This is a guest post from Chris Lee, founder and managing director of PR and social media consultancy, Planet Content, and founder/editor of DIY PR and marketing blog RunMarketing.

Are you proud of what you have achieved for your customers and clients? Can you prove tangible benefits and returns on investment that really illustrate what your company does best? If you can, then this is where case studies come into play.

Publications love the “proof in the pudding” – real-life examples of where companies have used a product or service which has had a demonstrable effect on their business. Could you gain approval from a customer and draft an 800-word account on how you helped it operate more efficiently?

If you could, then this is how a customer case study – or ‘customer evidence’, to our friends across the pond – should be constructed:

Title: Hard-hitting, catching title outlining the crux of the case study in a single line (particularly benefits) – e.g. “Company X saves Company Y £X million a year with product Z”

Subtitle: Add some more quantifiable facts about the customer case study – time savings, staff efficiency etc

Introduction: You have a single paragraph with which to capture the audience and encourage them to read on, so make sure your opening paragraph is tightly written and neatly summarises all the key financial, time and efficiency benefits.

Detail: Under orderly sub-headings you should now go into further details outlining:

• The existing problem
• What your company proposed
• Was the contract put out to tender? If so, what did you do that stood out to win it?
• What challenges did you overcome, be they physical, financial, cultural etc?
• What you did in practice and more on how benefits were achieved
• What was the customer feedback? Include a customer quote
• Conclusion – include a quote from your own MD, CEO or project manager

Try to keep it to around 800 words, use images and regularly deploy sub-headings to retain reader interest. Don’t forget to get permission from the customer to write the case study before you start drafting and run it by the customer’s marketing team to make amends and approve the final draft. They might not let you disclose everything, but highlight the benefits for them – free publicity, for one!

Also, keep the hyperbole to a minimum. Nothing turns people off more than sales spiel, so speak plain English and drop words like “market-leading” and “solution”.

Spread your wings

You could pitch the case study to a local publication, or vertical media outlet, depending on your target audience and the strength of the case study or customer brand. You could also build a page especially for case studies on your company website. If so, don’t forget to make sure that the text is optimised for your company’s keywords to help potential customers find you online.

Also, don’t forget to plug it on social media channels. Tweet the link to your website, or why not post it on Slideshare.net?

Here are some examples of customer case studies from corporations such as Xerox, Microsoft and Virgin Media Business. They vary greatly in style and format, from video to basic pdf.

If you’re worried that you’ve not got the right time or skills resources in-house to generate customer case studies then seek out a professional writer, it will pay off for you.