case study market share

21 market sizing questions with answers (McKinsey, BCG, etc.)

If you’re preparing for a case interview at McKinsey, BCG, Bain, or another top consulting firm, you can expect to face a market sizing question. This could be something like “What’s the market size for take-away coffee in this country?” or “How many bottles of wine are sold in the U.S. every year?” 

The best way to get the hang of these questions is to practise them. To save you hours of research, we’ve collected 21 typical market sizing questions with good quality solutions and listed them below.

Here’s an overview of what we’ll cover:

• What are market sizing questions?
• How to prepare for market sizing questions

Click here to practise 1-on-1 with MBB ex-interviewers

1. what are market sizing questions.

Market sizing questions are typically asked at the beginning of consulting case interviews. They require you to perform rough calculations in order to estimate the size of a particular market without having any data available.

There are two types of market sizing questions. Most commonly, you'll be asked to estimate the value of a market - that is, to calculate its annual revenue. The market could be anything, from soft drinks to ping pong balls, and you’ll need to give an estimate of its annual worth (e.g £5 billion).

Alternatively, you may be asked to estimate the volume of a market - that is, to calculate the number of units sold (e.g 5 billion ping pong balls).

1.1 Why do companies ask market sizing questions?

Consulting firms tend to ask market sizing questions for two main reasons:

Firstly, it gives the interviewer the chance to see whether the candidate's basic mathematical and problem-solving skills are of a good standard, and whether they can use them quickly and logically in a pressure situation.

Secondly, consultants will often need to provide “guesstimates” and ball-park figures of market size while they’re talking to clients, be it on strategy cases or due diligence cases. Thus the ability to do a quick back of the envelope calculation, perhaps during or just before a client meeting, is of real practical value.

So, let’s take a look at some examples.

2. 21 market sizing questions and solutions

We’ve researched through the questions and solutions available online, and we’ve listed the best ones here for you, including links to video and written resources.

2.1 Medium-level questions

There's a whole list of examples below, but first let's work though an example together so that you can see how we recommend approaching a market sizing question.

2.1.1  How many t-shirts are purchased in New York City in a given year?

We always recommend using a  4-step framework.

Step 1: Ask clarification questions

Market sizing questions are usually ambiguous. Make sure you’re calculating the right numbers before you start. This also buys you some thinking time. You could ask:

• “Does this include NYC only (8m) or the greater metropolitan area (20m)?" 
• "Does 'shirts purchased' mean just in-store? Would an online purchase by someone in New York using a provider outside NYC count?"
• "Does this include sportswear, or is it restricted to regular-use t-shirts?”

Let’s imagine that in this case, the interviewer says they’re interested in NYC only. They clarify that online purchases can be included as long as the buyer is in NYC at the time of purchase, and that sportswear should be excluded.

Step 2: Map out your calculations

We always recommend telling your interviewer your approach to the problem before you start making calculations.  You could lay out these five steps:

• Estimate the population of NYC.
• Estimate the number of t-shirts the average man in NYC buys each year.
• Estimate the number of t-shirts the average woman in NYC buys each year.
• Adjust estimates for age group differences.
• Find average and multiply by population of NYC.

Hopefully the interviewer is on board with your approach, so you can get started.

Step 3. Round numbers and calculate

Calculation step 1: Estimate the population of NYC .

Let's imagine that you live in London. You know that London has about 8m inhabitants, and you think that NYC must be fairly similar.

Estimate: 8 million

New York is a fashion capital in a world of fast-fashion, and also a relatively wealthy city where people have disposable income for clothes shopping. These factors will push your estimates up.

Now, onto the trickier estimates. If you’re a man, start with men so you can use yourself as a base of reference. If you’re a woman, vice-versa. For argument's sake, let's say you're a man.

Calculation step 2: Estimate the number of t-shirts the average man in NYC buys each year.

You can tell the interviewer that here you're using personal experience to make assumptions. Let's imagine that tees are your main item of clothing and you buy around 4 per year. You might say that you think this might be a bit under the NYC average, as you’re not interested in fashion and don’t have much time for shopping. Also, you want to count t-shirts given to men by someone else (their partners, for instance), and so this increases your estimate slightly.

Estimate: 5 t-shirts per year.

Calculation step 3. Estimate the number of t-shirts the average woman in NYC buys each year.

Let's imagine that, drawing from personal experience, your perception is that women don’t wear t-shirts as often as men, but then again they tend to buy more clothes than men. You consider that they may also buy a lot of clothes for men, but as you've already mentioned, you counted these in the male estimate.

Estimate: 3 t-shirts per year.

Calculation step 4. Adjust estimates for age group differences.

You may want to consider children differently, because children go through a lot of clothes as they grow, make a mess of them, etc. However, you could also factor in that children often wear a lot of passed-on clothing (from siblings, etc). You could conclude that these factors balance each other out, and so 3 for girls and 5 for boys seems about right to you.

Calculation step 5: Find average and multiply by population of NYC.

Clearly, the average of 5 and 3 =  4.

4 x 8 million = 32 million.

Step 4. Sense check your results

Your calculations have been fairly simple, so there shouldn’t be any surprises. 32 million t-shirts sold per year in a population of 8 million? It seems reasonable.

You can give the interviewer your final answer:

Total number of t-shirts sold in NYC each year: 32 million

Now you've seen how to approach this type of question, have a go at the ones below.

2.1.2 Provide an estimate for the number of dentists currently working in the UK

2.1.3 Estimate the market size for sofas in the UK

How did you get on? We've listed some more helpful examples below.

2.1.4 More medium-level questions

• How many bottles of wine are sold in the US every year? ( video solution)
• Estimate the size of the European shoe market ( video solution from 07'22) 
• What is the market size for cars in the USA? ( video solution from 00'48)
• Estimate the market size for televisions in Poland ( video solution )
• How big is the golf club market in New York? ( written solution , scroll down a bit)
• What is the market for a coffee shop in Cambridge, England? (Bain: written solution )
• What’s the market size for take-away coffee in Paris? ( written solution )
• What is the market size for smartphones in Germany? ( written solution , scroll to section 2)
• How many bars of chocolate are sold in the US each year? ( pg 34 of book preview )
• How many coffins are sold in Los Angeles (USA) each year? ( pg 43 of book preview )

Remember, there is often more than one valid way of approaching a market sizing question, so if your solution is different to the ones we've linked to, it doesn't necessarily mean it's wrong. However, it is worth learning an approach that works and sticking to it.

2.2 Hard questions

You can't predict how difficult your market sizing question will be, and so you should be prepared for it to be a little bit more complex. Let's apply our   4-step framework   to a slightly trickier question.

2.2.1  Calculate the market size for weddings in the UK

Make sure of the actual number you need to calculate. You could ask the interviewer:

• “Are we talking volume (number of weddings) or value (amount spent on weddings)?"
• "If we’re talking value, do you want to take into account linked expenditure - stag and hen parties, engagement rings, etc - or are we just focusing on the cost of the actual wedding day itself?"
• “Are we including guest expenditure, or just how much the wedding day costs the hosts?”

The interviewer tells you that they want the total direct spend on the wedding day, including guest spending at the venue. They’re not interested in related spend such as hen parties and guest transport, etc.

Right, now you’re ready for the next step.

Here you could explain to the interviewer that you're going to do some segmentation. Why? Because although people can get married at any adult age, there is a huge difference in marriage rate between age groups.

To keep it simple, you could segment the population into age groups spanning 20 yo, and assume even population distribution across those. You can estimate the % of each segment to get married in a year, thus finding the total people getting married in the UK.

• Segment population and estimate % of each that will marry in a given year.
• Use % to calculate number of people estimated to marry in each segment, and add together to find total number of people marrying.
• Two people marry at each wedding, so we’ll halve the number of people marrying to find the number of weddings. 
• Estimate cost per wedding by estimating host spend and guest spend and adding together.
• Multiply total spend per wedding by the total number of weddings to find the market size.

You lay out this approach to the interviewer and hopefully they’re on board with it, so you can start calculating.

Step 3: Round numbers and calculate

Calculation step 1: Segment population and estimate % of each that will marry in a given year

If you've memorised your   cheat sheet , you know the UK population is roughly 70m. 

0-20 years - 17m (rounded from 17.5)

20-40 years- 17m

40-60 years - 17m

60-80+ years - 17m

You could tell the interviewer that you’re going to make some assumptions based on personal experience of living in the UK. (If you're from another country, base it on your own experience and adapt. E.g. if you're from the US you’ll decrease the percentages a little because you know that the UK is less religious than the US and therefore marriage rates should be lower.)

• 0-20 years: Most of this age group is below the legal age of marriage and even at legal age, it’s fairly rare for people to get married before 20 in the UK. You might calculate that it’s less than 1 in 100 - let’s say 0.5%.

So, 17m /100 = 170k / 2 =  85k. You round this to 90k.

• 20-40 years: You estimate that you have around 100 friends and relatives that you're on reasonably close terms with and probably just over half of these are in the 20-40 age group. You say that you tend to be invited to two weddings a year, with one of the newly weds coming from outside this pool:  you estimate that 3 people out of 60 in this age group marry each year -  that’s 5%. 

You already know that 0.5% is 90k. So you multiply by 10 to get to 5% =  900k.

• 40-60 years: You estimate that weddings in this age group are around one third as common as the 20-40 segment, perhaps a little more due to second marriages. You call it 2%.

90k x 4 = 360k

• 60-80 years: Probably not as rare as the first segment, given that all ages are applicable, but still fairly rare. You estimate 1%.

90k x 2 = 180k

Calculation step 2: Use % to calculate the number of people estimated to marry in each segment, and add together to find total number of people marrying.

TOTAL: 90k + 900k + 360k + 180k = 1.530m people getting married. You round it to 1.5m

Calculation step 3: Two people marry at each wedding, so you halve the number of people marrying to find the number of weddings. 

Divide 1.5m / 2  = 750k weddings per year.

Total number of weddings in the UK each year: 750k.

Calculation step 4: Estimate cost per wedding by estimating host spend and guest spend and adding them together.

You could tell the interviewer that from what you’ve heard in the media, the average wedding in the UK costs the hosts £20k.

You need to add guest expenditure. Estimating 70 guests at each wedding, you estimate an average spend of £30. 70 x 30 = £2.1k per wedding, rounding it to £2k.

So, total direct costs of the average wedding comes to 22k.

Calculation step 5: Multiply total spend per wedding by the total number of weddings = market size.

22k x 750k =   16.5 billion

Step four: Sense-check your results

It’s hard to have much sense of how many billions weddings should be worth. Instead, let’s check the calculation before that - the number of weddings in the UK:

750K weddings per year in a population of 70 million people, does that sound right?

Yes, it’s roughly 2% (1% doubled for the two people marrying) of the population marrying each year, which seems reasonable.

You confirm to the interviewer your estimate:

Total market size of weddings in the UK:   £16.5billion

In fact, you’re a little over. The current market size for UK weddings is around $9 billion, with fewer weddings than you estimated. But the interviewer will be evaluating you more on the logic of the thought process than on how close your final result is to the real one. 

Right, let's take a look at some more questions.

2.2.2 Calculate the market size for medical consumables in GP practices (solution from 01'12)

2.2.3 Estimate how many women in the USA play golf

(alternative answer: here )

• Estimate how many women in the USA play golf (solution from 04'45)

2.2.4 Calculate the adult disposable diaper market in the USA

2.2.5 More hard questions

• How many petrol stations are there in the UK? ( video solution from 06'16)
• What’s the market size for residential light bulbs in the US? ( written solution )
• What is the total number of automobile tires sold in the US every year? (written solution)
• What is the size of the sandwich market in India? ( written solution , scroll down halfway)

The 21 questions we've included in this article should be a great resource for you when you need to practise market sizing questions. But what else should you be doing to prepare for them?  Let's take a look.

3. How to prepare for market sizing questions

The questions and calculations we’ve gone through here aren’t rocket science, but they require a calm head and can be tricky to pull off smoothly in a high-pressure situation. And of course, they’re even trickier if you’re not used to answering them!

However, if you prepare using the simple steps below, you should put yourself in a great position to crack them. Here we go:

3.1 Learn a framework

Having a framework will help you structure your answer logically and minimize your potential for mistakes. We recommend using the framework we laid out in the two solutions we walked you through above. See it in more detail in our ultimate guide to market sizing.

3.2 Memorise some basic data

Market sizing questions are not general knowledge or "lucky guess" tests, and you’re not expected to be able to quote all sorts of population demographics and industry stats.

That said, to make a good impression, we recommend brushing up on some basic facts such as the rough population of the country you’re interviewing in. In our ultimate guide to market sizing, we've put the most important data all together for you in a cheat sheet.

3.3 Practise on your own

Once you’ve learned the framework, we recommend answering lots of questions until the approach starts to come naturally. The question list in section 2 above is, as far as we can tell, the best resource available in terms of lists of questions and solutions.

We also recommend talking through your calculations out loud. This may sound strange, but it will help you be more methodical and will significantly improve the way you communicate your calculations during an interview.

3.4 Practise with experts

Of course, it's impossible to replicate a consulting case interview situation on your own. Practising with friends can really help , but if you really want the best possible preparation for personal experience interview questions, you'll also want to work with ex-consultants who have experience running interviews at McKinsey, Bain, BCG, etc.

If you know anyone who fits that description, fantastic! But for most of us, it's tough to find the right connections to make this happen. And it might also be difficult to practice multiple hours with that person unless you know them really well.

Here's the good news. We've already made the connections for you. We’ve created a coaching service where you can do mock interviews 1-on-1 with ex-interviewers from MBB firms. Learn more and start scheduling sessions today.

Related articles:

Case Interview Types: Master Common Ones Before Your Interview

• Last Updated January, 2024

Rebecca Smith-Allen

Former McKinsey Engagement Manager

On Case Study Preparation , we described what a case interview question is and how you should approach answering one. You can think about that page as your Consulting Case Interview 101 course.

But if we could tell you how to ace your consulting case interview in just one page, Bain, BCG, McKinsey, and other top consulting firms would give out a lot more offers than they do every year.

On this page, we discuss the most common types of case study interview questions . We’ll take your understanding of how to answer these to the next level by outlining the key issues to consider when structuring your answer.

Let’s get started!

Here are the types of cases you might come across during your case interview :

• Profitability Cases 1.1 Profit Optimization 1.2 Revenue Growth 1.3 Pricing Optimization 1.4 Market Entry 1.5 M&A 1.6 Cost Optimization 1.7 Startup / Early-Stage Venture
• Non-Profitability Cases 2.1   Lives Affected 2.2 Retention 2.3 Industry Landscape and Competitive Dynamics
• Market Sizing Questions (also called dinner conversation cases)
• Case Interview Math (also known as consulting math) 4.1 Consulting Math Example 4.2 Summary of Key Things to Remember on Consulting Math Questions

How To Make the Most of Case Interview Practice Time

Help with case study interview preparation.

Nail the case & fit interview with strategies from former MBB Interviewers that have helped 89.6% of our clients pass the case interview.

Profitability Cases

On this page , we discussed case interview  frameworks   that can help you structure your answers to case study interview questions, we introduced the profitability equation. It’s 1 of 2 basic business frameworks you can use to answer any type of case question. 

This formula can help ensure you address all the key aspects of straightforward profitability cases like the following:

A sports apparel retailer has experienced declining sales in its stores over the past year and declining profits. How would you recommend they address their profitability problem?

A cell phone manufacturer is experiencing declining profitability despite strong sales. What should they do to improve their bottom line?

For more detail on the components in this formula and an example of how to use it to solve a case interview question, see our  Case Interview Frameworks  page . Below, we’ll discuss types of profitability problems that go beyond the basics.

Profit Optimization

Perhaps a company is profitable… just not profitable enough . 

Maybe its margins are lower than those of an industry rival. 

Maybe they’ve dipped below its own prior-year performance. 

Perhaps management sees an opportunity to launch a new product, leapfrogging the competition, but needs to generate more cash to invest in development. 

Any of these can be reasons to improve the performance of an already profitable company. 

Sample questions:

A nationwide fast-food chain failed to meet Wall Street expectations on its latest investor call and as a result, its stock price fell significantly. Management wants help identifying opportunities to improve the bottom line.

The CEO of a regional hospital chain is concerned that his company’s profitability is half that of the market leader. How can the company grow its net income?

Use the Profitability Equation

In structuring your analysis of a profit optimization case, you should touch on all 4 components of the profitability equation to understand what the company is doing well and where things have taken a turn for the worse. 

But the underlying problem in this type of case may be more subtle than in a basic profitability question. 

Instead of a big jump in costs or the loss of a large customer wiping out a significant chunk of revenue, the company may be experiencing a couple of small problems that add up to bad news for the bottom line. 

Benchmark Relative to Competition of Past Performance

For example, if our client is a TV manufacturer and we find out that our cost of producing a TV has increased overtime while our prices have remained the same, we can see that rising costs is the reason for our profits declining. 

To turn around the situation, we could look into what the competition is doing to reduce costs. For example, if a competitor is sourcing the same materials as us but from a cheaper supplier, we want to see if we can lower our cost by sourcing from the same supplier.

Benchmark One Business Segment to Another

Another way consultants benchmark performance on revenue and cost levers is by comparing the performance in one business segment or type of end-customer to another . 

Continuing with our TV manufacturing example, we might find that the client has seen costs rise on components in its high-end models but remain constant for its low-end models. 

We can look into what is being done differently in the low-end product group: low-cost sourcing, process improvement, etc. to find opportunities to improve the cost position in the high-end segment.

Use Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

The company may also need more disciplined business processes and a system for measuring key performance indicators . 

Our TV manufacturer might institute a system for measuring cost per unit on a weekly or monthly basis in order to ensure they have an early warning system to monitor if costs are getting out of line.

To go with these KPIs, a regular process for reviewing the costs and taking necessary action could be instituted. Disciplined processes and performance indicators will help to fine-tune operations over time, taking them from good to best-in-class.

Key concepts to consider when addressing a profit optimization case:

The profitability equation including all its components,

• Benchmarks of cost and/or revenue relative to best-in-class competition and prior year performance.  
• Benchmark the company’s performance segmented by product or type of customer .
• Opportunities for business process improvement and key performance indicators that will allow management to monitor profitability more closely. 

Revenue Growth

Revenue growth case questions focus on companies that, while already profitable, still want to grow. 

They can do this by increasing market share, by selling their existing products to new markets, by selling new products to their existing customers, or by pursuing a combination of these opportunities. 

They can also capture more revenue by increasing prices.

A national chain of fitness centers wants to leverage its brand equity by selling additional products and services to its client base. What incremental products and services can profitably grow revenue?

The president of a printer and ink manufacturer thinks there is an opportunity to provide after-sale service to its customer base. What might be the impact on revenue from entering this market?

Capture Additional Market Share

As its name suggests, this type of case study focuses on the first half of the profitability equation — revenue = price x quantity of units sold. in examining units sold, you should consider the company’s ability to capture additional market share for existing products in the markets it already serves. , what is the company’s current share of the market that of its largest competitor what would it take to capture additional share product improvements a shift in marketing and promotion.

If a chain of fitness centers was our client, for example, we’d look at whether the primary competition was 1 or 2 large chains or a number of small, single-location gyms and tailor our strategy to increase market share accordingly. 

If the competition was single-location gyms, we could promote flexibility for members to use our facilities in multiple locations to bring in new customers. We could also leverage the client’s greater size to outspend the small gyms on advertising.

Branch into New Products or Markets

Also, consider the new products and/or markets the company could branch into . What products do competitors sell that the company doesn’t? Does the company have capabilities that would help them  succeed in other markets?

Our fitness center client could consider selling new products like fitness apparel or vitamins. They could expand into new markets, such as towns and cities adjacent to ones currently served.

Offer Services to Existing Customers

In addition, consider  services that can be sold to existing customers . Post-sales support for equipment, for example. Or consumables used with their products, like ink for a printer manufacturer. Our fitness center client could look into providing personal fitness coaching services to members.

Review Pricing

Lastly, consider the company’s  flexibility to raise prices . Where do their prices stand relative to competitive products or services? Do their products or services have higher quality or value-added capabilities that would command a higher price?

For more examples of revenue growth case interviews, see our  Revenue Growth Case article. 

Pricing Optimization

A company must have a solid product or service offering to be able to take a price increase without seeing a significant loss of sales to competitors. 

If their products or services are strong, then optimizing price can be an important lever to grow revenue.

A manufacturer of kitchen knives sells a range of products, from low-end to professional, to customers at different price points. They’ve developed a new line of knives in collaboration with a celebrity chef and would like help setting the prices for these products.

The airline industry has experienced significant changes in its pricing model over the past few years, with some airlines charging separately for checked baggage, meals, and beverages. A global carrier has asked us to help optimize the pricing of the additional services it provides to customers who fly with them.

Elasticity of Demand

When prices rise, demand for a product goes down and when prices fall, demand rises. You’ll remember this from Economics 101, or perhaps just from common sense. Pricing optimization is all about how much . 

If you can raise prices with demand going down just a little, you can improve a company’s revenues by raising price. If a change in price has a big impact on demand, then raising price could be a big mistake.

The term for this is Price Elasticity of Demand . If demand for a product or service changes a lot in response to a change in price, it’s said to have price elasticity. Products with many substitutes or ones that consumers can easily do without are the most sensitive to price changes. 

