A couple of days ago, I penned a post asking for feedback from all of you about what you need and want to see more of on this blog. The kinds of conversations you want to have about social, aside from the usual fare.
Many of you commented that you want to see case studies, and that’s something I hear a lot in the trenches from folks. But it also got me thinking a lot about what case studies are good for, and what they’re not. So let’s talk about that for just a minute.
What Case Studies Can Be
Inspiration
If you’re stuck about where to start or if creativity isn’t your strong suit, case studies can help you get inspired by what others are doing, and help you generate new ideas for what you can do. They give you context and little seeds to grow bigger ideas.
Reassurance
Sometimes, it’s reassuring to see that someone else is doing what you want to do, especially if you or your company is a bit risk averse. It’s proof that someone is blazing a trail so that there’s a little clear ground for you to walk on. In some cases, it can help show your boss that your idea isn’t as crazy as he thinks it is, or that there’s at least a little precedent for what you want to try. But…
What Case Studies Aren’t
Universal Proof
Every business is different. I’ve said that so many times. Someone else’s success with a blog or social network is not necessarily a fool-proof recipe for you. You must be accountable for your own planning, execution, and results tracking. You have to take the time to plan your initiatives relative to your business, not someone else’s, even if their company looks a lot like yours.
And your ideas for strategy, tactics, or measurement might be perfectly valid and well-thought even if no one else has done it that way. There is no guarantee of success in any project, with or without precedent. There is only the guarantee you’ll learn something by trying.
Always Complete
Few companies like to shine the spotlight on hard realities of their successes. The fact that they failed three times before succeeding, say, or the fact that they lost money on the first two endeavors before creating a return. Or how many hours they spent in meetings writing and rewriting broken strategy before they made it look so easy. Don’t forget that case studies are often marketing vehicles, even if they’re presented by a third party, and they don’t always show the less glamorous or compelling bits of the process. We all want to show our best sides and celebrate our successes.
A Reason Not to Do
I’m a bit concerned that sometimes, waiting around for a case study is what’s putting some companies behind the 8-ball, or preventing them from putting their own brains to work on their business. Precedent just means someone else did it first (and not always better than you could). When it comes to social media especially, there’s still lots of room for strategic experimentation. Please don’t let the lack of a perfectly reflective case study stop you from creating your own goals and approach. Experience is the best teacher.
All this isn’t to say that I won’t be seeking out practical examples of what companies are doing with social media. I sure will be, because you’ve asked me to, and I think teaching with examples is good, as long as we can uncover not just WHAT people did, but why and how it was successful (or not).
But please keep the notion of a “case study” in perspective. Don’t count on them to be the shortcut to strategy or hard work. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can merely replicate them. Don’t cite them as gospel. And most important of all, don’t scuttle your ideas because you can’t find written and published proof that someone else made them work.
That’s called innovation.
Hey Amber,
You bring up an excellent point, waiting for a “Case Study” is pretty similar to “following” as opposed to “Leading” What works or worked at one company, likely never works the same at another.
Lead the Pack, and Create Case Studies, that is how you battle back this wacky economy,
Hey Amber,
You bring up an excellent point, waiting for a “Case Study” is pretty similar to “following” as opposed to “Leading” What works or worked at one company, likely never works the same at another.
Lead the Pack, and Create Case Studies, that is how you battle back this wacky economy,
Hey Amber,
You bring up an excellent point, waiting for a “Case Study” is pretty similar to “following” as opposed to “Leading” What works or worked at one company, likely never works the same at another.
Lead the Pack, and Create Case Studies, that is how you battle back this wacky economy,
Thanks for writing this, Amber.
I’ve been disappointed by a number of case studies recently that promised to show x but ended up redirecting their own narrative to present anecdotal references that absolutely don’t have anything to do with what they claimed to want to present, prove and/or indicate.
I would like to start seeing a more professional (dare I say scientific) approach to the way data, methods, arguments and lessons are presented in case studies. They can’t become mostly exercises in PR. Sadly, that seems to be the direction many companies are choosing to take.
1. A case study should begin by stating a hypothesis or objective.
2. It should cover the methodology and activities developed to investigate the hypothesis or pursue the objective.
3. It should present and analyze the findings/outcomes of those activities.
4. It should include lessons learned along the way, including hurdles, failures, unexpected successes, etc.
5. They should be revisited and updated over time.
I just read one the other day that promised to prove the positive impact of a social media program developed by a company. The only thing it ended up doing was referencing an anecdote in which the blogger (responsible for the case study and the SM program) was recognized by one of his readers at a conference. As much as I love stories like that, an anecdote about being spotted at a conference does not make a case study. Sorry. We can do better.
