Customer Case Study Template

A well-written case study is the most persuasive piece of content a B2B company can publish. When a prospect is evaluating whether your product will work for them, they're not asking "does this tool exist?" — they're asking "will this work for someone like me?" A case study answers that question with proof.

The difference between a case study that drives sales and one that collects dust on your website comes down to one thing: specificity. Specific numbers, specific challenges, specific outcomes — not vague claims wrapped in corporate language.

The Business Value of Case Studies

Case studies are the only content format that combines:

• Social proof (real customers with real results)
• SEO value (long-form content targeting decision-stage keywords)
• Sales enablement (direct response to "do you have customers like me?")
• Product demonstration (shows exactly how your product works in real scenarios)

Demand Gen Report found that 97% of B2B buyers consider content with a strong business case as "extremely important" in their buying decision. Case studies are that content.

Choosing the Right Case Studies

Not every customer should be a case study. The best case studies have:

1. Quantifiable results Percentage improvements, absolute numbers, time saved, revenue generated, cost reduced. Without numbers, a case study is just a testimonial.

2. A recognizable protagonist Either a recognizable company name, a recognizable job title, or a recognizable situation. Your prospect needs to see themselves in the story.

3. A clear before state The more specific the pain point, the more your reader will see themselves in the story. "We had no content strategy" is less powerful than "We were publishing 4 posts per week with no keyword strategy, getting 800 sessions/month, and converting nothing."

4. A genuine relationship The customer is willing to be named, quoted, and potentially appear in additional formats (video, podcast, event panel). A case study from someone who goes silent after the initial interview is a one-time asset with no longevity.

5. Fit with your ICP The customer in the case study should look like the customer you're trying to acquire. If you're targeting Series A SaaS startups, case studies from enterprise companies or consumer apps will miss the mark.

---

The Case Study Production Process

Step 1: Customer Identification and Approach

Who to ask:

• NPS promoters (score 9-10) who've agreed to be contacted
• Customers who've mentioned results in check-in calls or emails
• Customers who've been with you for 6+ months (long enough to see real results)
• Customers who've expanded (upsell/cross-sell — they clearly value the product)

How to ask:

Subject: Quick question + potential opportunity

Hi [Name],

We've been really impressed with what [their company] has been doing with [your product]. I'd love to feature you in a case study — it would involve a 30-minute interview, and we'd share the final piece with you for approval before publishing.

Would you be up for it? In exchange, I'm happy to offer [discount/feature access/gift card/LinkedIn spotlight].

[Your name]

Step 2: Pre-Interview Research

Before the interview, gather:

• Their basic company info (industry, size, stage)
• How long they've been a customer
• Which features they use most (pull from your product analytics)
• Any results already in your CRM or customer success notes
• Any public information about their company (news, LinkedIn, blog)

Step 3: The Customer Interview

Structure the interview in this order:

Part 1: Background (5 minutes)

• Tell me about [company] — what do you do and who do you serve?
• What's your role, and what are you responsible for?

Part 2: The Before State (10 minutes)

• What were you doing before [your product] for [the use case]?
• What specific problems were you running into?
• What had you tried that didn't work?
• How was the problem affecting your team/business?
• What made you start looking for a solution?

Part 3: The Decision (5 minutes)

• How did you find [your product]?
• What made you decide to try it?
• Were there other options you evaluated? What made you choose us?

Part 4: Implementation (5 minutes)

• How did you get started?
• How long before you saw results?
• What was the onboarding process like?

Part 5: Results (10 minutes)

• What's changed since you started using [your product]?
• Can you give me specific numbers? (traffic, leads, revenue, time saved, cost reduced)
• What's the biggest single result you can point to?
• How has this changed your work day / your team's work?
• What would you tell someone in a similar situation who's evaluating this?

Interview best practices:

• Record with permission (Otter.ai or Zoom recording)
• Ask "can you give me a number on that?" whenever the answer is vague
• Ask "what was the situation before?" for every result — context makes numbers meaningful
• Ask for the most specific, memorable example they have
• End with: "Is there anything I haven't asked that you think is important?"

---

The Case Study Template

---

Headline

Formula: "[Specific Company] [Achieved Specific Result] in [Timeframe] Using [Your Product]"

Examples:

• "How Loom Grew Organic Traffic 340% in 6 Months with an AI-Powered Content Strategy"
• "From 800 to 12,000 Monthly Organic Sessions: How Notion Used Content Operations to Scale Without Adding Headcount"
• "Reducing Content Production Time by 60%: Linear's Journey from Ad Hoc Publishing to a Systematic Content Program"

Subheadline (optional): One sentence capturing the core challenge and result.

---

Results Summary (The "Snapshot" Box)

Place this prominently near the top — before the full story. Busy readers want the numbers first.

📊 Key Results

🟢 [Primary metric]: [Specific number or percentage]
🟢 [Secondary metric]: [Specific number or percentage]  
🟢 [Third metric]: [Specific number or percentage]
🟢 Time to results: [Timeframe]

Example:

📊 Key Results

🟢 Organic traffic: 800 → 12,400 sessions/month (+1,450%)
🟢 Content-driven MQLs: 0 → 87/month
🟢 Content production time: Cut from 3 weeks to 4 days per piece
🟢 Time to results: 6 months

---

Company Overview

Company: ___ Industry: ___ Company Size: ___ Headquarters: ___ Website: ___

About [Company]: [2-3 sentences about the company: what they do, who they serve, and relevant context for understanding the case study.]

---

The Challenge

This is the most important section. The more specifically you describe the problem, the more potential customers see themselves in it.

Subheadings:

• [Company]'s Situation Before [Your Product]
• The Specific Challenges They Faced

Template text:

Before [Company Name] started using [Your Product], [describe their content/marketing situation in specific terms].