For example, if McDonald’s raised the price of the Big Mac, more customers might go to Burger King, Taco Bell, or just eat lunch at home. McDonald’s hamburger sales would fall dramatically.

Substitutes

For some products, demand is relatively insensitive to changes in price. This can be the case for luxury goods, for products that have few substitutes , or for when there are large switching costs. When the cost of home heating oil rises, some customers consider switching to natural gas to heat their homes. But if doing so will require buying a new furnace to run on gas or paying for pipes from their house to the gas distribution network, they won’t make the change unless the change in price is dramatic and/or expected to persist for a number of years. 

3 Methods for Setting Prices

Competitive-based pricing — Setting prices based on the prices of other similar products in the market. This is the simplest method for setting prices. Companies who use competitive-based pricing are price takers.

Cost-based pricing —Setting prices as a function of the cost to provide a good or service plus a profit margin. Cost alone can’t be used to set pricing because if a company’s costs are out of line with its competitors, it may price itself out of the market.

Value-based pricing — Setting prices based on the value provided to customers. Luxury goods are priced well above the cost of their production because customers of these products value association with the prestigious image the product conveys. Products that provide significant value to customers in terms of saving time or providing features not found in other products can be priced higher because they are worth more to customers.

Value-based pricing the best pricing method but it can only be used for products and services that are sufficiently differentiated in the eyes of the customer that they will not change their buying behavior in response to higher prices.

Market Entry

Significant start-up costs will be incurred to develop and manufacture a new product, to launch the marketing campaign, or to build the sales force needed to find customers. 

To ensure that spending money on start-up costs are worthwhile, due diligence needs to be done to estimate the size of the market being considered and the cost of successfully entering it.

A teen fashion retailer has seen its sales boom in the North American market for the past 5 years. They’re considering expansion into international markets. They’d like help identifying which markets provide the best opportunities for their line of clothing.

A not-for-profit organization has been successful at hiring the long-term unemployed to manufacturer furniture made from pallets and other recycled items. They’ve not only designed and created beautiful pieces of indoor and outdoor furniture, but also helped to improve the lives of individuals in one city. They’d like to expand to other products and potentially to other cities and have asked for our help in assessing their options.

There are  4 parts to any market entry case : market size, market attractiveness, costs of entry and capabilities required. Let’s look at each.

Market size

Market sizing is sometimes used as a case interview question on its own. See below for more details . It’s also usually the first part of a market entry case. It addresses how large a market is in terms of annual revenue, number of units sold, or both. The underlying issue is whether there is enough opportunity in a market to make it worth the up-front cost.

To determine whether the amount of sales revenue or unit volume is “enough,” estimate the size of the market based on the information provided by your interviewer or by using factors you can reasonably estimate about the market. You can then consider profit margins and what portion of the market the company must capture to break even.

Market attractiveness

The market a company is thinking about entering may be huge, but it can still be unattractive. Key questions include: What is the profit margin for companies already in the market?  What does the competition in the market look like? Large firms with huge marketing budgets or small companies? 

Costs of entry

Will new technology, equipment, sales staff, or something else be required to succeed in the new market? If so, what will it cost? The greater the investment required to enter a market, the more difficult it will be to recoup the initial investment.

Capabilities

Does the firm being discussed have what it takes to succeed in the new market? In some markets, the key to success is marketing expertise and distribution. In others, it’s low costs and disciplined business processes. Identify the key attributes of success in the market and whether the company possesses those attributes.

To learn how you can structure and break down a case such as these, visit the  Case Interview Frameworks  page can help you think through important factors in this type of consulting case interview question.

Above, we looked at how to analyze a market entry case. 

If a market is attractive but the client does not have all the capabilities required to succeed in it, it may decide to buy the right capabilities through a merger or acquisition (M&A). 

They could also consider M&A opportunities if they need to enter the market fast rather than build capabilities over time.

The number 3 competitor in the cellular phone services market is at a disadvantage relative to its larger competitors. Providing cellular phone service has high fixed costs—for the equipment that transmits calls, the retail stores that sell phones and provide in-person customer support, and the marketing spend that is key to customer attraction and retention. The CEO is considering acquiring a smaller competitor in order to gain market share. He would like our help thinking through this decision.

The president of a national drug-store chain is considering acquiring a large, national health insurance provider. The merger would combine one company’s network of pharmacies and pharmacy management business with the health insurance operations of the other, vertically integrating the companies. He would like our help analyzing the potential benefits to customers and shareholders.

When you get this type of case, ask your interviewer why the company is considering the merger or acquisition. They may provide key information on the size and attractiveness of the market the target company is in. Assuming the target company is in a large, attractive market and has the critical capabilities required to succeed in that market, then you should consider whether it is better to build the new business internally or undertake a merger or acquisition. 

If two companies are considering a merger, they still have to persuade their shareholders that the 2 companies would be more valuable working together than on their own. The value the companies can create by working together is called  synergy .

Synergies from a merger or acquisition can be on the cost side, the revenue side, or both. Cost synergies include leveraging fixed costs across more business or cutting costs duplicated in both firms’ operations. Revenue side synergies include selling a broader range of products through the existing sales force or distribution channel. 

The synergies created by the merger or acquisition must be greater than the premium that must be paid to secure the deal in order for the transaction to make sense.

Integration

Mergers and acquisitions are large and complicated transactions. They require  integrating  the talent, systems, policies, and processes of the 2 organizations. Synergies that look good on PowerPoint slides do not always accrue in real life. In addition, key employees may quit during the disruption and uncertainty the M&A activity causes. Even if substantial synergies are identified, a company should consider whether it can successfully undertake the integration.

Regulatory Approval

Lastly, mergers of large companies in regulated markets (financial services, telecommunications) and concentrated markets (ones with only a few large competitors) can require government approval . The possibility of the government blocking the merger or acquisition should be considered in this type of case.

Cost Optimization

A top-3 home improvement retailer has seen price increases from several of its vendors, squeezing its bottom line. The company wants to know how it can cut costs to restore its margins to their previous levels.

The head of an automobile manufacturer has seen its production costs rise over the last several years. She wants your help in turning around this trend.

The most important thing to understand when addressing this type of case is what is going on with fixed costs and variable costs . The costs can be broken down and compared to competitors’ costs or costs in prior years to identify opportunities for improvement.

As a reminder, here are the definitions of fixed and variable costs:

Fixed Costs

Costs that you incur just because you are in business regardless of how many units you sell. Examples: factory rent, equipment depreciation, compensation for salaried employees, and property taxes. A way to think about fixed costs is that a cost that does not change over the short-term, even if a business experiences increases or decreases in its sales volume.

Variable Costs

Costs that only incur when you begin to produce units (if you sell nothing you have no variable costs). Examples: sales commissions, credit card transaction costs, and sales taxes. A way to think about variable costs is that a cost that does change over the short-term. More sales volume will mean more variable costs.

Startup / Early-Stage Venture

Startup and early-stage venture cases have some similarities to market entry cases. 

Ensuring that the market the company is going after is big enough and has high enough margins to be attractive is important, as is understanding their competition. 

Startups are small, nimble companies with only a handful of key employees and limited access to cash. These factors need to be taken into account.

A student from Iceland studying in the U.S. has determined there’s a big opportunity to bring Icelandic-style yogurt to this market. How would you recommend he proceed?

A software company has developed video technology that can be used to quickly and easily create short videos that can be sent to a colleague in place of typing a long email. This disruptive technology will take advantage of the cameras built into cell phones and laptops as well as consumers’ preference for watching a video rather than reading text. The company has a small number of beta customers and is looking for advice on how to ramp up their product to attract a wider audience.

When answering this type of case, focus on the key things that help these small, fast-growth ventures move with agility as they search for the product and business model that will attract customers and investors. 

The Right People

They need the right people —ones with product savvy, marketing savvy and investor savvy to make it. 

A Minimum Viable Product

They need a minimum viable product . This is an initial version of their product offering that will attract paying customers, allowing them earn money and to collect feedback that can be used to improve the product. It will also serve as a proof-of-concept to investors. 

A Business Plan

Start-up and early stage venture also need an initial business plan addressing how they will bring their product to market.

Non-Profitability Cases

Some might focus on charitable organization. Others might focus on businesses issues that don’t relate directly to profits, such as employee retention or understanding the competitive dynamics in an industry. 

An overview of how to approach non-profitability cases is found on this page .

This section focuses on key concepts to address in a few common types of non-profitability cases.

Lives Affected

Government agencies and charitable organizations don’t aim to maximize profits. Nonetheless, they do important work that affects many lives. 

They might hire a consulting company to help them improve their effectiveness, or a consulting firm might take on an important project for a charitable organization on a pro-bono basis. 

The state agency that administers the free summer lunch program for children of families under a certain income threshold wants to increase the reach of its program. How would you advise they approach this? 

Malaria is a devastating disease, affecting hundreds of millions of individuals each year. It’s transferred to humans by mosquitoes, with most of the cases occurring in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Though drugs to treat the disease exist, many in the affected regions don’t have access to or can’t afford these drugs. The disease is a strain on the economies of several nations, perpetuating the cycle of poverty. What can be done to alleviate this disease and its adverse economic effects?

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

A detailed example of how to approach a lives affected case is provided  here .  As discussed in that case, the key to answering this type of question is to find the key performance indicator (KPI) the organization is trying to improve. In the case of the first sample question above, this is the number of free lunches served to needy children. 

Benchmarking

Once you’ve established the KPI, the case can be answered in the same way you’d answer any case question on business improvement. You can benchmark the organization’s performance by looking at trends in the KPI over time or comparing the growth of the organization’s KPI to that of other organizations serving the same target population to assess whether the agency is doing a good job meeting their mandate or falling behind. If they are falling behind, drill down into the factors that might be causing them to do so.

Cases focused on employee retention are not directly about profits, though the loss of key skills when employees depart and the cost of training new hires require hurts the profitability of organizations with high turnover. 

A fast-food chain is experiencing an increase in the already-high rate of employee turnover typical in its industry. It’s also experiencing trouble attracting qualified new employees. What would you suggest?

The school system in a middle-class suburban town is experiencing higher-than-normal rates of teacher attrition. With a tight budget, they are unable to simply raise salaries to hold onto experienced teachers. What options does the school system have for increasing teacher retention?

Conducting retention interviews —interviews with departing employees to find out why they’re leaving the organization—is a standard practice in most organizations. Because of this, there should be data available on what employees like about their jobs, don’t like about their jobs, why they looked for new opportunities and what new job they’re taking. Ask your interviewer for this information, as well as survey data on the job satisfaction of all employees. It can be used to develop a multi-pronged approach to improving employee retention.

• Look for opportunities to enhance aspects of the job that appeal to employees and change the negative aspects of working for the organization. For instance: What about the job is appealing? 
• Do employees see the work of the organization positively impacting the broader community? 
• Do employees like their colleagues, recognition they receive from management, the financial package provided? 

Industry Landscape and Competitive Dynamics

Cases focused on the landscape of an industry and its competitive dynamics are about the big-picture strategic issues that must be taken into account to compete effectively in that industry.

The traditional newspaper industry is facing heavy pressure from free online news organizations that don’t face the cost of printing a traditional newspaper and are able to leverage Internet ads as a source of revenue. The publisher of an award-winning regional paper would like your help in assessing and responding to this new threat.

The food and beverage industry faces disruption to their traditional brands as organic and small-batch products gain favor with consumers. How should companies in this industry respond to this new of competitive threat?

When analyzing this kind of case, first look for what is changing in the industry —consumer preferences, brand loyalty, barriers to entering the market, regulation, the industry’s cost structure, etc. Ensure you know what the source of change is before you begin to look for a strategy to help the client succeed in the new marketplace. 

For tips on structuring a case like these, visit the  Business Frameworks page . SWOT analysis and other frameworks include some factors to consider in this type of consulting case interview question.

Market Sizing Questions (Also Called Dinner Conversation Cases)

Market sizing cases are focused on establishing the size of a market in terms of annual revenue or the number of units sold rather than determining how to compete successfully in the market. 

Consulting firms often ask market sizing questions early in the consulting interview process or in interviews of undergraduate students who may not have a deep business background. 

They can also be one component of complicated, multi-step cases in later-round interviews. Market sizing questions focus on making logical estimates, showing creativity, and doing basic math.  

What is the size of the market for organic toothpaste in the United States?

How many golf balls would fit inside the Empire State building?

What Are Consulting Interviewers Looking for on Market Sizing Cases?

With case interview questions of this type, you’re not expected to know the answer, but instead to show a logical way of deducing it. Committing a few key facts to memory would serve you well. For example, knowing the population of the United States (or the country you live in) would give you a good place to start as you think through the size of the market for various retail goods. Gross domestic product can help with sizing industrial markets.

Key Statistics to Know for Market Sizing Case Questions:

The Population of the United States 2019 – 329 million according to the US Census Bureau .

World population in 2015 – 7.4 billion according to the United Nations DESA / Populations Division .

2018 Gross Domestic Product of the United States – $20.5 trillion according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the U.S. Department of Commerce .

Statistics like these give you a good foundation to start your market size analysis. For instance, you could begin estimating the size of the U.S. market for organic toothpaste with the US population. From there, make logical assumptions:

• How many times a day does the average American brushes their teeth?
• How many toothpaste applications are in the average tube of toothpaste?
• How much does the average tube of toothpaste cost?

These assumptions will allow you to calculate the size of the overall toothpaste market in terms of annual revenue. To get to the annual revenue of organic toothpaste you’ll also need to estimate:

• What portion of toothpaste consumers prefers organic toothpaste?

You can (and should) bring paper and a pen into consulting interviews. Use these to keep track of your assumptions as you work through them and to do the basic math required to come to a conclusion.

 Our Market Sizing Questions article has a list of the 7 steps to answering this type of question.

Key Things to Remember When Answering a Market Sizing Question:

• Ask clarifying questions. Does the interviewer want the market size in terms of dollars or units? For the United States, North America, the world?
• Use round numbers for simplicity. For instance, using $20 trillion for U.S. GDP rather than $20.5 would be fine.
• Creativity in your approach to approximating the market is important, but so is good sense. Don’t be so creative that your answer lacks credibility.
• Practice case math so you can do it quickly and correctly even under the stress of an interview.
• Give your answer a sniff-test at the end. Does it make sense? This will both show that you are careful in your analysis and give you the chance to fix an arithmetic mistake if you find you’re way off. 

Case Interview Math (also known as consulting math)

Management consulting interviewers screen candidates to ensure that they can do basic math. 

Don’t worry if you didn’t ace multivariate calculus, the math is usually basic arithmetic—addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and fractions/percentages. You may also be asked to extract data from charts and convert from one unit of measure to another.

As mentioned in the discussion of market-sizing case questions above, you can and should bring a paper and pen into the interview. It’s fine to write out your calculations.

Consulting Math Example

In each step, we’ll provide a sense of how we are making the estimate so that the interviewer knows we’re not just grabbing a number out of the air. We want our answer to be as grounded in fact as possible. 

The population of the United States: 329 million. We’ll round to 330 million for simplicity.

The number of times the average American brushes their teeth – 2 times per day. Some people brush at lunchtime too, but that’s probably offset by people who only brush once a day.

330 million people brushing 2x’s per day gives us 660 million toothpaste applications/day.

To get to an annual number of toothpaste applications, we need to multiply by 365. That’s 241 billion toothpaste applications. We’ll round to 240 billion for simplicity.

A tube of toothpaste usually lasts me about 2 months. That means we need to divide by 120 toothpaste applications per tube to come up with the number of tubes sold annually (2 months x 30 days/month x 2 applications/day). 240 billion toothpaste applications / 120 applications per tube = 2 billion tubes of toothpaste sold in the U.S. every year.

The cost of toothpaste ranges from $1 for inexpensive brands to $4 for expensive brands, but the average cost is probably about $2. This means the total revenue for toothpaste sold in the U.S. is 2 billion tubes x $2 or $4 billion.

The percent of the toothpaste market that’s organic is a little tricky to estimate. In the grocery store I shop in, there’s 1 aisle of organic goods in a store that has 20 aisles – that means organic products make up 5% of shelf space (and presumably also of sales). 

I think that people would be less likely to buy organic toothpaste than organic food, because you eat organic food, but you spit organic toothpaste out into the sink. Organic products always cost more and organic toothpaste doesn’t seem quite as important to your health. 

Conclusion: Based on that, I’ll say that 1% of the market for toothpaste is organic, so if $4 billion in toothpaste is sold in the U.S. every year, $40 million of it is organic toothpaste.

Is our answer right? 

Probably not exactly. There are different sizes of toothpaste tubes, a complication that we did not consider in this analysis. There might be some people who don’t brush their teeth every day. That would mean that we overestimated consumption. 

But our estimate of the market size for organic toothpaste is reasonable and grounded in logical assumptions. We could sniff-test our answer by comparing it to a market size we know, or to GDP, one of the facts we suggested having in your back pocket for market sizing case questions. 

U.S. GDP was about $20 trillion in 2018. Our estimations suggest that the overall toothpaste market is $4 billion. That means toothpaste is 1/5,000 of the U.S. economy, and the market for organic toothpaste is 1% of that. 

That sounds plausible. If your answer showed that the market for organic toothpaste was larger than U.S. GDP, it would be a clear indication that you made a mistake somewhere along the way.

For the 4 types of math problems you’ll be asked to compute as part of case studies, read Case Interview Math.

Above, we’ve provided you with 11 different types of case interview questions you might be asked during your consulting interviews. We’ve also told you that you need to get great at doing case math. 

Overwhelming? It can be.

But it doesn’t have to be.

The best way to prepare for your consulting case interviews is NOT to spend hundreds of hours reading every case study question and answer you can get your hands on. Instead, see our page on Case Interview Practice  to find out how to make the most of your interview prep time. In addition, check out this video where Davis Nguyen, Founder of My Consulting Offer, talks about how mastering the case interview is made easier when you focus on the most common types of cases. 

Here in an online workshop he conducted for  Columbia University, NYU, and Cornell students, you can see why this approach is so effective:

After studying the information on this page, you have an in-depth understanding of the types of cases you could be asked to analyze in consulting interviews. From Davis’s video, you know why this is so important to focus on the main types of cases. You’re well prepared to find a case study practice partner and begin practicing.

As you prepare for case interviews, you should use this page in conjunction with  Case Interview Examples , where you’ll find links to sample case study questions and their answers. Remember that while it is important to discuss all the appropriate aspects of a business case, it’s important to structure your analysis and your answer. Refer back to our page on  Case Interview Frameworks   to ensure that you’re not just practicing more cases, but doing them better.

If you still have questions, leave them in the comments below. We’ll ask our My Consulting Offer coaches and get back to you with answers.

• Market Sizing Questions
• Cost Reduction Case Interview
• Case Interview Workshop Video
• Written Case Interviews
• Market Sizing Cases
• M&A Case Study
• Revenue Growth Case Interview
• Pricing Case Interview
• Financial Services Cases
• The Healthcare Consulting Case Interview
• Supply Chain Cases
• The Social Impact Case Interview
• Case Interview Formulas

Thanks for turning to My Consulting Offer for advice on case study interview prep. My Consulting Offer has helped almost 89.6% of the people we’ve worked with get a job in management consulting.  For example, here is how Thomas was able to get a BCG offer with just a short time to prepare..

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Market-sizing & Guesstimate Questions: How to Nail Them!

In a case interview, guesstimate and market-sizing questions are two of the most common types questions of question in a case interview .

Guesstimate questions ask you to guess/estimate a random number/quantitative variable. Market-sizing questions are a subset of guesstimates where you’ll be asked to guess the market size of a certain product.

This article will help you nail down a perfect answer for these questions. 

Why Guesstimates and Market Sizing?

The majority of day-to-day consulting work is answering these two question types. That’s why almost all case interviews include them, to test your fit as a consultant.

Guesstimate questions help you plan a project ahead and optimize resources. 

"How much time should be spent on a certain task? Where can the data for this certain thing be found? If not, what is a reasonable, realistic estimate? How long would it take my team members to do X?"

Getting a right estimation for questions like these can save you and your clients tons of man-hour. It’ll also keep a project more well-organized and professional looking in front of clients.

Market-sizing questions help you convince clients . Whenever you propose your solutions to clients, e.g. we should expand into this market, or we need to acquire Monster Energy, C-level executives will always fact-check you.

They’ll ask about the total addressable market of that segment, or the market share of Monster Energy. If the data isn’t available, you must show them a guesstimated market size answer, demonstrating the large amount of research you put into the decision.

How to answer guesstimate and market-sizing questions

Watch more: Guesstimate and market-sizing questions is not that hard  

The most important thing to note is that you must answer these questions like a real consultant would. 

Your interviewer only cares about the process that led you to produce the result. It does not matter if the number is a little bit off, as long as it makes sense.  Even if you do know the exact number, do not jump straight to the result. 

Below is the five-step process for a perfect answer to guesstimate and market-sizing questions. 

We will look at these steps through a sample market-sizing question: “ What is the smartphone market size in Germany?”.

Step 1: Clarify the problem

After receiving the question from the interviewer, always begin by recapping the information and clarifying all vague terms in the question . If you do this right, you’ll know which data you need to guess and which to ask the interviewer. 