What I would ask of companies and agencies before they put together a case study is this: Show me how your SM program increased net online mentions and improved the ratio of positive sentiment within that increase. Show me how your SM program resulted in reaching 1,000 net new potential customers. Show me how your SM program sold 15% more airplane tickets last month than expected. Show me how your SM program cut customer complaint resolutions down to 10 minutes, down from 45 minutes. Show me how your SM program created a community that helps you accomplish something specific. Show me something I can sink my teeth into. Something I can learn from. Something I can apply to my own business.
Know what I mean? Of course you do. 😉
Thanks for writing this, Amber.
I’ve been disappointed by a number of case studies recently that promised to show x but ended up redirecting their own narrative to present anecdotal references that absolutely don’t have anything to do with what they claimed to want to present, prove and/or indicate.
I would like to start seeing a more professional (dare I say scientific) approach to the way data, methods, arguments and lessons are presented in case studies. They can’t become mostly exercises in PR. Sadly, that seems to be the direction many companies are choosing to take.
1. A case study should begin by stating a hypothesis or objective.
2. It should cover the methodology and activities developed to investigate the hypothesis or pursue the objective.
3. It should present and analyze the findings/outcomes of those activities.
4. It should include lessons learned along the way, including hurdles, failures, unexpected successes, etc.
5. They should be revisited and updated over time.
I just read one the other day that promised to prove the positive impact of a social media program developed by a company. The only thing it ended up doing was referencing an anecdote in which the blogger (responsible for the case study and the SM program) was recognized by one of his readers at a conference. As much as I love stories like that, an anecdote about being spotted at a conference does not make a case study. Sorry. We can do better.
What I would ask of companies and agencies before they put together a case study is this: Show me how your SM program increased net online mentions and improved the ratio of positive sentiment within that increase. Show me how your SM program resulted in reaching 1,000 net new potential customers. Show me how your SM program sold 15% more airplane tickets last month than expected. Show me how your SM program cut customer complaint resolutions down to 10 minutes, down from 45 minutes. Show me how your SM program created a community that helps you accomplish something specific. Show me something I can sink my teeth into. Something I can learn from. Something I can apply to my own business.
Know what I mean? Of course you do. 😉
Amber,
Good point about the perspective. I’ve been wrestling with the idea of including case studies on my website for a few months. The upside is that it showcases what my consultancy has done and may provide ideas for others to follow.
The downside is that they will always be summarized and incomplete. Client confidentiality is our first priority. Most of my non-disclosure agreements don’t even allow me to mention the client’s name. The reasoning, right or wrong, is that it may reduce competitive advantage.
Even if they were complete, your comment about no guarantee of success is a cause for concern. Every company has a unique family of customers, employees, and shareholders. Something that works wonderfully for one company may fail miserably for another.
Case studies are best used for inspiration. Using them as a roadmap is a recipe for disaster.
Amber,
Good point about the perspective. I’ve been wrestling with the idea of including case studies on my website for a few months. The upside is that it showcases what my consultancy has done and may provide ideas for others to follow.
The downside is that they will always be summarized and incomplete. Client confidentiality is our first priority. Most of my non-disclosure agreements don’t even allow me to mention the client’s name. The reasoning, right or wrong, is that it may reduce competitive advantage.
Even if they were complete, your comment about no guarantee of success is a cause for concern. Every company has a unique family of customers, employees, and shareholders. Something that works wonderfully for one company may fail miserably for another.
Case studies are best used for inspiration. Using them as a roadmap is a recipe for disaster.
Ok, this might be a wacky thought but…wouldn’t it be cool to see a case study of what didn’t work to accompany the one detailing what did? Same format and everything, just clear details of what strategies/tactics were tried first, what didn’t work about them, and what was amended within each strategy/tactic that made the next try successful.
On the other hand, do you that kind of case study would just confuse other organizations? Would that be *too* transparent? Would companies stay away from certain strategies/tactics that might be effective for them because they saw those strategies/tactics weren’t effective for competitor XYZ?
I’m just thinking out loud here. If there are examples of success/failure case studies I’d love to see them (there could be, I haven’t done my research). Maybe I’ll do some hunting…
Ok, this might be a wacky thought but…wouldn’t it be cool to see a case study of what didn’t work to accompany the one detailing what did? Same format and everything, just clear details of what strategies/tactics were tried first, what didn’t work about them, and what was amended within each strategy/tactic that made the next try successful.