"[Direct quote from customer describing the problem in their own words]"

[Name] describes a specific example: "[Quote describing a concrete instance of the problem]"

[2-3 sentences of context: what this meant for their business, team, or results]

Checklist:

• Specific situation described (not just "they had challenges")
• At least one direct quote from the customer about the challenge
• Quantified if possible: "spending 3 days per week" not "spending a lot of time"
• Reader can clearly see themselves in this situation

---

The Solution

How they found you, why they chose you, and how they use the product specifically.

Template structure:

How They Found [Your Product]

[1-2 sentences on how they discovered your product — search, referral, content, etc.]

Why They Chose [Your Product]

[What specifically made them choose you over alternatives — their words are best here]

"[Direct quote about the decision, ideally mentioning a specific feature or value prop]"

How [Company] Uses [Your Product]

[Describe their specific workflow. What do they use? How often? Which team members?]

"[Quote describing their day-to-day use]"

[Product screenshot or workflow diagram if available]

Checklist:

• The specific use case is clear (not just "they use the product")
• At least one feature or capability mentioned specifically
• Quote from the customer on why they chose you (not just that they chose you)

---

The Results

The payoff. Be as specific as humanly possible.

Template structure:

[Primary Result]

[Context: what they measured and when]

[The specific numbers — before and after]

"[Quote from customer contextualizing the result or expressing how it felt]"

[Secondary Result]

[Same structure]

[Tertiary Result]

[Same structure]

The Bigger Picture

"[Quote from customer about what this means for their team/business/goals — something beyond the numbers]"

Example filled-in:

Traffic Growth

Six months after implementing their Averi-based content strategy, [Company] went from 800 monthly organic sessions to 12,400 — a 1,450% increase.

"We used to get excited when a blog post hit 100 views. Now we have posts that bring in 2,000 sessions a month on their own. The compounding effect has been wild." — [Name], Head of Marketing

Lead Generation

More importantly for the business, the traffic translates into qualified pipeline. [Company] went from zero content-attributed leads to 87 MQLs per month — all organic, all from content.

"The ROI case became undeniable really fast. We were spending $15,000/month on paid ads for 60 MQLs. Now content is delivering more at almost zero marginal cost." — [Name]

---

The Customer's Perspective

A brief section for the customer's direct voice — often the most compelling part.

Template:

[Customer Full Name] on working with [Your Product]:

"[Longer quote — 3-6 sentences — about their experience, what they'd tell a peer, or what's changed most fundamentally]"

— [Full Name], [Title], [Company]

---

What's Next

Optional but powerful: what are they planning to do next? Shows the relationship is ongoing and the customer is investing further.

With [result] now established, [Company] is planning to [next step]. "[Quote about future direction]"

---

The CTA

End every case study with a relevant next step:

Ready to achieve results like [Company]?

[Brief description of your product — one sentence]

[CTA Button: "Start your free trial" or "See how Averi works" → link]

[Optional: "No credit card required" or other friction reduction]

---

Case Study Formats Beyond Long-Form

The written long-form case study is the anchor, but the best case studies get repurposed into:

Format	Best For	Production Time
Long-form written (2,000-3,000 words)	SEO, sales enablement, depth	6-8 hours
Short-form written (500-800 words)	Social sharing, email	2 hours
Video case study (2-5 minutes)	Website homepage, sales calls	1-2 days
Pull quote graphics	Social proof on landing pages	30 minutes
Slide deck	Sales presentations	2 hours
Podcast episode	Audience building, reach	1-2 hours

The interview is the expensive part — once done, the customer's words can fuel all of these formats.

How Averi Supports Case Study Production

Averi's AI-assisted drafting workflow can structure your case study interview transcript into a first draft, preserving the customer's quotes while building a coherent narrative. The finished case study publishes directly from Averi to your WordPress, Webflow, or Framer site — and is tracked in your Library alongside all your other content, so you can see how it performs in organic search and compare it to other BOFU content.

Create your next case study in Averi →

Further Reading

• build a customer case study with a step-by-step playbook
• BOFU content strategy that converts B2B SaaS buyers
• real-world customer case studies from Averi's own clients
• Averi's Strategy Map to sequence case studies within your broader content plan

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get customers to agree to a case study?

Make it easy and low-commitment. Emphasize: 30 minutes of their time, you write the piece, they get approval before anything publishes. Sweeten with a LinkedIn feature, a product discount, or a small gift. The more specific the outcome you want to highlight, the easier the ask — "your team went from X to Y in 3 months — would you be willing to let us tell that story?" is more compelling than "would you like to do a case study?"

What if our customers won't let us use their company name?

An anonymous case study is significantly weaker, but better than nothing. Use what specifics you can: industry, company size, revenue range, and all the actual results. Even without the company name, "Series A B2B SaaS company in the HR tech space with 45 employees" gives enough context for your ICP to see themselves.

How many case studies do we need?

Ideally 2-3 per ICP segment you're targeting. If you sell to mid-market SaaS and enterprise retail, you need case studies in both segments. Quantity matters less than representativeness — three excellent case studies covering your core segments are more useful than 20 case studies all from the same type of customer.

Should case studies be gated (require email) or ungated?

Ungated, in most cases. Case studies serve prospects who are in active evaluation — they need easy, frictionless access. Gating adds friction right at the moment when a prospect is trying to convince themselves (or their boss) that you're the right choice. Keep them open. If you want leads, use the case study as evidence in your sales emails rather than as a gate.

How long should a case study be?

The long-form written version should be 1,500-2,500 words. Long enough to tell the full story with specifics; short enough that a busy sales prospect will actually read it. The most important sections are the results (should be prominent and scannable) and the customer quote (should be authentic and specific). Everything else serves to contextualize those two elements.