Getting a segmentation right can divide your problem into a smaller set of calculation, creating an ultimate formula to calculate the final answer. 

Here is our recommendation of factors to clarify:

Unit Of Measurement: What kind of units will you use to quantify the final answer (like tons, pound, unit, people, USD, etc.)?

Timeframe: What is the timeframe used for the question (day, week, month, year)? E.g. Calculate market size for a year or a quarter?

Distribution channels: If the question asks about a commercial product, what are its distribution channels (Online, offline, retailer, wholesaler)?

Customers: Who will be the main target audience/demographic (B2B, B2C, etc.)

When clarifying, try to be as close-ended as possible to control the narrative of the question. For example: 

“I can’t help but notice some unclear terms in the question, so I’ll clarify it with four assumptions:

A smartphone is a phone exclusively using a touchscreen, i.e without a physical keyboard

The unit of measurement is the number of smartphones sold to end consumers

The timeframe used is annual

The question concerns the German market size at present

So, are we on the same page on this?”

Most of the time, interviewers don’t have a specific goal in mind, so they tend to say ‘yes’, to your proposal. They just need to see where your thinking process is going. However, remember to always align your answer with the interviewer (to double-check and show courtesy).

Step 2. Time out and break down the problem

After clarifying the question, always ask for some time out . Even if you know the goal number (e.g. you performed market research for smartphones in Germany before), you still need time to organize your thoughts into a presentation.

Use the time out to break down the problem into clearly defined MECE portions. You can use issue trees for simple questions or tables for more complex data sets.

Only use them to create a barebone formula for your answer (like Usage = Population * Use rate). Do NOT try to make any calculations or estimations at this stage. You’ll present your calculations in front of the interviewer.

For example:

“For this question, we can calculate the “number of smartphones sold to end consumers” by estimating four data points:

The size of the German population

The percentage of mobile phone owners within the German population.

The percentage of smartphone owners within German mobile phone owners.

The average lifespan of smartphones in Germany.

Since this is a fairly straightforward analysis, I will be using a simple issue tree to illustrate. The necessary data points will lie at the bottom of the issue tree.”

Step 3. Estimate each piece

Now, you will get to work out and guess the specific number for all of the above data points.

You must demonstrate this step right after step 2, to keep the time-out period short and engage with the interviewer.

You should:

Round up the numbers/estimates to the dozens or easy to calculate numbers (divisible by 10, 5, etc.)

Base the estimation on experience or common facts to avoid absurd errors

“Here are some quick guesstimates for the German smartphone market, using the four previous data points:

Germany’s population is 80 million (double check with the interviewer if you are unsure)

The percentage of mobile phone owners is 80% (assuming German life expectancy is 80, the population is evenly distributed across age groups and they own mobile phones from age 15)

The percentage of smartphone owners is 95% (assuming only 5% own mobile phone owners choose a “keyboard phone” since Germany is a developed country)

The average lifespan of smartphones in Germany is 2.5 years (so the average consumer “uses” 0.4 phones every year)”

Do not push yourself too hard to get a perfect number, as the main thing that will be assessed is your approach to the problem. If you meet any unfamiliar data point (outside of your area), you can always ask for this from the interviewer.

Step 4. Calculate

During the case interview and most consulting work, calculations must be made quickly and on the spot. 

If you estimate your data correctly, this step will be slightly easier to get through. That is why you need to present all your calculations to the interviewer to demonstrate your mental math skills.

Here are the calculations for the example:

Germany’s population: 80 million

The number of mobile phone owners: 80 million x 80% = 64 million

The number of smartphone owners: 64 million x 95% = 60 million

Total annual unit sales of smartphones in Germany: 60 million x 0.4 = 24 million

In reality, 22.9 million smartphones were sold in Germany in 2020. 24 million is a relatively close answer. However, most of the time, the accuracy of your answer can fluctuate more widely.

This is a totally acceptable fact and will not affect your performance much (though a close answer would be much appreciated). In real consulting work, there is always an acceptable margin of error, as long as your number is not too absurd.

Step 5: Sanity check the result 

There is no quick way around this. All your answers and numbers must be realistic and seem sensible in an everyday context. 

Any absurd errors will show that you have no common sense in certain areas, which is a huge red flag. 

For instance, even though Germany is a developed nation, it is NOT okay to say 100% of its citizens have mobile phones. This number does not account for people who cannot use mobile phones, like kids and elders, or who live in remote regions where a smartphone cannot be used effectively and therefore do not buy one.

Therefore, you must perform regular re-cap of your answers and go back into your issue trees to correct your mistake right away. It will show the interviewer that you can still control the case.

Guesstimate and market-sizing questions – Tips and tricks

You can follow the five tips below to further enhance your performance with guesstimate and market-sizing questions.

Tip 1: Ask close-ended clarification questions

This one is already mentioned above. However, many make this mistake in the case interview by being too open and, therefore, lose control of the narrative and make the question a lot more harder. 

For the given sample question about smartphones in Germany, here are a few questions you may ask:

What can be counted as a smartphone?

What is the unit of measurement?

What is the timeframe to measure the market size?

At which point in time is the market size measured? 

These questions are quite open-ended and the interviewer can surprise you with unwanted, difficult information. For instance, when you ask ‘ What is the timeframe to measure the market size?’ , they may answer “It would be in five-year increments” . 

The question now become a lot harder than when you set the timeframe yourself, for example “ the German market size at present ” . This will hide away the ‘no’ option and nudge the interviewer into agreeing with you. 

Of course, they could still go out of their way to disagree with you if they wish to ask for a certain situation (e.g., the market size over 5-year periods). However, this is very rare as the interviewers must also consider that they only have a limited amount of time and brainpower for each candidate. 

Tip 2: Make defendable, fact-based estimations

Base your estimations on facts and logic to make them more defendable and sensible in front of others.

First of all, always follow up your estimates with a short explanation and hypothetical conditions . C onsulting is a fact-based industry , and accountability is a desirable trait. As such, the interviewer will likely question you on your estimations, so always have valid reasons to defend them.

For example, when estimating the percentage of mobile phone owners over the German population:

"The percentage of mobile phone owners is 80% (assuming German life expectancy is 80, the population is evenly distributed across age groups and they own mobile phones from age 15)”.

Of course the real Germany’s demographic distribution is completely different, but it is not necessary for our estimation.

In addition, make estimations that are based on logic and sensible real-life observation . If you have worked with a certain industry and have a good memory about the data sources, do not be afraid to cite them. 

For example, if you need the average life-span of a smartphone, do not say “10 years” just because you are still using an iPhone 5 from 10 years ago. 

2.5 years, on the other hand, can be derived from daily observations; I can also cite Morgan Stanley on the average smartphone being replaced every 2.75 years in 2019. After that, you can reason that Germans may replace phones more frequently, considering their high income.

Your estimation can be wrong, but do not be too wrong. Do not guess that Germany’s population is 150 million, when in fact it is only around 80 million. 

When you are unfamiliar with a certain figure and cannot make an estimate, you can always double-check and ask the interviewer. If both you and the interviewer do not know the correct number (though highly unlikely), then you can be wrong together.

Tip 3: Round up the numbers for easy calculations

Do your brain a favor, and round the numbers for easier calculations.

Ideally, you would alternate between rounding up and rounding down so the offsets will cancel each other out and minimize your margin of error. You can read more about rounding in consulting math here .

Notice in the example how I chose the rounded, easy number: 80 million instead of 83 million; 80% instead of 81.25%; 60 million instead of 61 million.

Tip 4: Solve the problem with explicit visual aids

Try drawing an issue tree or a table, and point to it as you speak. Without visual aids, it is easy to lose track amidst a network of data and estimations. 

Besides, if you do not draw your issue tree/table out, you will appear less organized. This is not good in a case interview.

An issue tree is best used for simple questions that can be quickly sub-divided into ONE level of details. 

For instance, with the sample “smartphone in Germany” question, it’s best to use an issue tree as you only need data points for the population of Germany.

For more complex questions, you need to use tables , like when the interviewer asks for “smartphone usage in Europe”. 

For this, you need to calculate figures for multiple countries/regions, so an issue tree will be hard to demonstrate. You can look at the below table as an example. 

You can find many more killer tips and techniques in my deep-dive video within the Guesstimate and market-sizing Questions sections of the Case Interview E2E Secrets Program .

Tip 5: Perform regular sanity checks

Regularly check if your numbers are sound – logically, factually, and mathematically. 

Go back and recap your answer after each step, from clarification, estimations to calculation. Double-check all the assumptions you make, e.g “Are there any other terms that need clarifying?”, “Is my break-down of the problem and issue tree MECE?”, “Do all the numbers sound sensible?”.

Between all the confusing data, estimations, and the difficult process of breaking down the problem, it’s easy to make mistakes. Your common sense should ring its alarm bell if it takes 10 years for Germans to replace their smartphones, or if “60 million x 0.4 = 40 million”.

Guesstimate and market-sizing questions – Cheat sheets

“How do I break this down?” and “What is the right number?” are two biggest questions in answering guesstimate and market-sizing questions.

You can make these questions easier by building two cheat sheets – one for common segmentations, and the other for common data. I can give you a general guideline on how to do it – you can make much better ones yourself.

Common segmentation methods

There are four easy segmentation methods to break down problems in market-sizing and guesstimating : Geographical segmentation, Demographic segmentation, Behavioral segmentation, Replacement and growth

You can list the specific common segmentations in each type (e.g: high income, middle income, low income) on a ready-to-use sheet, but you should understand the principle of each type to be more flexible in case interviews.

The correct segmentation method can point you in the right direction and avoid costly mistakes that invalidate your entire issue tree. Your accuracy in this part mostly depends on your business and background knowledge. Be sure to apply some common sense into your number to avoid making any absurd errors.

Note that there is more than one correct way to break down a problem. Choose the easiest one or the one you are most familiar with.

Geographical segmentation

Geographical segmentation works great at the higher levels of your issue tree or as labels in your tables.

You can describe them on a three-level geographic scale as follow:

Local area/Domestic region/National

Country/Continent/International

However, not all questions require geographical segmentation. For our Germany smartphone sample question, the regional differences will not contribute much to our answer, so we will not use this segmentation method.

But if the question is about “smartphone usage in Europe”, since this is a large and complex region, we can divide it into Northern, Southern, Western and Eastern Europe for easier estimation. 

Demographic segmentation

Demographic segmentation is best used to work out the necessary data points of your answer. You can describe the target demographic in your question along multiple metrics, such as age, gender, income, family status, education, etc.

The specific metrics you choose will depend on your knowledge on the topic and how each metric relates to the final answer. 

For example, when describing smartphone usage, its best to segment them into age group. However, when it comes to car ownership or jewelry purchases, you might want to use income level segmentation.

Nonetheless, to keep the issue tree and calculation simple, use one (two at most) metric to describe the demographic. 

For example, I only used age in the above example as it is the most relevant determiner to owning a smartphone – once you’ve reached late teens, you’ll most likely buy one regardless of other demographic factors.

Behavioral segmentation

This one segments the market based on the customers’ actions. There are many types of behavioral segmentation in marketing, but it all revolves around how customers interact with a product. 

Using the correct behavioral segmentation can help make your calculation more accurate. They can dive down into the specifics of the demographic groups, and help you seek out some hidden trends.

If you look back at my example, you can see two behavioral segments there: mobile phone users are divided into smartphone users and keyboard-phone users. Because, in general, not everybody is into smartphone and some still use old-school ones.

Replacement and growth

If the market size does not change significantly, replacement is useful to estimate potential sales from existing customers, for products with predictable lifespans, such as FMCGs, digital devices, motorbikes, and cars.

However, if the market size grows significantly (positive or negative) within the question timeframe, you need to calculate that growth separate from replacement.

In my smartphone example, if the interviewer asked me to calculate the market size in 2030 with 5% consistent growth, I would need to add a 60% total growth to 24 million, for a final 38 million units per year.

Common data points cheat sheet

From the previous section, we can see that segmentation methods inform how our answer is structured, and each constitute a different element contributing to the final result. 

Nonetheless, you will notice that 2 types of data that come up repeatedly:

Population numbers

Demographic factors (life expectancy, age structure, income segments, education, etc.)

On a geographical basis, those two data types often appear on three scales:

Your own locality (on a national or domestic regional scale)

Major country groups/continental regions

So when practicing for guesstimates and market-sizing questions, try to perfect how you segment and guesstimate these types of data. Then, compile the common data points into a cheat sheet to memorize and use in your case interview.

Here’s an example cheat sheet I drafted in a few minutes for illustrative purposes:

Do your research based on those criteria, and you’ll soon have a much more detailed data cheat sheet!

Guesstimate and market-sizing question example

We will apply all the tips and techniques above to solve another example, from start to finish.

Take your time and work on an answer of your own, following the 5 steps as well as the tips and tricks I gave you.

You can also make the best out of each example by “twisting” the definitions, effectively creating new questions to practice.

EXERCISE: How much Earl Grey tea is drunk by British people in a typical afternoon?

Earl Grey tea is any tea marketed as such, regardless of the ingredients.

British people consist of inhabitants across all 4 municipalities of the UK.

The consumption is measured in cups (as in tea cups).

A typical afternoon will be between 1.pm and 5.pm

NOTE: This is an example of close-ended clarification. Don’t ask questions like “Which region’s population count as British people?” You may be asked to calculate the figure for the entire Commonwealth.

Break down the problem

The answer depends on three determinants:

The total population of the UK

The number of tea cups drunk by an average British person in a typical afternoon

The chance of a tea cup being Earl Grey.

Since there’s no significant difference in tea consumption habits between, let’s say, Scotland and England, you don’t need to break down the geographical region further. You just need to break down the behavior of tea consumption based on tea brands.

Solve each piece

The basis of each estimation is in brackets:

The UK has a population of 65 million. (the correct number is around 66-67 million)

Each afternoon the average British drink 1 cup of tea. (based on the afternoon-tea party, where people usually eat snack and drink tea, the cup is quite big, and tea is a caffeinated drink that should not be consumed too much)

The chance of the tea being Earl Grey is 10%. (Earl Grey is among top 5 popular teas, which together may take up 50% of all tea in the UK)

Remember to always back your estimation up with a list of hypothesis and reasonings, and round up the number so calculation is easier.

Consolidate the pieces

Each afternoon, British people drink 65 million cups of tea. (65 million people x 1 cup)

Among them, 6.5 million cups are Earl Grey. (65 million cups x 10%)

=> Answer: in a typical afternoon, British people drink 6.5 million cups of Earl Grey tea.

Presenting the answer – Interview script

You know the steps, the tips and you already have your cheat sheet in mind. However, case interviews are not just about content, but also presentation! How do you present an answer to a guesstimate and market-sizing question in a truly consulting-like way and impress your interviewer?

In the Prospective Candidate Starter Pack , I’ve prepared an interview script using various tips and techniques tailored for this specific kind of question, along with a full set of free materials to prepare for a consulting career!

Want to learn even more advanced tips and tricks of guesstimate and market-sizing questions, or explore the secrets of consulting case interviews?

Subscribe to our Case Interview E2E Secrets Program and its Guesstimate and market-sizing Questions package to join countless other successful candidates!

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Elevate your case interview skills with a well-rounded preparation package

Market-sizing quizzes often appears with high difficult in consulting interviews. We can classify these questions based on 2 types: markets & estimations

A case interview is where candidates is asked to solve a business problem. They are used by consulting firms to evaluate problem-solving skill & soft skills

An issue tree is a breakdown method of problems into multiple levels of subsets. It will isolates the root causes and ensures impactful solutions to the problem

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Blog Graphic Design 15+ Case Study Examples for Business, Marketing & Sales

15+ Case Study Examples for Business, Marketing & Sales

Written by: Alice Corner Jan 12, 2023

Have you ever bought something — within the last 10 years or so — without reading its reviews or without a recommendation or prior experience of using it?

If the answer is no — or at least, rarely — you get my point.

Positive reviews matter for selling to regular customers, and for B2B or SaaS businesses, detailed case studies are important too.

Wondering how to craft a compelling case study ? No worries—I’ve got you covered with 15 marketing case study templates , helpful tips, and examples to ensure your case study converts effectively.

Click to jump ahead:

What is a case study?

What to include in a professional case study, business case study examples, simple case study examples, marketing case study examples, sales case study examples.

• Case study FAQs

A case study is an in-depth, detailed analysis of a specific real-world situation. For example, a case study can be about an individual, group, event, organization, or phenomenon. The purpose of a case study is to understand its complexities and gain insights into a particular instance or situation.

In the context of a business, however, case studies take customer success stories and explore how they use your product to help them achieve their business goals.

As well as being valuable marketing tools , case studies are a good way to evaluate your product as it allows you to objectively examine how others are using it.

It’s also a good way to interview your customers about why they work with you.

Related: What is a Case Study? [+6 Types of Case Studies]

A professional case study showcases how your product or services helped potential clients achieve their business goals. You can also create case studies of internal, successful marketing projects. A professional case study typically includes:

• Company background and history
• The challenge
• How you helped
• Specific actions taken
• Visuals or Data
• Client testimonials

Here’s an example of a case study template:

Whether you’re a B2B or B2C company, business case studies can be a powerful resource to help with your sales, marketing, and even internal departmental awareness.

Business and business management case studies should encompass strategic insights alongside anecdotal and qualitative findings, like in the business case study examples below.

Conduct a B2B case study by researching the company holistically

When it comes to writing a case study, make sure you approach the company holistically and analyze everything from their social media to their sales.

Think about every avenue your product or service has been of use to your case study company, and ask them about the impact this has had on their wider company goals.

In business case study examples like the one above, we can see that the company has been thought about holistically simply by the use of icons.

By combining social media icons with icons that show in-person communication we know that this is a well-researched and thorough case study.

This case study report example could also be used within an annual or end-of-year report.

Highlight the key takeaway from your marketing case study

To create a compelling case study, identify the key takeaways from your research. Use catchy language to sum up this information in a sentence, and present this sentence at the top of your page.

This is “at a glance” information and it allows people to gain a top-level understanding of the content immediately. 

You can use a large, bold, contrasting font to help this information stand out from the page and provide interest.

Learn  how to choose fonts  effectively with our Venngage guide and once you’ve done that.

Upload your fonts and  brand colors  to Venngage using the  My Brand Kit  tool and see them automatically applied to your designs.

The heading is the ideal place to put the most impactful information, as this is the first thing that people will read.

In this example, the stat of “Increase[d] lead quality by 90%” is used as the header. It makes customers want to read more to find out how exactly lead quality was increased by such a massive amount.

If you’re conducting an in-person interview, you could highlight a direct quote or insight provided by your interview subject.

Pick out a catchy sentence or phrase, or the key piece of information your interview subject provided and use that as a way to draw a potential customer in.

Use charts to visualize data in your business case studies

Charts are an excellent way to visualize data and to bring statistics and information to life. Charts make information easier to understand and to illustrate trends or patterns.

Making charts is even easier with Venngage.

In this consulting case study example, we can see that a chart has been used to demonstrate the difference in lead value within the Lead Elves case study.

Adding a chart here helps break up the information and add visual value to the case study. 

Using charts in your case study can also be useful if you’re creating a project management case study.

You could use a Gantt chart or a project timeline to show how you have managed the project successfully.

Use direct quotes to build trust in your marketing case study

To add an extra layer of authenticity you can include a direct quote from your customer within your case study.

According to research from Nielsen , 92% of people will trust a recommendation from a peer and 70% trust recommendations even if they’re from somebody they don’t know.

So if you have a customer or client who can’t stop singing your praises, make sure you get a direct quote from them and include it in your case study.

You can either lift part of the conversation or interview, or you can specifically request a quote. Make sure to ask for permission before using the quote.

This design uses a bright contrasting speech bubble to show that it includes a direct quote, and helps the quote stand out from the rest of the text.

This will help draw the customer’s attention directly to the quote, in turn influencing them to use your product or service.

Less is often more, and this is especially true when it comes to creating designs. Whilst you want to create a professional-looking, well-written and design case study – there’s no need to overcomplicate things.

These simple case study examples show that smart clean designs and informative content can be an effective way to showcase your successes.

Use colors and fonts to create a professional-looking case study

Business case studies shouldn’t be boring. In fact, they should be beautifully and professionally designed.

This means the normal rules of design apply. Use fonts, colors, and icons to create an interesting and visually appealing case study.

In this case study example, we can see how multiple fonts have been used to help differentiate between the headers and content, as well as complementary colors and eye-catching icons.

Marketing case studies are incredibly useful for showing your marketing successes. Every successful marketing campaign relies on influencing a consumer’s behavior, and a great case study can be a great way to spotlight your biggest wins.

In the marketing case study examples below, a variety of designs and techniques to create impactful and effective case studies.

Show off impressive results with a bold marketing case study

Case studies are meant to show off your successes, so make sure you feature your positive results prominently. Using bold and bright colors as well as contrasting shapes, large bold fonts, and simple icons is a great way to highlight your wins.

In well-written case study examples like the one below, the big wins are highlighted on the second page with a bright orange color and are highlighted in circles.

Making the important data stand out is especially important when attracting a prospective customer with marketing case studies.

Use a simple but clear layout in your case study

Using a simple layout in your case study can be incredibly effective, like in the example of a case study below.

Keeping a clean white background, and using slim lines to help separate the sections is an easy way to format your case study.

