statistics.

Think about four dimensions of change:

Performance – revenue, cost, speed, conversion, retention
Experience – for customers, internal teams or partners
Capability – what the client can now do that they could not before
Confidence – what people now feel able to commit to or argue for

If you have numbers, use them. If you do not, aim for specific descriptions instead of vague phrases.

Compare:

“The project improved internal communication.”

with:

“Team leaders reported they were spending less time chasing updates and more time actually solving problems together.”

Both are qualitative, but one is much more tangible.

When you do have metrics, anchor them in context:

“Website enquiries increased by 35% in the first three months after launch, with no additional paid advertising.”

That tells a fuller story than “+35% enquiries”.

Think about how and where the case study will be used

Case studies often sit in a “work” or “resources” section of the website and not much else. To sell the next project, they need to be designed as tools, not just as content.

Before you draft or refresh one, ask:

Will this be used mostly on the website, or as a PDF you send after conversations?
Is it for top-of-funnel reassurance, or to support a late-stage decision?
Who is most likely to read it – a specialist or a generalist decision-maker?

Your answers should shape length, language and level of detail. A case study aimed at a CFO considering investment will read differently to one aimed at a technical lead comparing approaches.

It can also be worth creating two versions of the same story:

A short, skimmable web version for people early in the process
A slightly more detailed PDF or slide version that sales can use later on

Both should carry the same core narrative, but with more or less depth depending on the context.

Structure it so people can scan, then dive deeper

Even the most interested reader will skim before they commit. A clear structure helps them find what they care about quickly.

You might use a pattern like:

Client at a glance – a couple of lines on who they are
The situation – what was happening before you were involved
The challenge – why that situation mattered
Our approach – what you did and how you thought about it
What changed – outcomes across performance, experience, capability
In their words – one short, genuine quote

Within that, use subheadings and short paragraphs so people can pick out the bits that feel relevant. If they want to know about your process, they will head straight to that section. If they are only interested in results, they will look there first.

Well-structured case studies respect the reader’s time.

Make collaboration and design part of the process

A case study that sells the next project is rarely something one person produces in a vacuum. It benefits from input and attention at a few stages.

First, involve the people closest to the work. Ask them what really made this project interesting, difficult or satisfying. Often the most compelling part of the story is something they mention off-hand: a constraint you had to work around, a relationship you had to rebuild, a moment where a decision changed the trajectory.

Second, give design some love. You do not need elaborate layouts, but clarity on the page matters. Clean headings, consistent styling, good use of white space and imagery where appropriate all make it easier to absorb the story. A visually polished case study also quietly reinforces your brand.

Finally, close the loop with sales. Once the piece is ready, make sure your client-facing team know where it is, who it is for and how to use it. You might:

Add a link or PDF to your standard follow-up email templates
Include a slide version in your pitch decks
Surface a few key case studies on relevant service pages of your site

The more your team see case studies as a helpful way to answer questions they are already fielding, the more they will use them.

A simple starting point

If you have a pile of existing case studies and this all feels daunting, start small.

Choose one project that:

Represents the kind of work you want more of
Involves a type of client you would like to attract again
Still feels relatively fresh in people’s minds

Then:

Re-read the current case study, if there is one.
Talk briefly to one or two people who were close to the work. Ask what really mattered in this project, what nearly went wrong, and what they are proud of.
Rewrite the piece with a clearer story, a “how we thought” section, and a sharper focus on what changed for the client.
Share it with your sales team and ask them to try using it in the next month.

You will learn quickly what lands, what feels natural to send, and where you might want to go next.

Where Spark can help

Strong case studies are often the missing link between “we can do this” and “we can show you we have done this, in a way that feels relevant and reassuring”.

At Spark Interact, we help small and mid sized businesses rethink and redesign case studies so they:

Tell a clear, client-centred story
Show how you think, not just what you deliver
Look and feel consistent with the rest of your brand
Fit neatly into your website, proposals and sales conversations

If you would like support turning past projects into tools that genuinely help sell the next one, we would be happy to explore that with you.

Case Studies That Sell The Next Project