On the other hand, do you that kind of case study would just confuse other organizations? Would that be *too* transparent? Would companies stay away from certain strategies/tactics that might be effective for them because they saw those strategies/tactics weren’t effective for competitor XYZ?
I’m just thinking out loud here. If there are examples of success/failure case studies I’d love to see them (there could be, I haven’t done my research). Maybe I’ll do some hunting…
Amber,
I have found in pharma and CPG that cases studies help to provide some broad boundaries and insight when a situation is particularly unfamiliar. However, the effort to pull together the detail required to make them actionable is often not worth it.
In the data rich Rx industry I have often witnessed bus intel folks pulling together numerical data for selected case (say new product launches of chronic therapeutics). What is often missed is the answer to “why” something happened vs “how much” or “how fast”. The data in that case does not lead to confident action.
More successful, faster and more transparent, I have found it powerful to convene a set of experts in a particular field, industry, function, region, issue, etc. at a round table (virtually or otherwise) to debate and share insights to disbelievers who then quickly get on board and act.
Conversations often trump cases.
Amber,
I have found in pharma and CPG that cases studies help to provide some broad boundaries and insight when a situation is particularly unfamiliar. However, the effort to pull together the detail required to make them actionable is often not worth it.
In the data rich Rx industry I have often witnessed bus intel folks pulling together numerical data for selected case (say new product launches of chronic therapeutics). What is often missed is the answer to “why” something happened vs “how much” or “how fast”. The data in that case does not lead to confident action.
More successful, faster and more transparent, I have found it powerful to convene a set of experts in a particular field, industry, function, region, issue, etc. at a round table (virtually or otherwise) to debate and share insights to disbelievers who then quickly get on board and act.
Conversations often trump cases.
I agree that case studies often lose something when they’re strictly promotional. However, like a lot of media, the practical value of case studies shouldn’t be judged solely on the worse-case applications of them.
There’s definitely a need for case studies on social media – not to promote it as a panacea, or as a cookie-cutter formula. And certainly not as a testimonial. Instead, case studies should provide a template for best practices, as measured by what delivered demonstrably measurable results.
Also, rather than offering answers applicable to only one company, a good social media case study should illustrate the strategic questions that the company asked going in. It should illustrate how to approach the task of applying social media, not just the benefits.
So, I think there’s room for Teresa’s suggestion: look at what approaches failed and what fixes were applied to achieve success. Let’s face it, there are no formulas for building or leveraging a community, because business goals and the community itself changes from case to case.
Which leads me to Olivier’s point: You can’t validate what you can’t measure. He’s 100% right. For any case study about social media to be legitimate, it has to explain up front the metric by which success was measured. If anything, social media analytics need case studies most of all.
I agree that case studies often lose something when they’re strictly promotional. However, like a lot of media, the practical value of case studies shouldn’t be judged solely on the worse-case applications of them.
There’s definitely a need for case studies on social media – not to promote it as a panacea, or as a cookie-cutter formula. And certainly not as a testimonial. Instead, case studies should provide a template for best practices, as measured by what delivered demonstrably measurable results.
Also, rather than offering answers applicable to only one company, a good social media case study should illustrate the strategic questions that the company asked going in. It should illustrate how to approach the task of applying social media, not just the benefits.
So, I think there’s room for Teresa’s suggestion: look at what approaches failed and what fixes were applied to achieve success. Let’s face it, there are no formulas for building or leveraging a community, because business goals and the community itself changes from case to case.
Which leads me to Olivier’s point: You can’t validate what you can’t measure. He’s 100% right. For any case study about social media to be legitimate, it has to explain up front the metric by which success was measured. If anything, social media analytics need case studies most of all.
Amber, great post on this topic. Way too many people assume that case studies are the end-all be-all of whatever topic is currently “hot.” But what if you’re the first one to try that? Perhaps if everything you do needs to be backed up by a case study, you should evaluate whether or not its time to take a risk. Why let everyone else be a trailblazer and you’re always playing catch up?
Amber, great post on this topic. Way too many people assume that case studies are the end-all be-all of whatever topic is currently “hot.” But what if you’re the first one to try that? Perhaps if everything you do needs to be backed up by a case study, you should evaluate whether or not its time to take a risk. Why let everyone else be a trailblazer and you’re always playing catch up?