Making the information clear helps draw attention to the important results, and it helps improve the  accessibility of the design .

Business case study examples like this would sit nicely within a larger report, with a consistent layout throughout.

Use visuals and icons to create an engaging and branded business case study

Nobody wants to read pages and pages of text — and that’s why Venngage wants to help you communicate your ideas visually.

Using icons, graphics, photos, or patterns helps create a much more engaging design. 

With this Blue Cap case study icons, colors, and impactful pattern designs have been used to create an engaging design that catches your eye.

Use a monochromatic color palette to create a professional and clean case study

Let your research shine by using a monochromatic and minimalistic color palette.

By sticking to one color, and leaving lots of blank space you can ensure your design doesn’t distract a potential customer from your case study content.

In this case study on Polygon Media, the design is simple and professional, and the layout allows the prospective customer to follow the flow of information.

The gradient effect on the left-hand column helps break up the white background and adds an interesting visual effect.

Did you know you can generate an accessible color palette with Venngage? Try our free accessible color palette generator today and create a case study that delivers and looks pleasant to the eye:

Add long term goals in your case study

When creating a case study it’s a great idea to look at both the short term and the long term goals of the company to gain the best understanding possible of the insights they provide.

Short-term goals will be what the company or person hopes to achieve in the next few months, and long-term goals are what the company hopes to achieve in the next few years.

Check out this modern pattern design example of a case study below:

In this case study example, the short and long-term goals are clearly distinguished by light blue boxes and placed side by side so that they are easy to compare.

Use a strong introductory paragraph to outline the overall strategy and goals before outlining the specific short-term and long-term goals to help with clarity.

This strategy can also be handy when creating a consulting case study.

Use data to make concrete points about your sales and successes

When conducting any sort of research stats, facts, and figures are like gold dust (aka, really valuable).

Being able to quantify your findings is important to help understand the information fully. Saying sales increased 10% is much more effective than saying sales increased.

While sales dashboards generally tend it make it all about the numbers and charts, in sales case study examples, like this one, the key data and findings can be presented with icons. This contributes to the potential customer’s better understanding of the report.

They can clearly comprehend the information and it shows that the case study has been well researched.

Use emotive, persuasive, or action based language in your marketing case study

Create a compelling case study by using emotive, persuasive and action-based language when customizing your case study template.

In this well-written case study example, we can see that phrases such as “Results that Speak Volumes” and “Drive Sales” have been used.

Using persuasive language like you would in a blog post. It helps inspire potential customers to take action now.

Keep your potential customers in mind when creating a customer case study for marketing

82% of marketers use case studies in their marketing  because it’s such an effective tool to help quickly gain customers’ trust and to showcase the potential of your product.

Why are case studies such an important tool in content marketing?

By writing a case study you’re telling potential customers that they can trust you because you’re showing them that other people do.

Not only that, but if you have a SaaS product, business case studies are a great way to show how other people are effectively using your product in their company.

In this case study, Network is demonstrating how their product has been used by Vortex Co. with great success; instantly showing other potential customers that their tool works and is worth using.

Related: 10+ Case Study Infographic Templates That Convert

Case studies are particularly effective as a sales technique.

A sales case study is like an extended customer testimonial, not only sharing opinions of your product – but showcasing the results you helped your customer achieve.

Make impactful statistics pop in your sales case study

Writing a case study doesn’t mean using text as the only medium for sharing results.

You should use icons to highlight areas of your research that are particularly interesting or relevant, like in this example of a case study:

Icons are a great way to help summarize information quickly and can act as visual cues to help draw the customer’s attention to certain areas of the page.

In some of the business case study examples above, icons are used to represent the impressive areas of growth and are presented in a way that grabs your attention.

Use high contrast shapes and colors to draw attention to key information in your sales case study

Help the key information stand out within your case study by using high contrast shapes and colors.

Use a complementary or contrasting color, or use a shape such as a rectangle or a circle for maximum impact.

This design has used dark blue rectangles to help separate the information and make it easier to read.

Coupled with icons and strong statistics, this information stands out on the page and is easily digestible and retainable for a potential customer.

Case study examples summary

Once you have created your case study, it’s best practice to update your examples on a regular basis to include up-to-date statistics, data, and information.

You should update your business case study examples often if you are sharing them on your website .

It’s also important that your case study sits within your brand guidelines – find out how Venngage’s My Brand Kit tool can help you create consistently branded case study templates.

Case studies are important marketing tools – but they shouldn’t be the only tool in your toolbox. Content marketing is also a valuable way to earn consumer trust.

Case study FAQ s

Why should you write a case study.

Case studies are an effective marketing technique to engage potential customers and help build trust.

By producing case studies featuring your current clients or customers, you are showcasing how your tool or product can be used. You’re also showing that other people endorse your product.

In addition to being a good way to gather positive testimonials from existing customers, business case studies are good educational resources and can be shared amongst your company or team, and used as a reference for future projects.

How should you write a case study?

To create a great case study, you should think strategically. The first step, before starting your case study research, is to think about what you aim to learn or what you aim to prove.

You might be aiming to learn how a company makes sales or develops a new product. If this is the case, base your questions around this.

You can learn more about writing a case study  from our extensive guide.

Related: How to Present a Case Study like a Pro (With Examples)

Some good questions you could ask would be:

• Why do you use our tool or service?
• How often do you use our tool or service?
• What does the process of using our product look like to you?
• If our product didn’t exist, what would you be doing instead?
• What is the number one benefit you’ve found from using our tool?

You might also enjoy:

• 12 Essential Consulting Templates For Marketing, Planning and Branding
• Best Marketing Strategies for Consultants and Freelancers in 2019 [Study + Infographic]

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10 Marketing Case Study Examples: Learn How to Master Them in Your Campaigns

There are millions of blog posts, articles, and videos across the internet that try to give you advice about marketing. According to Google, at least 7,050,000 unique content pieces include the phrase “marketing tips.”

But with plenty of outdated and filler content creation to just build out a website, it’s hard to find applicable advice that actually works online.

In this article, you’ll learn from marketing case study examples that demonstrate what it takes to master channels like social media, email marketing , and PPC, as well as how to use case studies in your own campaigns.

Don’t rely on empty words. Learn powerful marketing best practices that are backed up with examples and data.

What is a marketing case study?

In marketing, a case study is an in-depth study of the effectiveness of a certain tool, tactic, or strategy. It focuses on measurable outcomes, like an increase in sales, visitors, or production hours.

Typically, it includes a few key elements:

• Introduction to the customer/client
• The problem the client needed to solve (should align with problems prospective clients also need to solve)
• The solution (and context of why your company/software was the right fit)
• Data from before and after implementing the solution

In a sense, a case study documents the journey of working with your company. And it gives potential future customers a reason to trust your company.

What are the different types of case studies in marketing?

In marketing, three main types of case studies are commonly used:

1. Third-person or client case studies: These highlight the experience of a specific client working with your company or using your product.

2. Explanatory case studies: These case studies explore the impact of a phenomenon or tactic, such as the company’s marketing strategy, and how it impacted its growth. In this case, it’s not based on first-hand experience, but rather observation and inference.

3. Implementation case studies: An implementation case study takes the average client case study a bit further, focusing on the actual implementation and covering it in detail.

You can also divide the case studies further by the type of medium they use — video or text.

And in 2024, video case studies are becoming more and more popular. Many companies even use them as remarketing ads to address potential objections.

Why should you use case studies?

Case studies are a powerful way to prove that your products or services work, showcase your expertise, and build trust with potential customers.

It’s a way to transition away from just “telling” your customers and instead start “showing” them through examples. There’s a reason the old copywriting maxim goes, “Show, don’t tell.”

Consumers’ trust in companies to tell the truth in advertising materials is lower than ever. In 2020, only 14% of consumers said they trust advertising to be honest about a product or service.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t generate trust with your company’s website.

Consumers trust third-party reviews, testimonials, and data. In fact, 91% of 18–34-year-olds trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

So you need social proof. And client case studies — especially those that interview the current clients — are the best of both worlds. You get to highlight data while getting powerful social proof that shows that your product works.

When just adding a simple customer testimonial to your website can increase conversion rates by up to 34% , imagine what a detailed, compelling case study can do.

1. Email marketing case study: Your Therapy Source

If you think that email is a marketing medium of the past, think again. At ActiveCampaign, we have hundreds of recent case studies that prove the opposite.

For example, Your Therapy Source receives a 2000% return on investment (ROI) from our campaigns simply by taking advantage of basic marketing automation .

In particular, a basic abandoned cart email represents around 30% of all revenue generated by automations.

With ActiveCampaign, that’s incredibly easy to set up. You can take advantage of our integrations with key e-commerce platforms like WooCommerce , Shopify , and more.

Because the case study goes into detail about exactly how the company achieved the results, it’s a combination of an implementation case study and a regular third-person case study.

2. Instagram marketing case study: Converse

If you look at all the top Instagram accounts in clothing, Converse has a much higher engagement rate than its competitors.

At 1.79%, their social media posts have an organic engagement rate over 15 times higher than Nike.

Why is that?

Let’s take a closer look at how they achieve these numbers:

When looking at Converse’s top Instagram posts, you quickly notice a trend. Collaborations with influential creators and artists — lately Tyler, the Creator — get a different level of engagement.

The post promoting their new collaboration shoe got over 183,000 likes in a few weeks. Converse even took it a step further and produced a short film with Tyler.

If you want to reach a wider number of people, combining audiences is a great strategy.

This is an example of an explanatory case study.

First, we worked backward from Converse’s powerful Instagram results. Then, we identified tactics that contribute to their high levels of engagement.

Because we didn’t work directly with Converse, and we’re only observing as an outsider, this is an explanatory case study.

3. Content marketing case study: porch.com

Fractl is a content marketing agency that worked with porch.com for over a year to earn 931 unique domain links, 23,000 monthly organic visits, and more.

The case study focuses on results over method — that means it’s a typical third-person case study.

They’re showcasing the results the company generated for a specific outside client without getting into the how-to.

These types of case studies are most useful for persuading hesitant potential customers to get on board. Showing that you’ve generated results for similar companies or people in the past is the best way to prove your skill set.

Depending on your target audience, going into detail with an implementation case study may be a better option.

4. SEO case study: Zapier study by Ryan Berg

This in-depth case study by Ryan Berg is a perfect example of how you can use explanatory case studies in your marketing.

It breaks down Zapier’s SEO strategy and how they created over 25,000 unique landing pages to improve their search rankings for different search terms.

Zapier’s main strategy revolves around targeting relevant long-tail keywords like “app A + app B integration.” That’s the key they used to generate serious organic traffic over the long term.

By breaking down industry leaders and how they rose to success, you can borrow some of their brand power and credibility.

You can use these kinds of case studies if your current clients don’t allow you to go into detail about the tactics you use to grow their online presence.

These case studies demonstrate to potential clients that you know what you’re talking about and have the expertise needed to help them succeed in their industry.

5. PPC case study: Google Ads and Saraf Furniture

When it comes to pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, Google was one of the earliest innovators. And in 2021, it’s still the largest digital advertiser globally, with $146.92 billion in ad revenue in 2020.

You might not think they need any more credibility, but Google still uses case studies, especially in emerging markets like India.

This case study shows how Google Ads helped Saraf Furniture generate 10 times more inbound leads each month and hire 1,500 new carpenters as a result.

Without going into details about the methods, it’s another typical third-person case study designed to build trust.

6. Video marketing case study: L’Oréal and YouTube

In this case study, various members of L’Oréal’s global marketing team break down exactly how they used YouTube ads to launch a new product.

As a result of the campaign, they were able to establish their new product as the No. 2 in its category and earn 34% of all mass sales across a network of online retailers.

The case study breaks down how they used YouTube for different stages — from awareness to loyalty. It’s another example of a third-person implementation case study.

7. Remarketing case study: AdRoll and Yoga Democracy

AdRoll is a remarketing platform that tracks your visitors and lets you show them targeted ads across the internet.

Their case study with Yoga Democracy perfectly showcases the power of the platform.

Look at these highlights:

• 200% increase in conversions
• 50% reduction in CPA
• 19% of total revenue attributed to AdRoll

These are metrics you’d love to show any potential customer. The case study goes into detail about how they built an effective remarketing campaign, including cart recovery emails and ads.

Because of the detail, you can classify this as an implementation case study.

8. Influencer marketing case study: Trend and WarbyParker

This influencer marketing case study from Warby Parker and Trend showcases how you can use influencer marketing even with a limited budget.

The “Wearing Warby” campaign was centered around showcasing influencers wearing Warby Parker glasses in their everyday life.

From mundane tasks like eating breakfast to artists creating a new masterpiece — it showcased Warby Parker’s products in use and made the brand more approachable for influencers’ followers.

This is another third-person case study, as it doesn’t go into much detail beyond the results.

9. Customer experience case study: App Annie and Coca-Cola

In this case study, Greg Chambers, the director of innovation for Coca-Cola, explains what App Annie brings to the table.

Instead of specific numbers and metrics, it focuses on the big-picture benefits that App Annie has on Coca-Cola’s customer experience.

The video interview format is also perfect for driving trust with potential customers.

Again, this is a typical third-person case study that you see a lot in the marketing world.

10. SaaS case study: Asana and Carta

Of course, it’s not just agencies and advertising platforms that need to master the use of case studies in digital marketing.

Let’s explore an example of a case study outside the marketing industry, in this case specifically for B2B marketers.

Asana is a project management platform that helps companies make their workflows more efficient.

It’s a good example of a case study that focuses more on the lived experience and less on the metrics.

This is a third-person case study that is closer to a client interview or testimonial, which is a good option if it’s hard to quantify improvements with metrics.

Best practices: How to use case studies in your own marketing campaigns

In this section, you’ll learn best practices to help you maximize the value of case studies in your own marketing campaigns.

Let’s look at four steps you can take to effectively use case studies.

Include a dedicated case study/customer stories page on your website

Most companies with a successful online presence have one of these pages. Emulate the top competitors in your industry by creating an improved version of their pages.

You can also add a case studies section to your resources page or blog.

Build CTAs into your case study pages

The chances are low that a random Googler will make it to your case studies. Most likely, it’s someone who thinks they might need your product.

So don’t be afraid to include calls to action throughout your case study pages.

Share case studies as part of your email marketing campaigns

Email marketing is hands-down the best channel for nurturing potential needs . That means you should always use case studies and customer success stories in your campaigns.

But it’s important that it doesn’t feel too promotional. Instead, share the unique steps they took to ensure success to deliver value, not just pitch.

Use case study video ads to overcome objections

When you’re thinking about buying a product, it’s easy to talk yourself out of it.

“It’s too expensive.” “It won’t work for me.” There are a lot of excuses and objections out there.

A case study video can be a powerful tool to overcome these objections in potential buyers.

Don’t overlook case studies when you’re planning your next marketing campaign. Towards the bottom end of the funnel, in stages like decision and action, they’re a powerful marketing tool.

When used right, case studies will help you fill your sales pipeline and provide your sales team with qualified leads.

Hopefully, the examples in this article taught you how you can use case studies in social media, email, and content marketing strategy to further your business goals.

You should also have learned how to use case studies to sell your company’s expertise.

If you want to grow your business, it’s crucial to learn from the people who have gone before you. In marketing, trying to learn all principles from scratch through trial and error would be a costly mistake.

If you’re ready to take advantage of marketing automation and email marketing tools that help similar businesses generate ROIs of 20x or higher, start your ActiveCampaign trial today .

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How to Write a Marketing Case Study (With Examples)

Learn exactly what a marketing case study is, how to write one that stands out, and review some examples of existing, successful studies.

As any big brand like MailChimp, Spotify and IMB will tell you, case studies are a huge part of solidifying your brand as thought leaders.

A case study is a win: you share the success of a customer as a result of your company’s actions. At SimpleTexting we call them our Success Stories , but no matter the name, the structure is the same — how company A worked with B to achieve XYZ. 

In this article we’ll cover everything from the basics to real-life examples.What exactly is a marketing case study, what constitutes a good one, and most importantly, how do you build one?

Let’s get started.

What is a Marketing Case Study?

According to Curata , “a case study in the context of marketing is an analysis of a project, campaign or company that identifies a situation, recommended solutions, implementation actions, and identification of those factors that contributed to failure or success.”

Sure, it’s a bit wordy, but at its core marketing case studies share information with prospective customers or clients about how your product offered a solution.

It doesn’t need to be dry reading. It doesn’t even need to be a report (although it can be). The key with a case study is that it should read like a story—only the beginning, middle, and end are all replicable business takeaways.

Case studies are for businesses of all sizes. They can be just as effective for small and medium-sized businesses as they are for enterprise businesses. Here’s why you should be investing time in building case studies.

Why Write a Marketing Case Study?

Before we dive into the instructions, let’s take a second to explore why a business would invest the time and effort into writing a case study. After all, why share your big marketing secrets with the world, what do you get out of the deal?

Simply put, you get the chance to share your story. Case studies, after all, are just stories showcasing your products and methods. They make for pretty spectacular advertising because, to a reader, it doesn’t feel like they’re being marketed to.

92% of customers prefer that media messages sound like a story. By using case studies you’re appealing to the logical, casual consumer who wants to know the “who, what, where, when, and why” that drives them to buy without any of the extra fuss. Case studies are the perfect medium to package it all.

How to Write a Marketing Case Study

As mentioned, every good case study maintains one singular focus: how one company used another to achieve its goal(s). This means most marketing case studies tend to take on an easily understandable problem-solution structure.

Let’s take a look at what you need to create a successful case study.

Components of a Marketing Case Study

Using the ingredients above, assemble them in this order to create a basic marketing case study:

• Write a title : Don’t worry about spoiling the ending. With case studies you want your title to let readers know right away how a campaign ended.  A case study title should include the name of the company or brand being examined, if their campaign went well or poorly for them and a solid metric that demonstrates exactly how well or how poorly they performed. For example: “ SimpleTexting Cut Down Product Onboarding Process by 30% Through Video Instruction. “
• Introduce the subject: Every marketing case study should open with a brief historical overview of the company. What have they struggled with in the past that led to them developing this campaign? Who is their target audience, what do they sell?  Even if your subject is obscure, you want to build a sense of relatability to your readers: so be sure to structure from general to specific. After all, you want readers outside just your industry to take away value.
• Identify your subject’s problems : Avoid leaving your readers feeling underwhelmed by presenting your subject’s problems early on in your case study. What are they trying to build, fix, or change? These problems are what will ultimately establish the subject’s goal, a one or two-sentence overview of the outcomes they’d like to see.
• Spell out your strategies and tactics : The real meat to your case study occurs here. This portion of your study is where you describe what actions you specifically took to try and reach your goals: What did you expect to happen when you tried “X, Y, and Z”?  Your case study can write this all out in paragraph form if you want it to read with some fluidity, or you can simply bullet out your strategies below each goal. Examples of good strategies for a common marketing pain point, such as building a social media following, include: connecting with influencers, developing original creative content, and developing paid advertising parameters.
• Share your results with visuals : At this point, you’ll want to follow up with the preview you set in your title and share with readers how things went. If you saw success, how much and where? If you didn’t were you able to pinpoint where things went wrong? Spare no detail as you write out what worked and what didn’t, and be sure to provide replicable detail (it may be what inspires your reader to become a customer!). Some common metrics commonly found in case studies include: web analytics and traffic, backlinks generated, keyword rankings, shares or other social interactions. Graphics like charts, bolded quotes, and graphs are good opportunities to visually demonstrate your data.
• Wrap it up with a conclusion : Know the difference between reemphasizing and repeating. When writing a conclusion you shouldn’t sound like an echo, repeating exactly what you said in your introduction. Instead, you want to draw emphasis back to your key points and call your readers to action. Let them know what they can do right now to get connected and see this same success (or avoid its failure).  If you’re writing a case study for marketing purposes, this is where you sell yourself and your product.

Marketing Case Study Examples

You’ve certainly heard enough from us to this point. Now it’s time to see what all of these tips and tricks look like in action. `

A plethora of marketing case study examples are out there, each one with a different objective: educational, sales-driven, industry leadership, and more.

To give you a well-rounded picture, we’ll share some of our favorite marketing case studies with you so you can see it all in action for yourself.

1. Surf Live Saving Foundation

The Surf Life Saving Foundation rolled out an innovative new framework for their brand known as the surf lottery. Despite the size of the initiative they were able to break down their process on a share of voice campaign with a great deal of clarity. Why we like this case study : It provides actionable and replicable examples of how their objectives were received.

2. StyleHaul & Asana

Organizational application Asana also finds itself in a competition-heavy environment. They are one of many SaaS productivity programs available. They needed to give their brand more of a voice to edge out against competitors offering near-identical products. The problem that needed solving in this success story is relatable to businesses all around the world, and ASANA’s use of it is a showcase of why they’re leaders in what they do.

Why we like this case study : It’s storytelling at its finest and perfectly demonstrates the subtle advertising concept.

3. Red Sox and CTP

This is a great example of a marketing agency showcasing its history of work with a high-profile client (the Boston Red Sox). It explores their entire body of work on a dynamic landing page. Why we like this case study : It demonstrates what a multi-media approach to a digital case study should strive to be.

4. SimpleTexting & U.S. Hunger

We couldn’t talk the talk without walking the walk. We have a range of varied case studies on our Success Stories page, but one of our absolute favorites is the results from U.S. Hunger.

U.S. Hunger was looking for a way to reach those who need them most – including those without internet access.

Why we like this case study: Not only does it highlight the incredible work of U.S. Hunger, it also shows how much can be accomplished through SMS. It spins a new light on SMS marketing and shows the wider impact of accessible communication. 

Marketing Case Studies are Key to Brand Trust

As a business looking to grow, you need to prove to prospective customers and clients why they should invest in you. Whether it’s a service or a product, case studies are viable ways of showing that what you do works and discussing how you achieved it.

The most impactful case studies aren’t always the ones with big names attached to them. They’re the best stories, the best solutions, and the ones that the most people can relate to.

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Meghan Tocci

Meghan Tocci is a content strategist at SimpleTexting. When she’s not writing about SaaS, she’s trying to teach her puppy Lou how to code. So far, not so good.

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16 Important Ways to Use Case Studies in Your Marketing

Updated: September 08, 2020

Published: July 30, 2020

When you're thinking about investing in a product or service, what's the first thing you do?

Usually, it’s one or both of the following: You'll likely ask your friends whether they've tried the product or service, and if they have, whether they would recommend it. You'll also probably do some online research to see what others are saying about said product or service. Nowadays, 90% of consumers used the internet to find a local business in the last year , and 82% of consumers read online reviews. This shows that the majority of people are looking to peers to make a purchasing decision. Most customers know that a little online research could spare them from a bad experience and poor investment of your budget.

What Is a Marketing Case Study?

A case study is the analysis of a particular instance (or "case") of something to demonstrate quantifiable results as a result of the application of something. In marketing, case studies are used as social proof — to provide buyers with the context to determine whether they're making a good choice.

A marketing case study aims to persuade that a process, product, or service can solve a problem. Why? Because it has done so in the past. By including the quantitative and qualitative outcomes of the study, it appeals to logic while painting a picture of what success looks like for the buyer. Both of which can be powerful motivators and objection removers.

Why Use Case Studies?

In essence, case studies are an invaluable asset when it comes to establishing proof that what you're offering is valuable and of good quality.

According to HubSpot's State of Marketing Report 2020 , 13% of marketers name case studies as one of the primary forms of media used within their content strategy. This makes them the fifth most popular type of content, outshined only by visual content, blogs, and ebooks.

Okay, so you know case studies work. The question is, how  do they work? And how can you squeeze the most value out of them? 

When to Use a Case Study

Here are the ways you can market your case studies to get the most out of them.

As a Marketing or Sales Asset

1. use a case study template to create pdfs for email or downloads . .

Do not underestimate the value of providing social proof at just the right time in order to add value and earn their business. Case studies are extremely effective in the consideration stage of the buyer's journey when they are actively comparing solutions and providers to solve a problem they're experiencing. 

For this reason, case studies in an independent PDF format can be helpful in both marketing and sales. Marketers can use these PDFs as downloads in web content or email campaigns. Sales reps can utilize these assets in demonstrations, in a follow-up, or to overcome objections. 

The easiest way to create PDF case studies is by using a case study template . Doing so can decrease the amount of time you spend creating and designing your case study without sacrificing aesthetics. In addition, you can ensure that all your case studies follow a similar branded format. 

We've created a great case study template (and kit!) that's already locked and loaded for you to use. All you have to do is input your own text and change the fonts and colors to fit your brand. You can download it here .

On Your Website

2. have a dedicated case studies page..

You should have a webpage exclusively for housing your case studies. Whether you call this page "Case Studies, "Success Studies," or "Examples of Our Work," be sure it's easy for visitors to find.

Structure on that page is key: Initial challenges are clear for each case, as well as the goals, process, and results.

Get Inspired:  Google’s Think With Google is an example of a really well structured case study page. The copy is engaging, as are the goals, approach, and results.

3. Put case studies on your home page.

Give website visitors every chance you can to stumble upon evidence of happy customers. Your home page is the perfect place to do this.

There are a number of ways you can include case studies on your homepage. Here are a few examples:

• Customer quotes/testimonials
• A call-to-action (CTA) to view specific case studies
• A slide-in CTA that links to a case study
• A CTA leading to your case studies page

Get Inspired: Theresumator.com incorporates testimonials onto their homepage to strengthen their value proposition.

Bonus Tip: Get personal.

Marketing gurus across the world agree that personalised marketing is the future . You can make your case studies more powerful if you find ways to make them “match” the website visitors that are important to you.

People react to familiarity -- for instance, presenting someone from London with a case study from New York may not resonate as well as if you displayed a case study from the U.K. Or you could choose to tailor case studies by industry or company size to the visitor. At HubSpot, we call this "smart content."

Get Inspired: To help explain smart content, have a look at the example below. Here, we wanted to test whether including testimonials on landing pages influenced conversion rates in the U.K. The landing page on the left is the default landing page shown to visitors from non-U.K. IP addresses. For the landing page on the right, we used smart content to show testimonials to visitors coming from U.K. IP addresses.

4. Implement slide-in CTAs.

Pop-ups have a reputation for being annoying, but there are ways to implement that that won't irk your website visitors. These CTAs don't have to be huge, glaring pop-ups -- instead, relevant but discreet slide-in CTAs can work really well.

For example, why not test out a slide-in CTA on one of your product pages, with a link to a case study that profiles a customer who's seen great results using that product?

Get Inspired:  If you need some help on creating sliders for your website, check out this tutorial on creating slide-in CTAs .

5. Write blog posts about your case studies.

Once you publish a case study, the next logical step would be to write a blog post about it to expose your audience to it. The trick is to write about the case study in a way that identifies with your audience’s needs. So rather than titling your post “Company X: A Case Study," you might write about a specific hurdle, issue, or challenge the company overcame, and then use that company's case study to illustrate how the issues were addressed. It's important not  to center the blog post around your company, product, or service -- instead, the customer’s challenges and how they were overcome should take centre stage.

For example, if we had a case study that showed how one customer generated twice as many leads as a result of our marketing automation tool, our blog post might be something along the lines of: "How to Double Lead Flow With Marketing Automation [Case Study]." The blog post would then comprise of a mix of stats, practical tips, as well as some illustrative examples from our case study.

Get Inspired:   Check out this great example of a blog post from Moz , titled "How to Build Links to Your Blog – A Case Study."

6. Create videos from case studies.

Internet services are improving all the time, and as a result, people are consuming more and more video content. Prospects could be more likely to watch a video than they are to read a lengthy case study. If you have the budget, creating videos of your case studies is a really powerful way to communicate your value proposition.

Get Inspired: Check out one of our many video testimonials for some ideas on how to approach your own videos.

7. Use case studies on relevant landing pages.

Once you complete a case study, you'll have a bank of quotes and results you can pull from. Including quotes on product pages is especially interesting. If website visitors are reading your product pages, they are in a "consideration" mindset, meaning they are actively researching your products, perhaps with an intent to buy. Having customer quotes placed strategically on these pages is a great way to push them over the line and further down the funnel.

These quotes should be measured, results-based snippets, such as, “XX resulted in a 70% increase in blog subscribers in less an 6 months” rather than, “We are proud to be customers of XX, they really look after us."

Get Inspired: I really like the way HR Software company Workday incorporates video and testimonials into its solutions pages.

Off Your Website

8. post about case studies on social media..

Case studies make for perfect social sharing material. Here are a few examples of how you can leverage them on social:

• Share a link to a case study and tag the customer in the post. The trick here is to post your case studies in a way that attracts the right people to click through, rather than just a generic message like, “New Case Study ->> LINK." Make sure your status communicates clearly the challenge that was overcome or the goal that was achieved. It's also wise to include the main stats associated with the case study; for example, "2x lead flow," "125% increase in X," and so on.
• Update your cover image on Twitter/Facebook showing a happy customer. Our social media cover photo templates should help you with this!
• Add your case study to your list of publications on LinkedIn.
• Share your case studies in relevant LinkedIn Groups.
• Target your new case studies to relevant people on Facebook using dark posts. ( Learn about dark posts here. )

Get Inspired: MaRS Discovery District posts case studies on Twitter to push people towards a desired action.

9. Use case studies in your email marketing.

Case studies are particularly suited to email marketing when you have an industry-segmentable list. For example, if you have a case study from a client in the insurance industry, emailing your case study to your base of insurance-related contacts can be a really relevant addition to a lead nurturing campaign.

Case studies can also be very effective when used in product-specific lead nurture workflows in reactivating opportunities that have gone cold. They can be useful for re-engaging leads that have gone quiet and who were looking at specific areas of your product that the case study relates to.

Get Inspired: It's important that your lead nurture workflow content includes the appropriate content for where prospects are in the sales cycle. If you need help on how to do this, check out our post on how to map lead nurturing content to each stage in sales cycle .

Pro tip: When sending emails, don't forget about the impact a good email signature can make. Create your own using our free Email Signature Generator .

10. Incorporate case studies into your newsletters.

This idea is as good for your client relations as it is for gaining the attention of your prospects. Customers and clients love feeling as though they're part of a community. It’s human nature. Prospects warm to companies that look after their customers; companies whose customers are happy and proud to be part of something. Also, whether we are willing to admit it or not, people love to show off!

Get Inspired: Newsletters become stale over time. Give your newsletters a new lease of life with our guide on how to create newsletters that don't suck .

11. Equip your sales team with case studies.

Tailored content has become increasingly important to sales reps as they look to provide value on the sales call. It's estimated that consumers go through 70-90% of the buyer's journey before contacting a vendor. This means that the consumer is more knowledgeable than ever before. Sales reps no longer need to spend an entire call talking about the features and benefits. Sales has become more complex, and reps now need to be armed with content that addresses each stage of the buyer’s process. Case studies can be really useful when it comes to showing prospects how successful other people within a similar industry has benefited from your product or service.

Get Inspired: Case studies are just one type of content that helps your sales team sell. They don't always work by themselves, though. Check out our list of content types that help sales close more deals .

12. Sneak a case study into your email signature.

Include a link to a recent case study in your email signature. This is particularly useful for salespeople. Here's what my email signature looks like:

Get Inspired: Did you know that there are lots more ways you can use your email signature to support your marketing? Here are 10 clever suggestions for how you can do this.

13. Use case studies in training.

Having customer case studies is an invaluable asset to have when onboarding new employees. It aids developing their buy-in, belief in, and understanding of your offering.

Get Inspired: Have you completed our Inbound Certification course yet? During our classes, we use case studies to show how inbound marketing is applied in real life.

In Lead-Gen Content

14. include case studies in your lead gen efforts..

There are a number of offers you can create based off of your case studies, in the form of ebooks, templates, and more. For example you could put together an ebook titled “A step-by-step guide to reaching 10,000 blog subscribers in 3 months…just like XX did.” You could create a more in-depth version of the case study with access to detailed statistics as an offer. (And don’t forget, you can also u se quotes and statistics from case studies on the landing page promoting the ebook, which adds credibility and could increase your conversion rates.) Or, you could create a template based on your customer's approach to success.

Get Inspired:   If you think you need to be an awesome designer put together beautiful ebooks, think again. Create ebooks easily using these customisable ebook templates .

You can also use case studies to frame webinars that document how to be successful with X. Using case studies in webinars is great middle-of-the-funnel content and can really help move your leads further down the funnel towards becoming sales qualified leads.

Get Inspired: Webinars are really effective as part of a lead nurturing workflow. Make sure your next webinar is spot on by following these simple webinar tips.

15. Create a bank of evergreen presentations.

It’s important to build up a bank of evergreen content that employees across your organisation can use during presentations or demos. Case studies are perfect for this.

Put together a few slides on the highlights of the case study to stir people’s interest, and then make them available to your sales and customer-facing teams. It's helpful if the marketer who created the presentation is the one who presents it to anyone who might use them in the future. This ensures they can explain the presentation clearly and answer any questions that might arise.

Get Inspired: What to create presentations people want to use? Here's a list of tools to make your presentations great.

16. Create SlideShares based on case studies.

Following on from a few short slides, you could also put together a more detailed presentation of the case study and upload it to SlideShare. After all, not only is SlideShare SEO-friendly (because Google indexes each presentation), but there is a huge pre-existing audience on SlideShare of over 60 million users you can tap into. SlideShare presentations are also easy to embed and share, and allow you to capture leads directly from the slides via a lead capture form.

Get Inspired:   Want to generate more leads with SlideShare, but not sure how to get started? Check out this blog post .

Now that you understand the value of a marketing case study and the different ways that they can be used in your content marketing (and even sales) strategy, your next step is to think about what would convince your target audience to do business with you. 

Have you recently accomplished something big for a client? Do you have a process or product with demonstrable results? What do your potential clients hope that you'll do for them? 

The answers to those questions will help you craft compelling content for your case study. Then, all that's left is putting it into your audience's hands in formats they want to consume.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in January 2015 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Don't forget to share this post!

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Amazon.com marketing strategy 2023: E-commerce retail giant business case study

What goes into the Amazon marketing strategy secret sauce? Our business case study explores Amazon's revenue model and culture of customer metrics, history of Amazon.com and marketing objectives

In the final quarter of 2022, Amazon reported net sales of over $149.2 billion. This seasonal spike is typical of Amazon's quarterly reporting , but the growth is undeniable as this was the company's highest quarter ever.

There is no doubt that the e-commerce retail giant continues to lead the way in e-commerce growth. The Amazon marketing strategy we are familiar with today has evolved since it was founded in 1994.

I've highlighted the Amazon marketing strategy case study in my books for nearly 20 years now since I think all types of businesses can learn from their digital business strategy. Their response to the pandemic is impressive but not entirely surprising for a brand that is ' customer obsessed '.

From startups and small businesses to large international businesses, we can all learn from their focus on the customer, particularly at this time, testing market opportunities made available by digital technology, and their focus on testing and analysis to improve results.

Their focus on customer experience put Amazon in the role of a thought leader in e-commerce experience. However, whether due to diminished customer service, or increasing customer expectations, or a mixture of the two, fulled by a global pandemic - notably, 2020 was the first time Amazon's ACSI customer satisfaction rating dropped below 80 since launch, to 65%.

With customer satisfaction now measuring at 79% in 2022 , customer satisfaction in Amazon has risen again, but is still not as high as it once was.

Currently, Forbes gives a consensus recommendation to buy Amazon stock, giving a return on assets (TTM) of 1.73%. The stock performance is not as high as we saw in 2020 and 2021, but it did show some growth in late 2022 - early 2023.

I aim to keep this case study up-to-date for readers of the books and Smart Insights readers who may be interested. In it, we look at Amazon's background, revenue model, and sources for the latest business results.

We can also learn from their digital marketing strategy, since they use digital marketing efficiently across all customer communications touchpoints in our RACE Framework :

• Reach : Amazon's initial business growth based on a detailed approach to SEO and AdWords targeting millions of keywords.
• Act : Creating clear and simple experiences through testing and learning.
• Convert : Using personalization to make relevant recommendations and a clear checkout process that many now imitate.
• Engage : Amazon's customer-centric culture delights customers and keeps them coming back for more.

Looking to optimize your marketing strategy? We've got marketing solutions for your e-commerce business. From startups to retail giants, our bespoke marketing training empowers e-commerce marketers to plan, manage and optimize their marketing strategies, with marketing tools proven to generate growth. Find out more.

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Amazon's growth and business model evolution

Forbes credits Amazon's success to 3 rules which it breaks, but we 'probably shouldn't'!

• Strategy is about focus - although Amazon has an incredible number of strands to the business today.
• Don’t throw good money after bad - with criticism in particular of Amazon's investment in groceries.
• Your core competencies determine what you can and can’t do - developing the Kindle with no hardware manufacturing experience.

In this way, Forbes outlines a 'risky' approach to marketing strategy which, for Amazon, paid off in dividends. So, there is plenty to learn from studying this company, even if we decide not to replicate all tactics and strategies.

Amazon.com mission and vision

When it first launched, Amazon’s had a clear and ambitious mission. To offer:

Earth’s biggest selection and to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.

Today, with business users of its Amazon Web Service representing a new type of customer, Amazon says:

this goal continues today, but Amazon’s customers are worldwide now and have grown to include millions of Con-sumers, Sellers, Content Creators, Developers, and Enterprises. Each of these groups has different needs, and we always work to meet those needs, by innovating new solutions to make things easier, faster, better, and more cost-effective.

20 years later, Amazon are still customer-centric, in fact, in the latest Amazon Annual report , 2021, Jeff Bezos of Amazon explains customer obsession.

"We seek to be Earth’s most customer-centric company and believe that our guiding principle of customer obsession is one of our greatest strengths. We seek to offer our customers a comprehensive selection of products, low prices, fast and free delivery, easy-to-use functionality, and timely customer service. By focusing obsessively on customers, we are internally driven to improve our services, add benefits and features, invent new products, lower prices, increase product selection, and speed up shipping times—before we have to."

Amazon business and revenue model

I recommend anyone studying Amazon checks the latest annual reports, proxies, and shareholder letters. The annual filings give a great summary of eBay business and revenue models.

The 2020 report includes a great vision for Digital Agility (reprinted from 1997 in their latest annual report) showing testing of business models that many businesses don't yet have. Amazon explain:

"We will continue to measure our programs and the effectiveness of our investments analytically, to jettison those that do not provide acceptable returns, and to step up our investment in those that work best. We will continue to learn from both our successes and our failures".

They go on to explain that business models are tested from a long-term perspective, showing the mindset of CEO Jeff Bezos:

We will continue to make investment decisions in light of long-term market leadership considerations rather than short-term profitability considerations or short-term Wall Street reactions.

The latest example of innovation in their business model is the launch of Amazon Go, a new kind of store with no checkout required. Boasting a "Just Walk Out Shopping experience",the Amazon Go app users enter the store, take the products they want, and go with no lines and no checkout.

More recently, there have been a range of business model innovations focussed on hardware and new services: Kindle e-readers, Fire Tablet, smartphone and TV, Echo (using the Alexa Artificial Intelligence voice-assistant), grocery delivery, Amazon Fashion and expansion to the business-oriented Amazon Web Services (AWS). Amazon Prime, an annual membership program that includes unlimited free shipping and then involved diversification to a media service with access to unlimited instant streaming of thousands of movies and TV episodes.

AWS is less well-known outside of tech people, but Amazon is still pursuing this cloud service aggressively. They now have 10 AWS regions around the world, including the East Coast of the U.S., two on the West Coast, Europe, Singapore, Tokyo, Sydney, Brazil, China, and a government-only region called GovCloud.

Amazon marketing strategy

In their 2008 SEC filing, Amazon describes the vision of their business as to:

“Relentlessly focus on customer experience by offering our customers low prices, convenience, and a wide selection of merchandise.”

The vision is still to consider how the core Amazon marketing strategy value proposition is communicated both on-site and through offline communications.

Of course, achieving customer loyalty and repeat purchases has been key to Amazon’s success. Many dot-coms failed because they succeeded in achieving awareness, but not loyalty. Amazon achieved both. In their SEC filing they stress how they seek to achieve this. They say:

" We work to earn repeat purchases by providing easy-to-use functionality, fast and reliable fulfillment, timely customer service, feature-rich content, and a trusted transaction environment.

Key features of Amazon include:

• editorial and customer reviews;
• manufacturer product information;
• web pages tailored to individual preferences, such as recommendations and notifications; 1-Click® technology;
• secure payment systems;
• image uploads;
• searching on our websites as well as the Internet;
• browsing; and the ability to view selected interior pages and citations, and search the entire contents of many of the books we offer with our “Look Inside the Book” and “Search Inside the Book” features.

The community of online customers also creates feature-rich content, including product reviews, online recommendation lists, wish lists, buying guides, and wedding and baby registries."

In practice, as is the practice for many online retailers, the lowest prices are for the most popular products, with less popular products commanding higher prices and a greater margin for Amazon.

Free shipping offers are used to encourage increase in basket size since customers have to spend over a certain amount to receive free shipping. The level at which free shipping is set is critical to profitability and Amazon has changed it as competition has changed and for promotional reasons.

Amazon communicates the fulfillment promise in several ways including the presentation of the latest inventory availability information, delivery date estimates, and options for expedited delivery, as well as delivery shipment notifications and update facilities.

This focus on customer has translated to excellence in service with the 2004 American Customer Satisfaction Index giving Amazon.com a score of 88 which was at the time, the highest customer satisfaction score ever recorded in any service industry, online or offline.

Round (2004) notes that Amazon focuses on customer satisfaction metrics. Each site is closely monitored with standard service availability monitoring (for example, using Keynote or Mercury Interactive) site availability and download speed. Interestingly it also monitors per minute site revenue upper/lower bounds – Round describes an alarm system rather like a power plant where if revenue on a site falls below $10,000 per minute, alarms go off! There are also internal performance service-level-agreements for web services where T% of the time, different pages must return in X seconds.

The importance of technology and an increased focus on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

According to founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, technology is very important to supporting this focus on the customer. In their 2010 Annual Report (Amazon, 2011) he said:

“Look inside a current textbook on software architecture, and you’ll find few patterns that we don’t apply at Amazon. We use high-performance transactions systems, complex rendering and object caching, workflow and queuing systems, business intelligence and data analytics, machine learning and pattern recognition, neural networks and probabilistic decision making, and a wide variety of other techniques." And while many of our systems are based on the latest in computer science research, this often hasn’t been sufficient: our architects and engineers have had to advance research in directions that no academic had yet taken. Many of the problems we face have no textbook solutions, and so we — happily — invent new approaches”… All the effort we put into technology might not matter that much if we kept technology off to the side in some sort of R&D department, but we don’t take that approach. Technology infuses all of our teams, all of our processes, our decision-making, and our approach to innovation in each of our businesses. It is deeply integrated into everything we do”.

The quote shows how applying new technologies is used to give Amazon a competitive edge. A good recent example of this is providing the infrastructure to deliver the Kindle “Whispersync” update to ebook readers. Amazon reported in 2011 that Amazon.com is now selling more Kindle books than paperback books. For every 100 paperback books Amazon has sold, the Company sold 115 Kindle books. Kindle apps are now available on Apple iOS, Android devices and on PCs as part of a “ Buy Once, Read Anywhere ” proposition which Amazon has developed.

Some of the more recent applications of AI at Amazon are highly visible, for example, the Amazon Echo assistant and technology in the Amazon Go convenience store that uses machine vision to eliminate checkout lines.

In their 2017 report, they describe the increased use of machine learning and AI ‘behind the scenes’ at Amazon:   "much of what we do with machine learning happens beneath the surface. Machine learning drives our algorithms for demand forecasting, product search ranking, product and deals recommendations, merchandising placements, fraud detection, translations, and much more. Though less visible, much of the impact of machine learning will be of this type – quietly but meaningfully improving core operations".

Amazon Customers

Amazon defines what it refers to as three consumer sets customers, seller customers and developer customers.

There are over 76 million customer accounts, but just 1.3 million active seller customers in it’s marketplaces and Amazon is seeking to increase this. Amazon is unusual for a retailer in that it identifies “developer customers” who use its Amazon Web Services, which provides access to technology infrastructure such as hosting that developers can use to develop their own web services.

Members are also encouraged to join a loyalty program, Amazon Prime, a fee-based membership program in which members receive free or discounted express shipping, in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan.

We've got marketing tools and templates to help you compete in a challenging environment, grow your market share, and win more customers. Join thousands of savvy Smart Insights Business Members using our marketing solutions integrated across the RACE Framework to drive the results they need.

As we know, e-commerce marketing is all about the customers. Our RACE Growth System down your customer journeys into a simple 5-step structure of plan - reach - act - convert - engage. Create a winning retail e-commerce marketing strategy with Smart Insights, to acquire and retain more customers, and accelerate your ROI. Get started today.

Competition

In its 2017 SEC filing Amazon describes the environment for our products and services as ‘intensely competitive’. It views its main current and potential competitors as:

• 1) online, offline, and multichannel retailers, publishers, vendors, distributors, manufacturers, and producers of the products we offer and sell to consumers and businesses;
• (2) publishers, producers, and distributors of physical, digital, and interactive media of all types and all distribution channels;
• (3) web search engines, comparison shopping websites, social networks, web portals, and other online and app-based means of discovering, using, or acquiring goods and services, either directly or in collaboration with other retailers;
• (4) companies that provide e-commerce services, including website development, advertising, fulfillment, customer service, and payment processing;
• (5) companies that provide fulfillment and logistics services for themselves or for third parties, whether online or offline;
• (6) companies that provide information technology services or products, including on- premises or cloud-based infrastructure and other services; and
• (7) companies that design, manufacture, market, or sell consumer electronics, telecommunication, and electronic devices.

It believes the main competitive factors in its market segments include "selection, price, availability, convenience, information, discovery, brand recognition, personalized services, accessibility, customer service, reliability, speed of fulfillment, ease of use, and ability to adapt to changing conditions, as well as our customers’ overall experience and trust in transactions with us and facilitated by us on behalf of third-party sellers".

For services offered to business and individual sellers, additional competitive factors include the quality of our services and tools, their ability to generate sales for third parties we serve, and the speed of performance for our services.

From Auctions to marketplaces

Amazon auctions (known as zShops) were launched in March 1999, in large part as a response to the success of eBay. They were promoted heavily from the home page, category pages and individual product pages. Despite this, a year after its launch it had only achieved a 3.2% share of the online auction compared to 58% for eBay and it only declined from this point.

Today, competitive prices of products are available through third-party sellers in the ‘Amazon Marketplace’ which are integrated within the standard product listings. A winning component of the Amazon marketing strategy for marketplaces was the innovation to offer such an auction facility, initially driven by the need to compete with eBay. But now the strategy has been adjusted such that Amazon describe it as part of the approach of low-pricing.

Although it might be thought that Amazon would lose out on enabling its merchants to sell products at lower prices, in fact Amazon makes greater margin on these sales since merchants are charged a commission on each sale and it is the merchant who bears the cost of storing inventory and fulfilling the product to customers. As with eBay, Amazon is just facilitating the exchange of bits and bytes between buyers and sellers without the need to distribute physical products.

Amazon Media sales

You may have noticed that unlike some retailers, Amazon displays relevant Google text ads and banner ads from brands. This seems in conflict with the marketing strategy of focus on experience since it leads to a more cluttered store. However in 2011 Amazon revealed that worldwide media sales accounted for approximately 17% of revenue!

Whilst it does not reveal much about the Amazon marketing strategy approach in its annual reports, but there seems to be a focus on online marketing channels. Amazon (2011) states “we direct customers to our websites primarily through a number of targeted online marketing channels, such as our Associates program, sponsored search, portal advertising, email marketing campaigns, and other initiatives”.

These other initiatives may include outdoor and TV advertising, but they are not mentioned specifically. In this statement they also highlight the importance of customer loyalty tools. They say: “while costs associated with free shipping are not included in marketing expense, we view free shipping offers and Amazon Prime as effective worldwide marketing tools, and intend to continue offering them indefinitely”.

How ‘The Culture of Metrics’ started

A common theme in Amazon’s development is the drive to use a measured approach to all aspects of the business, beyond the finance. Marcus (2004) describes an occasion at a corporate ‘boot-camp’ in January 1997 when Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos ‘saw the light’. ‘

At Amazon, we will have a Culture of Metrics’, he said while addressing his senior staff. He went on to explain how web-based business gave Amazon an ‘amazing window into human behaviour’.

Marcus says: ‘Gone were the fuzzy approximations of focus groups, the anecdotal fudging and smoke blowing from the marketing department' - the Amazon marketing strategy was reborn!

A company like Amazon could (and did) record every move a visitor made, every last click and twitch of the mouse. As the data piled up into virtual heaps, hummocks and mountain ranges, you could draw all sorts of conclusions about their chimerical nature, the consumer. In this sense, Amazon was not merely a store, but an immense repository of facts. All we needed were the right equations to plug into them’.

James Marcus then goes on to give a fascinating insight into a breakout group discussion of how Amazon could better use measures to improve its performance. Marcus was in the Bezos group, brainstorming customer-centric metrics. Marcus (2004) summarises the dialogue, led by Bezos:

"First, we figure out which things we’d like to measure on the site", he said.

"For example, let’s say we want a metric for customer enjoyment. How could we calculate that?"

"There was silence. Then somebody ventured: "How much time each customer spends on the site?"

"Not specific enough", Jeff said.

"How about the average number of minutes each customer spends on the site per session" someone else suggested. "If that goes up, they’re having a blast".

"But how do we factor in the purchase?" I [Marcus] said feeling proud of myself.

"Is that a measure of enjoyment"?

"I think we need to consider the frequency of visits, too", said a dark-haired woman I didn’t recognize.

“Lot of folks are still accessing the web with those creepy-crawly modems. Four short visits from them might be just as good as one visit from a guy with a T-1. Maybe better’.

"Good point", Jeff said. "And anyway, enjoyment is just the start. In the end, we should be measuring customer ecstasy"

It is interesting that Amazon was having this debate about the elements of RFM analysis (described in Chapter 6 of Internet Marketing), 1997, after already having achieved $16 million of revenue in the previous year. Of course, this is a minuscule amount compared with today’s billions of dollar turnover. The important point was that this was the start of a focus on metrics which can be seen through the description of Matt Pounds work later in this case study.

Amazon marketing strategy experiments!

Amazon have created their own internal experimentation platform called a “Weblab” that they use to evaluate improvements to our websites and products. In 2013, they ran 1,976 Weblabs worldwide, up from 1,092 in 2012, and 546 in 2011. Now many companies use AB testing, but this shows the scale of testing at Amazon.

One example of how these are applied is a new feature called “Ask an owner”.  From a product page, customers can ask any question related to the product, Amazon then route these questions to owners of the product who answer.

From human to software-based recommendations

Amazon marketing strategy has developed internal tools to support this ‘Culture of Metrics’. Marcus (2004) describes how the ‘Creator Metrics’ tool shows content creators how well their product listings and product copy are working. For each content editor such as Marcus, it retrieves all recently posted documents including articles, interviews, booklists and features. For each one it then gives a conversion rate to sale plus the number of page views, adds (added to basket) and repels (content requested, but the back button then used).

In time, the work of editorial reviewers such as Marcus was marginalised since Amazon found that the majority of visitors used the search tools rather than read editorial and they responded to the personalised recommendations as the matching technology improved (Marcus likens early recommendations techniques to ‘going shopping with the village idiot’).

Experimentation and testing at Amazon.com

The ‘Culture of Metrics’ also led to a test-driven approach to improving results at Amazon. Matt Round, speaking at E-metrics 2004 when he was director of personalisation at Amazon describes the philosophy as ‘Data Trumps Intuitions’. He explained how Amazon used to have a lot of arguments about which content and promotion should go on the all important home page or category pages. He described how every category VP wanted top-center and how the Friday meetings about placements for next week were getting ‘too long, too loud, and lacked performance data’.

But today ‘automation replaces intuitions’ and real-time experimentation tests are always run to answer these questions since actual consumer behaviour is the best way to decide upon tactics.

Marcus (2004) also notes that Amazon has a culture of experiments of which A/B tests are key components. Examples where A/B tests are used include new home page design, moving features around the page, different algorithms for recommendations, changing search relevance rankings. These involve testing a new treatment against a previous control for a limited time of a few days or a week. The system will randomly show one or more treatments to visitors and measure a range of parameters such as units sold and revenue by category (and total), session time, session length, etc. The new features will usually be launched if the desired metrics are statistically significantly better.

Statistical tests are a challenge though as distributions are not normal (they have a large mass at zero for example of no purchase) There are other challenges since multiple A/B tests are running every day and A/B tests may overlap and so conflict. There are also longer-term effects where some features are ‘cool’ for the first two weeks and the opposite effect where changing navigation may degrade performance temporarily. Amazon also finds that as its users evolve in their online experience the way they act online has changed. This means that Amazon has to constantly test and evolve its features.

With the latest announcement from Google to sunset their Google Optimize A/B testing , digital marketers will do well to look out for new technology to assist in their testing efforts. We'll keep our members updated with announcements

Amazon.com technology marketing strategy

It follows that the Amazon technology infrastructure must readily support this culture of experimentation and this can be difficult to achieved with standardised content management. Amazon has achieved its competitive advantage through developing its technology internally and with a significant investment in this which may not be available to other organisations without the right focus on the online channels.

As Amazon explains in SEC (2005) ‘using primarily our own proprietary technologies, as well as technology licensed from third parties, we have implemented numerous features and functionality that simplify and improve the customer shopping experience, enable third parties to sell on our platform, and facilitate our fulfillment and customer service operations. Our current strategy is to focus our development efforts on continuous innovation by creating and enhancing the specialized, proprietary software that is unique to our business, and to license or acquire commercially-developed technology for other applications where available and appropriate. We continually invest in several areas of technology, including our seller platform; A9.com, our wholly-owned subsidiary focused on search technology on www.A9.com and other Amazon sites; web services; and digital initiatives.’

Round (2004) describes the technology approach as ‘distributed development and deployment’. Pages such as the home page have a number of content ‘pods’ or ‘slots’ which call web services for features. This makes it relatively easy to change the content in these pods and even change the location of the pods on-screen. Amazon uses a flowable or fluid page design unlike many sites which enables it to make the most of real-estate on-screen.

Technology also supports more standard e-retail facilities. SEC (2005) states: ‘We use a set of applications for accepting and validating customer orders, placing and tracking orders with suppliers, managing and assigning inventory to customer orders, and ensuring proper shipment of products to customers. Our transaction-processing systems handle millions of items, a number of different status inquiries, multiple shipping addresses, gift-wrapping requests, and multiple shipment methods. These systems allow the customer to choose whether to receive single or several shipments based on availability and to track the progress of each order. These applications also manage the process of accepting, authorizing, and charging customer credit cards.’

Data-driven Automation

Round (2004) said that ‘Data is king at Amazon’. He gave many examples of data driven automation including customer channel preferences; managing the way content is displayed to different user types such as new releases and top-sellers, merchandising and recommendation (showing related products and promotions) and also advertising through paid search (automatic ad generation and bidding).

The automated search advertising and bidding system for paid search has had a big impact at Amazon. Sponsored links initially done by humans, but this was unsustainable due to range of products at Amazon. The automated programme generates keywords, writes ad creative, determines best landing page, manages bids, measure conversion rates, profit per converted visitor and updates bids. Again the problem of volume is there, Matt Round described how the book ‘How to Make Love Like a Porn Star’ by Jenna Jameson received tens of thousands of clicks from pornography-related searches, but few actually purchased the book. So the update cycle must be quick to avoid large losses.

There is also an automated email measurement and optimization system. The campaign calendar used to be manually managed with relatively weak measurement and it was costly to schedule and use. A new system:

• Automatically optimizes content to improve customer experience
• Avoids sending an e-mail campaign that has low clickthrough or high unsubscribe rate
• Includes inbox management (avoid sending multiple emails/week)
• Has growing library of automated email programs covering new releases and recommendations

But there are challenges if promotions are too successful if inventory isn’t available.

Your Recommendations

Customers Who Bought X…, also bought Y is Amazon’s signature feature. Round (2004) describes how Amazon relies on acquiring and then crunching a massive amount of data. Every purchase, every page viewed and every search is recorded. So there are now to new version, customers who shopped for X also shopped for… and Customers who searched for X also bought… They also have a system codenamed ‘Goldbox’ which is a cross-sell and awareness raising tool. Items are discounted to encourage purchases in new categories!

See the original more detailed PDF article on Amazon personalization / recommendation collaborative filtering system .

He also describes the challenge of techniques for sifting patterns from noise (sensitivity filtering) and clothing and toy catalogues change frequently so recommendations become out of date. The main challenges though are the massive data size arising from millions of customers, millions of items and recommendations made in real time.

Amazon marketing strategy for partnerships

As Amazon grew, its share price growth enabled partnership or acquisition with a range of companies in different sectors. Marcus (2004) describes how Amazon partnered with Drugstore.com (pharmacy), Living.com (furniture), Pets.com (pet supplies), Wineshopper.com (wines), HomeGrocer.com (groceries), Sothebys.com (auctions) and Kozmo.com (urban home delivery). In most cases, Amazon purchased an equity stake in these partners, so that it would share in their prosperity. It also charged them fees for placements on the Amazon site to promote and drive traffic to their sites.

Similarly, Amazon marketing strategy was to charge publishers for prime-position to promote books on its site which caused an initial hue-and-cry, but this abated when it was realised that paying for prominent placements was widespread in traditional booksellers and supermarkets. Many of these new online companies failed in 1999 and 2000, but Amazon had covered the potential for growth and was not pulled down by these partners, even though for some such as Pets.com it had an investment of 50%.

Analysts sometimes refer to ‘Amazoning a sector’ meaning that one company becomes dominant in an online sector such as book retail such that it becomes very difficult for others to achieve market share. In addition to developing, communicating and delivering a very strong proposition, Amazon has been able to consolidate its strength in different sectors through its partnership arrangements and through using technology to facilitate product promotion and distribution via these partnerships. The Amazon retail platform enables other retailers to sell products online using the Amazon user interface and infrastructure through their ‘Syndicated Stores’ programme.

For example, in the UK, Waterstones (www.waterstones.co.uk) is one of the largest traditional bookstores. It found competition with online so expensive and challenging, that eventually it entered a partnership arrangement where Amazon markets and distributes its books online in return for a commission online. Similarly, in the US, Borders a large book retailer uses the Amazon merchant platform for distributing its products.

Toy retailer Toys R’ Us have a similar arrangement. Such partnerships help Amazon extends its reach into the customer-base of other suppliers, and of course, customers who buy in one category such as books can be encouraged to purchase into other areas such as clothing or electronics.

Another form of partnership referred to above is the Amazon Marketplace which enables Amazon customers and other retailers to sell their new and used books and other goods alongside the regular retail listings. A similar partnership approach is the Amazon ‘Merchants@’ program which enables third party merchants (typically larger than those who sell via the Amazon Marketplace) to sell their products via Amazon. Amazon earn fees either through fixed fees or sales commissions per-unit. This arrangement can help customers who get a wider choice of products from a range of suppliers with the convenience of purchasing them through a single checkout process.

Finally, Amazon marketing strategy has also facilitated formation of partnerships with smaller companies through its affiliates programme. Internet legend records that Jeff Bezos, the creator of Amazon was chatting to someone at a cocktail party who wanted to sell books about divorce via her web site. Subsequently, Amazon.com launched its Associates Program in July 1996 and it is still going strong.

Here, the Amazon marketing strategy has created a tiered performance-based incentives to encourage affiliates to sell more Amazon products.

Amazon Marketing strategy communications

In their SEC filings Amazon state that the aims of their communications strategy are (unsurprisingly) to:

• Increase customer traffic to our websites
• Create awareness of our products and services
• Promote repeat purchases
• Develop incremental product and service revenue opportunities
• Strengthen and broaden the Amazon.com brand name.

Amazon also believes that its most effective marketing communications are a consequence of their focus on continuously improving the customer experience. This then creates word-of-mouth promotion which is effective in acquiring new customers and may also encourage repeat customer visits.

As well as this Marcus (2004) describes how Amazon used the personalisation enabled through technology to reach out to a difficult to reach market which Bezos originally called ‘the hard middle’. Bezos’s view was that it was easy to reach 10 people (you called them on the phone) or the ten million people who bought the most popular products (you placed a superbowl ad), but more difficult to reach those in between. The search facilities in the search engine and on the Amazon site, together with its product recommendation features meant that Amazon could connect its products with the interests of these people.

Online advertising techniques include paid search marketing, interactive ads on portals, e-mail campaigns and search engine optimisation. These are automated as far as possible as described earlier in the case study. As previously mentioned, the affiliate programme is also important in driving visitors to Amazon and Amazon offers a wide range of methods of linking to its site to help improve conversion.

For example, affiliates can use straight text links leading direct to a product page and they also offer a range of dynamic banners which feature different content such as books about Internet marketing or a search box. Amazon also use cooperative advertising arrangements, better known as ‘contra-deals’ with some vendors and other third parties. For example, a print advertisement in 2005 for a particular product such as a wireless router with a free wireless laptop card promotion will feature a specific Amazon URL in the ad. In product fulfilment packs, Amazon may include a leaflet for a non-competing online company such as Figleaves.com (lingerie) or Expedia (travel). In return, Amazon leaflets may be included in customer communications from the partner brands.

Our Associates program directs customers to our websites by enabling independent websites to make millions of products available to their audiences with fulfillment performed by us or third parties. We pay commissions to hundreds of thousands of participants in our Associates program when their customer referrals result in product sales.

In addition, we offer everyday free shipping options worldwide and recently announced Amazon.com Prime in the U.S., our first membership program in which members receive free two-day shipping and discounted overnight shipping. Although marketing expenses do not include the costs of our free shipping or promotional offers, we view such offers as effective marketing tools.

Marcus, J. (2004) Amazonia. Five years at the epicentre of the dot-com juggernaut, The New Press, New York, NY.

Round, M. (2004) Presentation to E-metrics, London, May 2005. www.emetrics.org.

By Dave Chaffey

Digital strategist Dr Dave Chaffey is co-founder and Content Director of online marketing training platform and publisher Smart Insights. 'Dr Dave' is known for his strategic, but practical, data-driven advice. He has trained and consulted with many business of all sizes in most sectors. These include large international B2B and B2C brands including 3M, BP, Barclaycard, Dell, Confused.com, HSBC, Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft, M&G Investment, Rentokil Initial, O2, Royal Canin (Mars Group) plus many smaller businesses. Dave is editor of the templates, guides and courses in our digital marketing resource library used by our Business members to plan, manage and optimize their marketing. Free members can access our free sample templates here . Dave is also keynote speaker, trainer and consultant who is author of 5 bestselling books on digital marketing including Digital Marketing Excellence and Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice . In 2004 he was recognised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing as one of 50 marketing ‘gurus’ worldwide who have helped shape the future of marketing. My personal site, DaveChaffey.com, lists my latest Digital marketing and E-commerce books and support materials including a digital marketing glossary . Please connect on LinkedIn to receive updates or ask me a question .

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15 Ways to Share Your Business Case Studies With The People Most Likely To Buy

Business case studies can help you connect with more of the right potential clients and close more deals. 

15. include links to your business case study in press releases.

This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase. This helps me pay to keep this site going and to bring all these free resources to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Customers want to see that your product or service works to solve their specific challenges. To see this, they often explore social proof like testimonials, reviews, and—perhaps most importantly—case studies. 

One of the most effective ways to boost leads and sales, in our experience, is to create regular case studies and share them throughout various stages of your buyer journey. 

You can show what you do better than competitors and what makes you unique and helpful. Simultaneously, a case study can inspire trust, add authority to your niche, and support your SEO efforts. 

Today, if you visit a business website where owners have invested in content, you will likely see case studies about their recent clients’ successes. However, few businesses understand how to promote their case studies effectively. 

It takes considerable time and money to produce a compelling case study . So we urge you to make sure that you promote your business case studies through these 15 simple methods. 

Want help to produce compelling business case studies? Grab our complimentary “6 Steps to Winning Case Studies” ebook . The PDF includes our simple 6-step process for producing high-quality case studies, as well as email templates. 

How to Share Business Case Studies With The Right People

Before creating your case study, you were probably already concerned with your ideal client personas and their pain points. 

Be sure to consider these when promoting your business case studies too. 

Important : It’s a good idea to get clients’ permission in writing to use their name/company name, testimonials, and case studies publicly. We always work with our clients to get permission from their clients before sharing anything publicly.

1. Announce your case study on social media

Write engaging copy that sparks curiosity. Use an attractive photo of your happy client (or their company logo). Include a link to your case study on your website. 

For example, you might write a post that describes the challenge, process, and outcome in a way that entices them to learn more.

Here’s an excellent example of a customer success story that we created for Bean Ninjas, and the social post used to promote it.

Client Success: Here’s How We Reduced @Bento ’s Bookkeeping Time to 5 Minutes Per Month. Read more 👉 https://t.co/dW0ay9sgc0 #ecommerce #bookkeeping #clientwins pic.twitter.com/Uw9ySWWKhH — Bean Ninjas (@BeanNinjas) August 31, 2020

Here’s another fantastic example from our good friend Stephanie Liu – host of Lights, Camera Live. Notice how Steph:

• Presented the case study at a live event,
• Uploaded an edit of the recording to youtube and then
• Embedded the youtube video in a Linkedin post.

That’s just seriously epic all around!

Now here’s another example. Bryan Harris of Growth Tools celebrates his client results on Twitter:

🔥Clients had 104 wins last week. Total revenue impact of $82,031. ➡️Dawn landed new $15k client ➡️Shane closed 2 clients for $20k ➡️Odell added $9k in sales ➡️Michelle sold $17k in courses See all 104 wins: https://t.co/xJEeUzsoq1 BOOM! — Bryan Harris (@Harris_Bryan) September 21, 2020

2. Create a “Customer success stories” page on your website

Just as you might have an archive page for all your articles on a specific theme or topic (also commonly referred to as “content pillar”), why not create a single page that lists all your customer success stories?

Here are some cool examples of companies that have done this well.

Xero: “Meet our customers” page

Convertkit: Creator Stories page

3. Add case studies to your proposal template

Don’t underestimate the power of sharing social proof during the consideration phase of the buyer’s journey.

Prospective clients typically ask, “have you worked with a business like mine that had a similar challenge? How did you solve it for them? ”

If you time it right, you can drop a valuable case study just when your prospective client is considering moving forward with your business. That can be just what they need to pull them over the line. 

We’ve used this effectively in our proposals to close deals. We simply added a case study to our proposal template software .

Here’s how it looks:  

4. Sneak it into your signature.

This can be good for sales if you tease your case study in an email signature. You can use your email signature in many ways, but this one speaks to your prospects’ need for social proof. A simple note that reads, “ Read how [client] found success with us. ”

5. Add case studies to your lead generation efforts

You can leverage several offers in the form of ebooks, checklists, templates, and more. A “step-by-step” guide is a popular way to gain leads for some businesses, and your case study can be another way to garner leads if you can show them how to duplicate your case study’s success. 

A unique landing page can be your mechanism for disseminating your case study, allowing you to cultivate interest and desire around the content. Use copywriting best practices to create a high-converting page.

Here’s an example from business coach Samantha Riley:

6. Use business case studies for team training

Rather than rely on your case study and testimonials alone , you can create a wealth of content that your employees can use in various contexts. 

For instance, you could share your customer success stories during onboarding for a new team member. They’ll appreciate what a win looks like for your clients and how their particular role contributes to creating such a victory.

Additionally, put together some slides highlighting your case study’s findings. Share it with your team so they can show prospective clients. 

You can also export your slide deck as a PDF for sharing or upload to Slideshare (more on tip #14 below).

7. Present case studies on webinars and talks

You can completely repurpose your case study as an educational webinar (or part of one), but you might also simply describe it to your captive audience. 

You’ll be surprised about how many potential customers want to learn more based on a personal recommendation.

Here’s an example of a webinar that Zapier presented of one of their client success stories:

8. Print your case study for networking events

Suppose you have a speaking engagement or an invitation to a relevant networking event. In that case, you can allow networkers to learn about your client’s success through a printed flyer or brochure, but make sure you can present it verbally in a few seconds. 

You can even include a testimonial from a case study on your business card (if folks in your industry are still exchanging those). 

Don’t forget to include the case study in your presentation at the event, as stated earlier.

9. Break out case study quotes as testimonials

Case studies typically beat testimonials regarding social proof, but you can also promote your case study by pulling quotes from it and sharing it in various places.  

Let’s look at a few places where testimonials from case studies can be useful.

On a slide in your presentation deck 

On your product/service sales pages

Here’s an example from Superfast Business .

Here’s another example from our own Content Strategy Workshop/consulting page .

You’ll notice the first testimonial is in video format at the top of the page.

Then further down the page are written testimonials, which are text transcriptions from video testimonials. 

On your calendar booking page/tool

Here’s an example from my calendar booking page.

In case you’re wondering, the tool that we’re using for this is Book Like a Boss . 

We also encourage you to request your clients to share their wins on various sites to add social proof to your online presence.

Google Reviews 

Google Reviews are incredibly powerful if you’re in retail, run a local physical store like a cafe or restaurant, or have a physical office space.

Linkedin profile recommendation

If your prospects are on the #1 professional network on the planet, you’ll want to ask your clients to add their case study testimonials as recommendations on Linkedin.

Here’s a recommendation that we got from our client Maxim for our done-for-you case study service .

As social media posts

Here’s a great example of a cool testimonial that Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income shared on his Instagram profile: (pay attention to how it’s results-focused )

View this post on Instagram Big congratulations to Chris Gilmore, one of my 𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 Students who has been working tremendously hard having conversations, testing, and validating his business idea with his audience and partners over the past year. He finally launched his first online course, and he crushed it! Surviving the Storm is a unique take (sort of like a gamified version of an online course) on learning how to survive certain emergency situations. He’s been active in the forums and on office hours most weeks, and it has paid off! Woot! 🔥 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆! A post shared by Pat Flynn (@patflynn) on Apr 17, 2019 at 9:03am PDT

10. Create a video or podcast version of your study.

Similarly, a podcast or video featuring an interview with your successful clients can help reach customers who consume different media forms more regularly than text. 

We prefer to record our case studies as video (or a FB Live interview), and then use a tool like Repurpose.io to send it to a podcast and other formats. It’s an easy-to-use automation platform that will grow your online presence without spending hours publishing your content to multiple platforms.

Here’s a success story interview that we helped produce for the Bean Ninjas podcast.

11. Pitch the study and client for a trade publication or podcast.

Can you use your case study information to pitch the topic to bloggers, publications, podcasts, or the media? 

Give it a unique angle and a shot!

You never know. You may just land a guest speaking, podcasting, or writing gig.

Perhaps your client is willing to be interviewed again too, and they might land an opportunity to promote their business on someone else’s platform. 

12. Rewrite your case study as a newsletter.

You can gain the attention of prospects and improve client relations when you give them a feeling they’re part of a conversation and community. 

Showcase your customer’s success and show others. Try a headline like “How our most successful clients are doing.”

Email your case study to customers as a short-form newsletter and suggest readers download the full version. Share a summary with a link to a relevant post, podcast, video, landing page, or study. 

13. Add your business case studies to your email onboarding & prospect nurture sequence

Remembering that our goal here is to help generate more leads and sales for your business, you’ll miss out big time if you skip this one.

Ensure that you take your best case studies and add them to your new subscriber welcome sequence, or send them out as part of your regular newsletter.

Here’s a great example of using a client win in an email sequence from Bryan Harris of Growth Tools :

14. Upload your case studies to Slideshare

Slideshare was formerly a Linkedin acquisition and has recently joined the Scribd family of products. Now in case you’re not familiar with the platform, 80 million professionals use SlideShare to learn about any topic quickly from subject matter experts.

Slideshare has grown into a top destination for professional content. Today, with over 18 million uploads in 40 content categories, it’s one of the world’s top 100 most-visited websites.

So uploading your case studies and presentations to SlideShare is worth the effort. 

Here are a couple of examples:

The folks in the media generally love a compelling success story. 

Case studies can help writers, reporters, and researchers who might be interested in your business. 

Provide them, when relevant, in your press releases with links.

Final Thoughts

Many small business owners struggle to create helpful and authoritative content for their customers to consume and share. They quickly get overwhelmed. They’re stuck on the “content machine” treadmill.

However, more content does not necessarily equate to more lead conversions or sales.

Producing and promoting high-quality client success stories is a proven strategy for demonstrating that your business can deliver on its promises to customers. 

There are many tools available for you to make impressive business case studies. 

To save yourself some time, grab our complimentary “6 Steps to Winning Case Studies” ebook . The PDF includes our simple 6-step process for producing high-quality case studies, as well as email templates. 

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What is Market Share: Definition, Formulas, and Examples

Free Website Traffic Checker

Discover your competitors' strengths and leverage them to achieve your own success

Market Share represents the success of a business in cold hard numbers.

Knowing what it is and how to measure it can help a business benchmark performance, track success, and make plans to grow.

What is market share?

Market share is a company’s percentage of the overall sales in a given industry or market.

Why is market share important?

Market share is the ultimate measure of a company’s success within its market. It’s calculated using sales revenue, not profit. Knowing how you stack up against rivals is a solid indicator that can be used for competitive benchmarking , identifying industry leaders , strategic planning, and much more.

Why do you need to grow your market share?

Market share is usually assessed over a fiscal year or quarter.  Monitoring it helps evaluate your company’s growth by examining how you progress relative to the overall market growth. A thriving company will see its market share increase  faster than that of the competition.

Any tiny shift in the market distribution in stable markets can disrupt well-balanced market forces. In growth markets, changes are expected and, therefore, less significant.  With new products or technology, a vendor could bite off a competitor’s share or attract a new target audience that wasn’t previously part of the equation.

However dynamic your market, increasing your industry share is vital for growth. Capturing a larger percentage of the market means you are increasing sales and revenue.

How do you calculate market share?

There are many ways to establish market share, and finding the right method for your business is important. It can be gained or taken quickly, so companies must use Digital Intelligence tools like Similarweb to keep track of key market share metrics in real time. Simply using revenue figures alone is no longer enough to keep up with the speed of change that most markets are experiencing .

Market share formula by revenue

Take your total annual revenue figure, divide it by the total overall revenue for your market, and then multiply it by 100 to get the percentage. For example, if your annual revenue is $1M, and the total revenue for your market is $100M, then you have a 1% share of the market.

Relative market share formula

You may want to compare your business to a specific competitor or industry leader. In this case, you can calculate the relative market share. Divide your market share by that of the relevant rival.

Read more in our full guide to market share formulas – Expand Your Reach: 4 Market Share Formulas to Get You There

Analyzing your market share

The company with the largest market share is usually considered the industry leader. But market share is no key indicator of a company’s financial health, profitability, or growth.  It measures your competitiveness and gives you a general idea of how you match up in your target arena.

What does market share mean for your position in the competitive environment? It shows how the pie is sliced and how big a piece you have relative to everyone else. When you segment your target market , you receive a more granulated view. Picture each segment as a whole pie and compare how the distribution of portions varies.

Digital companies often use traffic share to gauge their control of the online “pie.” This is particularly valuable if you are running a non-ecommerce site and can’t measure your percentage based on revenue. Measure your traffic share and segment it as you would the market. Take a look at the example in the following section to see how it’s done.

Understanding your market share

Market share is also relative to your business. A global market share of 1% is nothing to brag about for a company that sells to the worldwide market. But if you only target Texas, it’s an impressive number, and you might even be leading the local market.

As a local vendor, you should consider  benchmarking  against comparable businesses in other regions. Choose similar size companies with equivalent  audience demographics . This lets you evaluate if your market share is average for your type of company or exceptionally high or low.

To gauge market share correctly, look at your target audience segment . Your company may focus primarily on women, millennials , or high-income customers, which means your goal is leadership in a particular market segment. You’ll conquer the rest later with a new strategy.

The bottom line; when you try to gain insights from market share, make sure to view it in the proper context.

Market share example

Another way to calculate market share is to use website traffic as your key performance indicator . This way, you get a benchmark you can track in real-time, and while it’s not revenue-based, it shows how much interest and activity takes place in a market and allows you to track known industry leaders and your own site efficiently and easily.

Here’s a faster, more modern approach to measuring your share of the market. In this example, I’m using the accommodation and hotel market to demonstrate how to quickly analyze market share.

In 30 seconds, I can see who the industry leaders are and by what percent their business has grown or declined in a given period. I also see rising players; this is interesting, as these companies show notable growth in my market . So, while they have a relatively low share right now, they are emerging names with the ability to disrupt a market fast. At the bottom of the market leaders page, I can see a list of market leaders, sorted by share of traffic, with other useful traffic and engagement metrics to track, along with a yearly change %. This covers the top 10k domains in a sector, so it’s extensive and comprehensive.

You’ll have noticed a market quadrant analysis too. A quick click downloads a nice visual representation of the market leaders; which you can filter and sort according to the market share metrics that matter to you most. In this example, I chose unique visitors and traffic share.

5 ways to increase market share

• Marketing and branding With more aggressive advertising, you can expand your reach, gain more users, and increase customer loyalty. For long-term effectiveness, a strong branding strategy is essential.
• Price reduction You can tackle the issue from another angle by lowering your pricing just enough to beat the competition. This is the idea behind periodic discount campaigns, in which companies manage to steal competitors’ customers before raising prices again.
• Retention Nurturing your existing customer base is an underutilized and highly effective method. You keep your customers close when you maintain a positive relationship and send an occasional special offer.
• Innovation The best example of this strategy is Apple. The company constantly and regularly offers new product lines and innovative features for its existing products. Customers keep coming back for more.
• Acquisition If you can’t beat them, buy them. One way that helps Facebook to expand is by acquiring smaller companies and taking over their market share. Instead of winning over new customers, they take over the company.

Drawing conclusions from market analysis

Let’s look at an example of a non-ecommerce digital competitive set and the insights we gain from looking at market share.

Take the news site cnn.com. To define the target market , we look at the overall traffic to publishers and media sites . Specifically in the U.S., CNN’s traffic share is roughly 12%, putting them in second place right after Yahoo, also the global leader.

On the other hand, the news channel ranks number 85 globally. Does this mean CNN isn’t a significant news channel? Not necessarily. We can learn two things: Americans are the largest segment of news consumers, and CNN successfully targets American readers. We can also analyze traffic segments, such as specific marketing channels or devices, to learn more.

The next step

Similarweb Digital Research Intelligence is THE go-to platform for accurate traffic trend data. Compared to other market analysis tools , it provides the freshest insights, packaged in an intuitive platform that highlights the important changes and market share metrics you need to track.

Why Similarweb

• Data you can depend on
• Dynamically updates to give daily insights
• Easy-to-use platform, filled with useful market intelligence
• Highly accurate market trends data
• Try it for free and find out where your market stands.

How can I measure market share growth?

Calculate market growth by subtracting the market size for year one from the market size for year two. Divide the result by the market size for year one and multiply by 100 to convert it to a percentage.

What is the market share formula?

Divide your business revenue (traffic) by the total industry revenue (traffic). The result is your market share.

What is the quickest way to calculate market share?

Use a digital intelligence platform to capture real-time market share data. Outdated methods that rely on revenue alone fail to give you a current view of industry leaders.

How can you increase your market share?

Increase market share by using marketing and branding, price reduction, retention, innovation, and acquisition.

by Liz March

Digital Research Specialist

Liz March has 15 years of experience in content creation. She enjoys the outdoors, F1, and reading, and is pursuing a BSc in Environmental Science.

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Wondering what similarweb can do for your business.

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15 Marketing Case Study Examples With Standout Success Stories

Some marketing campaigns leave a lasting impression. We’ve gathered insights from CEOs and marketing leaders to share one standout marketing case study that resonates with them.

Tomas Laurinavicius

Table of Contents

Dove’s real beauty campaign impact, oatly’s bold brand strategy, rockervox’s tax credit success, local bookstore’s community engagement, coca-cola’s personalized brand experience, dropbox’s viral referral program, authentic influencer marketing for cpg brand, airbnb’s “we accept” social impact, amul’s topical and humorous campaigns, axe’s “find your magic” brand refresh, squatty potty’s humorous viral video, old spice’s viral humor campaign, red bull stratos’s high-flying publicity, maple dental’s seo success story, dollar shave club’s viral launch video.

Some marketing campaigns leave a lasting impression.

We’ve gathered insights from CEOs and marketing leaders to share one standout marketing case study that resonates with them.

From Dove’s Real Beauty Campaign’s impact to Dollar Shave Club’s viral launch video, explore fifteen memorable marketing triumphs that these experts can’t forget.

• AXE’s ‘Find Your Magic’ Brand Refresh

One marketing case study that has always stayed with me is the Dove Real Beauty Campaign. It really struck a chord when it launched in 2004, challenging the beauty standards and celebrating women’s diversity. What made it stand out was the “Real Beauty Sketches” video, where women described themselves to a sketch artist. Seeing the stark contrast between their self-perceptions and how others saw them was incredibly eye-opening and touching.

What I found so compelling about this campaign was its message of self-acceptance and empowerment. Dove didn’t just try to sell products; they took a stand for something much bigger, and it resonated deeply with people. Using video storytelling was a genius move as it made the message more impactful and shareable. I believe Dove showed how brands can make a real difference by addressing important social issues in an authentic and meaningful way.

Nicole Dunn , CEO, PR and Marketing Expert, Dunn Pellier Media

As a content and brand marketer, Oatly’s brand strategy always inspires me. They are a textbook example of comprehensive brand-building.

Their visual style is instantly recognizable—bold, disruptive, and often filled with humor, making oat milk a statement and something you’d be proud to display on your shelves or socials.

Their tone of voice is witty, sometimes cheeky. They’ve even printed negative feedback on their packaging, which really just shows how they court controversy to spark conversations and enhance their brand’s visibility.

And there’s a strong story behind Oatly, too. They promote sustainability and aren’t shy about their environmental impact, which has simply helped them grow an enthusiastic community of environmental advocates. Clever in endless ways, such that tons of oat milk brands have followed suit.

Wisia Neo , Content Marketing Manager, ViB

One standout marketing case study that sticks with me is the implementation of our RockerVox Restaurant Bundle, aimed at optimizing cash flow through targeted use of employer-based tax credits. The power of this case study lies in its immediate financial impact on the client, a local restaurant chain that was struggling to keep its doors open in the wake of the pandemic.

By integrating the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) and other relevant tax schemes into their payroll setup, we enabled the restaurant to reclaim a significant amount in tax credits. The real game-changer was not just the financial relief but also how it was achieved. We combined this with StaffedUp’s Applicant Tracking System, which improved their hiring processes and decreased employee turnover. This holistic approach led to a sustainable improvement in their operations and cash flow.

What made this case study so great was its tangible results. The restaurant saw a cash flow improvement of over 100%. This wasn’t just a number on a report—it meant being able to invest back into the business, enhance their services, and ultimately, keep their community fed and employed. This approach of integrating technology with financial strategy can be adapted by other businesses striving for similar resilience and growth, especially in times of economic difficulty.

Philip Wentworth, Jr , Co-Founder and CEO, Rockerbox

Certainly, one particularly impactful marketing strategy I led at FireRock Marketing involved a small local bookstore that was facing steep competition from online retailers. Our challenge was to increase foot traffic and reinforce the store’s brand presence in a highly digitalized market.

We initiated a campaign called “Local Pages, Local Stages,” where we leveraged digital marketing alongside community engagement. The bookstore held monthly events featuring local authors and artists, which we promoted heavily through targeted social media ads, email marketing, and local influencer partnerships. This multifaceted approach tapped into the community’s growing interest in supporting local ventures, enhancing visibility significantly.

The outcomes were remarkable. Over the campaign’s six-month duration, in-store sales increased by 40%, and the bookstore saw a 65% rise in attendance at events, which also boosted ancillary revenue from merchandise and cafe sales. Additionally, social media engagement metrics increased by over 150%, reflecting greater brand awareness.

This case study sticks with me because it exemplifies the power of combining digital strategies with community-based marketing to create a sustainable growth model. It shows how businesses can use holistic, integrated approaches to effectively adapt to new consumer behaviors and competitive landscapes.

Ryan Esco , Chief Marketing Officer, FireRock Marketing

A memorable marketing case study is the “Share a Coke” campaign by Coca-Cola. Initially launched in Australia in 2011, this campaign personalized the Coke experience by replacing the iconic Coca-Cola logo on bottles with common first names.

The idea was to encourage people to find bottles with their names or those of their friends and family, creating a more personal connection to the brand. The campaign was an enormous hit and was quickly rolled out worldwide, incorporating more names and even terms of endearment in different languages.

The brilliance of this campaign lay in its use of personalization, which tapped directly into the social media trend of sharing personal moments. People enthusiastically shared their personalized Coke bottles on various social media platforms, significantly amplifying the campaign’s reach beyond traditional advertising media.

This strategy boosted sales and reinforced Coca-Cola’s position as a fun and innovative brand. The “Share a Coke” campaign is a powerful example of how traditional products can be revitalized through creative marketing strategies that engage consumers personally.

Sahil Kakkar , CEO and Founder, RankWatch

For me, a standout marketing case study that really sticks with me is Dropbox’s referral program strategy back in their early days. By offering free storage space for every successful referral, they incentivized existing users to spread the word organically, resulting in exponential growth at virtually no acquisition cost.

What made this case study so brilliant was how elegantly it aligned product experience with viral sharing. Users had a vested interest in sharing Dropbox since it directly expanded their own cloud storage. This created a self-perpetuating cycle where better product engagement fueled more referrals, which then improved engagement further.

It was an ingenious lever that capitalized on the inherent sharing dynamics of their service to ignite explosive growth. The simplicity and potency of this growth hack is what truly resonates as a paragon of effective guerrilla marketing.

Ben Walker , Founder and CEO, Ditto Transcripts

One marketing case study that has always stuck with me was a campaign I led for a major CPG brand a few years back. The goal was to increase awareness and trial of their new line of organic snacks among millennial moms in a crowded market.

We developed an influencer seeding strategy focused on relatable mom micro-influencers on Instagram. Instead of just sending products, we worked with the influencers to develop authentic content that told real stories about the role of snacking and nutrition in busy family life. The photos and videos felt genuine, not overly polished or promotional.

Engagement was through the roof—the content resonated so strongly with the target audience. By the end of the 3-month campaign, we increased awareness by 45% and trial by over 20%. The CPG brand was thrilled, and the case study became an example we still reference today of the power of influencer marketing done right. Authenticity wins.

Gert Kulla , CEO, RedBat.Agency

One marketing case study that stuck with me was the Airbnb “We Accept” campaign, launched in 2017, focusing on social impact. This response to the global refugee crisis aimed to promote inclusivity, diversity, and acceptance within communities worldwide.

What made this case study remarkable was its ability to leverage the Airbnb platform to facilitate connections between hosts and displaced persons, providing them with temporary housing and support.

Airbnb demonstrated its commitment to using its platform for social good and making a tangible difference in the lives of those in need. This aligned with its mission to create a world where anyone can belong anywhere.

At the end of the day, Airbnb’s “We Accept” campaign was a compelling case study showing brands how to address social issues, promote inclusivity, and drive positive change in communities worldwide.

Peter Bryla , Community Manager, ResumeLab

One standout marketing case study that sticks with me is the “Amul” marketing campaigns by Amul, the iconic Indian dairy cooperative, make for excellent and impactful case studies as well. Here’s why Amul’s marketing stands out:

The Amul Girl – The mascot of a mischievous, friendly butter girl has become one of India’s most recognizable brand icons since her inception in 1966. Her presence on topical ads commenting on the latest news and pop culture trends has made Amul’s billboards a long-standing source of joy and relevance.

Topicality – Amul’s billboards and newspaper ads are renowned for their topicality and ability to humorously comment on major events, celebrity happenings, and political developments within hours. This real-time marketing has kept the brand part of daily conversations for decades.

Humor – The not-so-secret sauce is the brilliant use of puns, wordplay, and satirical humor that Amul consistently delivers through the eyes of the Amul Girl. The healthy, inoffensive jokes have earned a cult following.

Longevity – Very few brands can boast an equally iconic and successful campaign running for over 50 years, still keeping audiences engaged across multiple generations. The long-running property itself has become a case study in sustaining relevance.

Local Connect – While achieving pan-India recognition, the puns often play on regional language nuances, striking a chord with Amul’s Gujarati roots and building a personal connection with local consumers.

The impact of Amul’s long-running topical billboard campaign is unmatched—it has not only strengthened brand recognition and loyalty but has also made the cooperative a beloved part of India’s popular culture and daily life. Creativity, agility, and contextual marketing at its best!

Yash Gangwal , Founder, Urban Monkey

Axe (Lynx in the UK) had created a problematic brand image from past marketing efforts. Their focus on ‘attraction is connected to conquest’ hadn’t dissuaded men from buying their deodorants, but had a toxic effect on perceptions of women. Research conducted on brand equity showed that brand equity was declining, with this perception of the brand aging poorly and desperately needing a refresh to continue allowing the brand to be relevant for the future.

That led to a superb partnership with creative agency 72andSunny Amsterdam. Unilever was able to tap into an entirely new philosophy for its brand:

Empower men to be the most attractive man they could be – themselves.

With that idea in mind, 2016 saw the launch of the AXE ‘Find Your Magic’ commercial, a stunning celebration of the diversity of modern masculinity. The campaign also saw the release of a new range of premium grooming products and a supporting influencer marketing campaign featuring brand ambassadors, including John Legend.

While not all parts of the creative were successful, the campaign drove more than 39 million views and 4 billion media impressions in the first quarter after the launch. But most critically, AXE saw a 30+% increase in positive perception of their brand.

This campaign will stand the test of time because it combines several important and brave initiatives:

• A forward-thinking mentality that the brand image you have today may not be suited for a future world
• A broader understanding of what your customer base looks like – women also play a big role in men’s choice of deodorant
• A big and bold attempt to change the way your brand is perceived – and succeeding with flying colors.

Yannis Dimitroulas , SEO and Digital Marketing Specialist, Front & Centre

One standout marketing case study that sticks with me is the campaign for Squatty Potty. The brand created a humorous video featuring a unicorn pooping rainbow ice cream to demonstrate the benefits of using their product. This unconventional approach garnered widespread attention and went viral, generating millions of views and shares on social media platforms.

The success of this campaign can be attributed to its creative storytelling, humor, and shock value, which made it memorable and engaging for viewers. By thinking outside the box and taking a risk with their messaging, Squatty Potty was able to create a unique and effective marketing strategy that resonated with consumers.

This case study serves as a reminder that creativity and originality can set a brand apart in a crowded marketplace, ultimately leading to increased brand awareness and customer engagement.

Carly Hill , Operations Manager, Virtual Holiday Party

The Old Spice ‘The Man Your Man Could Smell Like’ campaign remains etched in my memory. Its brilliance lies in its humor and creativity. By featuring a charismatic spokesperson and employing absurd scenarios, it captured viewers’ attention and went viral.

The campaign seamlessly integrated across platforms, from TV to social media, maximizing its reach. Its cleverness and entertainment value made it unforgettable, setting a benchmark for engaging marketing strategies. The case study showcases the importance of storytelling and humor in capturing audience interest and driving brand awareness.

Dan Ponomarenko , CEO, Webvizio

A marketing case study that has made a lasting impression on me is the Red Bull Stratos Jump. This campaign was for Felix Baumgartner’s record-breaking jump from the edge of space, sponsored by Red Bull. The goal of this campaign was to create buzz and generate brand awareness through this extreme event.

The reason why this case study stands out to me is because of its successful execution in capturing the attention and interest of not just extreme sports enthusiasts, but also the general public.

The live broadcast of Baumgartner’s jump on various channels and social media platforms garnered over 52 million views, making it one of the most-watched live events ever. Red Bull’s strategic use of real-time marketing, storytelling, and high-quality visuals made this campaign a huge success, resulting in a significant increase in sales and brand recognition for the company.

This case study serves as a great example of how a well-planned and executed marketing campaign can effectively reach and engage with a wide audience.

Brian Hemmerle , Founder and CEO, Kentucky Sell Now

One standout marketing case study that resonates with me is the SEO transformation for Maple Dental. This campaign dramatically improved their local online visibility, leading to a substantial increase in new patient appointments. The integration of Google Maps SEO proved to be a game-changer, emphasizing the power of local search optimization in attracting nearby clients.

What made this case study exceptional was the measurable impact on the clinic’s business. For instance, the campaign led to a 230% increase in phone calls and a 223% increase in website visits. Such clear, quantifiable results showcased a direct contribution to business growth. These metrics are vital for demonstrating the return on investment in digital marketing efforts.

Additionally, the use of a targeted approach to enhance Google Maps visibility was particularly compelling. By optimizing their presence on Google Maps, Maple Dental saw a 250% increase in monthly maps impressions, which directly correlated with increased patient inquiries and visits.

Ihor Lavrenenko , CEO, Dental SEO Expert

One case study that always comes to mind is Dollar Shave Club’s launch video in 2012. It was called “Our Blades Are F*cking Great,” and let’s just say it got people talking! This video was hilarious and totally different from those fancy shaving commercials we were used to seeing. It spoke directly to guys, poked fun at expensive razor prices, and offered a way to get awesome blades for much less.

Additionally, it told everyone to check out their website. It was short, catchy, and made a huge impact. This is a perfect example of how a creative and funny video can grab attention, make people remember your brand, and get them to become customers.

Perry Zheng , Founder and CEO, Pallas

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28 Case Study Examples Every Marketer Should See

• May 12, 2024
• by Steven Austin

30+ Compelling Case Study Examples to Inspire Your Own (2023)

Case studies are one of the most powerful weapons in a marketer‘s arsenal. By providing real-world examples of how your product or service has been successfully implemented by satisfied customers, case studies can help new customers feel more confident in your brand, demonstrate your value, and close more sales.

In fact, a 2021 Content Marketing Institute report found that 69% of B2B marketers use case studies as part of their marketing mix. And according to Social Fresh, customer testimonials and case studies are considered the most effective content marketing tactics by 89% and 88% of marketers respectively.

But not all case studies are created equal. In order to truly leverage the power of social proof through case studies, you need to create them strategically, to tell a compelling story that resonates with your target audience.

To help inspire you, let‘s take a look at over 30 exceptional case study examples from companies across all different industries and explore what makes them so persuasive. We‘ll cover best practices for creating powerful case studies of your own, look at different case study formats, and provide helpful templates and resources you can use to get started.

What is a case study?

First off, let‘s clarify what we mean by a "case study." A case study is basically a success story that highlights how your product or service solved a real problem for a satisfied customer. It usually takes the form of a 800-2000 word article that includes things like:

• A summary of the customer‘s challenge and goals
• The process and solution provided by your company
• Key results and benefits experienced by the customer
• Engaging elements like photos, videos, and quotes to bring the story to life

The purpose is to educate potential buyers on how they can achieve similar positive outcomes by choosing to work with you. You‘re essentially making the case for why your solution is the ideal choice, by showing its real-world impact.

Here are a few fascinating statistics that demonstrate the impact case studies can have:

• B2B marketers who use case studies see 73% higher conversion rates compared to those who don‘t. (Content Marketing Institute)
• Including a case study on your website can increase conversions by 20-50%. (Bidsketch)
• 63% of marketers believe case studies are an effective tactic for building credibility and trust with prospects. (Curata)
• 78% of buyers seek out case studies when researching purchase decisions. (Demand Gen Report)

As you can see, case studies hold a lot of sway with buyers. Now let‘s look at some real-world examples for inspiration on creating your own.

30+ case study examples to learn from

• "How Handled Scaled from Zero to 121 Locations with the Help of HubSpot," by HubSpot

What‘s great about it:

• Puts the spotlight on the customer first and makes them the hero
• Weaves in compelling data points that quantify the impact
• Uses mixed media like video to engage the reader
• Includes a clear mention and link to the product used (HubSpot‘s CRM)
• "Rovio: How Rovio Grew Into a Gaming Superpower," by App Annie
• Opens with a powerful quote from the client that captures the value proposition
• Closes with another strong client quote to bookend the piece
• Highlights the specific product used (App Annie Intelligence) right at the top
• Ends with a clear CTA to book a demo
• "The Whole Package," by IDEO
• Uses a simple and conversational headline that still conveys the key outcome
• Breaks up the story into clear challenge, impact and progress sections
• Incorporates photos and engaging visuals to complement the copy
• Keeps paragraphs short and easy to scan
• "Rozum Robotics intensifies its PR game with Awario," by Awario
• Kicks off with a quick summary that encapsulates the key points
• Incorporates a clickable table of contents to enhance navigation
• Closes with a bulleted list of concrete results experienced by the client
• Maintains an informal yet informative tone
• "Biobot Customer Success Story: Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida," by Biobot
• Structures the piece like a narrative news article
• Provides extensive detail and context around the customer‘s challenge
• Mentions the COVID-19 pandemic to demonstrate relevance
• Uses clear headings and callouts to make the content easily digestible
• "Ensuring quality of service during a pandemic," by Ericsson
• Leverages diverse media like photos, graphs, videos and quotes to engage the reader
• Weaves in relevant links to related product/service pages throughout
• Closes with a clear CTA to explore more information
• Strikes a journalistic and educational tone that puts the customer first
• "The Met," by Fantasy
• Leads with a powerful and eye-catching headline image
• Allows the visuals to do much of the talking
• Keeps the copy concise and minimal to avoid overwhelming the reader
• Ends with a bold results section that quantifies the impact
• "Copernicus Land Monitoring – CLC+ Core," by Cloudflight
• Doesn‘t shy away from covering technical details and specs
• Incorporates a contact snapshot for the assigned sales rep at the bottom
• Focuses heavily on the client‘s unique needs and goals
• Uses white space and simple formatting to enhance readability
• "Valvoline Increases Coupon Send Rate by 76% with Textel‘s MMS Picture Texting," by Textel
• Immediately mentions the key result directly in the headline
• Includes a helpful "at a glance" sidebar to provide a quick summary
• Visually highlights key quotes and stats in a different color
• Makes effective use of white space and keeps the design clean
• "Capital One on AWS," by Amazon
• Creates an ongoing series of case studies focused on a single client
• Uses both internal and external content to round out the story
• Demonstrates the long-term impact and continued partnership
• Keeps each "chapter" of the series focused and digestible

Key best practices for writing compelling case studies

Based on these examples and industry knowledge, here are some best practices to follow when crafting your own powerful case studies:

Focus on telling an authentic story, not just rattling off facts. Use engaging elements like quotes, photos, videos.

Structure it with a clear beginning, middle and end. Set up the challenge, describe the solution, and share the results.

Make the client the hero of the story. Use their voice and perspective as much as possible.

Include real numbers and data points to illustrate the concrete impact your solution provided.

Keep the content concise and bite-sized. Use short paragraphs, bullet points, headings, and visuals to break it up.

Put the most important information up front. Share the key results in the headline or executive summary.

Include a clear CTA and links to additional relevant content so readers know what to do next.

Consider creating a series of case studies focused on a single client to demonstrate an ongoing relationship.

Experiment with different styles and formats to see what resonates best with your audience.

Illuminating case study formats and styles to consider

There is no one-size-fits-all template for a case study – the format and style you choose will depend on factors like your industry, audience, and resources. Here are a few different formats to consider:

The classic written case study: An 800-2000 word article formatted with elements like headings, images, quotes, and data points. This is the most common type.

The case study video: A 2-5 minute video featuring the client telling their story, intercut with footage of the product/service and explanatory animations.

The case study infographic: A long-form visual design that uses engaging data visualizations, icons, and short text blurbs to illustrate the key points of the story.

The case study slide deck: A 10-20 slide presentation that sales reps can walk prospects through, combining visuals and text.

The live case study webinar: A webinar featuring a real client sharing their story and results, with live Q&A from the audience.

You can also play with different stylistic approaches, such as using a journalistic news article format, a casual conversational Q&A, or an interactive scrolling design. Don‘t be afraid to get creative!

How to use case studies in your marketing and sales efforts

Once you‘ve created your case studies, it‘s time to put them to work as part of your marketing and sales strategy. Here are a few key ways to use them:

Feature case studies prominently on your website, especially on your homepage and product/service pages.

Include links to relevant case studies in your lead nurturing emails and email newsletters.

Share snippets and quotes from case studies on your social media channels and in social ads.

Equip your sales team with case studies to share with prospects throughout the sales process.

Gate your case studies behind a lead capture form to generate leads and get contact info from interested prospects.

Submit your case studies to industry awards and recognition programs to build credibility.

Incorporate case studies into your paid ad campaigns as part of your social proof.

Best of all, once you create a solid case study, you can get a lot of mileage out of it over a long period of time. It‘s the gift that keeps on giving!

Boost conversions with case studies

There you have it – over 30 inspiring case study examples and best practices to help you create your own powerful success stories. To recap, case studies are so effective as a marketing asset because they:

• Provide social proof and build trust with real customer stories
• Educate prospects on how your solution works and the outcomes it provides
• Demonstrate the value of your offering with concrete examples
• Generate leads when gated behind a lead capture form
• Move prospects through the sales funnel by overcoming objections
• Improve SEO by creating opportunities to rank for relevant keywords

If you want to boost conversions, establish credibility, and ultimately drive more sales, case studies should be a central part of your content marketing strategy. Follow these examples and best practices and start putting the power of case studies to work for your business today.

Looking for more help getting started? Check out these helpful case study templates and resources:

• [link to template 1]
• [link to template 2]
• [link to resource 1]
• [link to resource 2]

Happy case study creating!

Does Market Share Still Matter?

by Julian R.K. Wichmann , Alexander Edeling , Alexander Himme and Felix Anton Sklenarz

Summary .   

Market share has traditionally correlated strongly with profitability because of efficiency, market efficiency, and customer perception effects. But, as the authors demonstrate, the relationship has been changed by the digital transformation in firms. The authors’ research finds that the market-share profitability relationship has become weaker for firms that favor investment in value creation over value appropriation and for firms operating in B2B markets. In both cases, digital helps smaller firms catch up with larger rivals. But digital can also amplify market share effects for large firms focusing digital investments on customer-facing processes and for large firms that create digital platforms.

Market share regularly ranks amongst the most important KPIs for C-suite executives. And for good reason: Larger market share has long been associated with higher profitability . But does this relationship still hold today, given companies’ increasing digitalization? Or have strategies focused on market share growth become outdated?

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More From Forbes

20 expert strategies for measuring market size.

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Understanding the size of your product's or service's intended market can help you make more informed business decisions. Whether you're entering a new industry or expanding within an existing one, it is important to stay on top of the opportunities and risks involved.

To help you do this, Forbes Business Development Council members share insights on the best methods for market sizing and why accurate measurement is crucial for long-term success. From social listening to modeling tools to customer interviews, these approaches can help you accurately refine your market analysis.

1. Understand The Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM)

The Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM) is the most important market size to focus on. This is the market where your current services really fit well, versus the Total Addressable Market (TAM) where it's an unrealistic total market where your services don't entirely fit. Understanding the SOM will help you understand where to invest your energy and money. - Andrew Davidson , Fastenal

2. Know Your Audience

When stepping into a new arena, it’s crucial to understand your audience, size up the competition and devise innovative strategies to pin down a competitive edge. If you want to make an impact, understanding the market size allows a company to flex its strengths effectively. This approach not only captures market share but also attracts new fans, ensuring a powerful presence in the marketplace. - Matthew Rolnick , Real American Beer

3. Use Social Listening Tools

I like the idea of social listening tools. Monitoring social media and online discussions helps identify trends and customer needs in real time. Nike does this well by using social listening tools to measure market sentiment and size, stay ahead of trends and ensure their products meet market demands. - Bryce Welker , The CPA Exam Guy

NYT ‘Strands’ Hints, Spangram And Answers For Monday, September 9th

Today’s nyt mini crossword clues and answers for monday, september 9, iphone 16 pro: price, design update and battery life leaked in new report, 4. determine key metrics.

Identify key metrics like the number of potential customers, average purchase value and consumption rate for the target market from sources like government data, industry reports, surveys and so on. Calculate market size by multiplying the number of potential customers, average purchase value and consumption rate. Market sizing is critical for decision-making, planning and resource allocation. - Salice Thomas , Wipro Limited

Forbes Business Development Council is an invitation-only community for sales and biz dev executives. Do I qualify?

5. Assess A Wide Set Of OEMs

Analyze a broad set of OEMs and publicly reported financials and back out the numbers for the market you are trying to measure. Do this to gauge the market size, growth rate and segmentation. Also, benchmark your growth rate to your competitors. If you are not growing minimally at the rate of the OEMs and in line with competitors, your sales and operations plans need to be adjusted for success. - Manoj Tandon , Dark Rhino Security

6. Use Secondary Market Research

Calculating the total addressable market requires research and data analysis using firmographic factors like industry, revenue, size and geographic location. With secondary market research from Forrester or Gartner, you get a better idea of how many potential users meet your market criteria—including industry size. With this, you can focus go-to-market on the most valuable, strategic opportunities. - Elizabeth Kiehner , Nortal

7. Define Use Cases And Aggregate Industry Data

The best way to measure market size is to define the use case, target audience and industry. Identify four major industry publications for benchmarks. Aggregate data from these sources to determine your Total Addressable Market (TAM). This is crucial for ensuring your product's sustainability and growth potential over the next five to 10 years, guiding your GTM strategy and confirming product viability. - Raviraj Hegde , Donorbox

8. Study Sales Data

Analyzing sales data is the method for determining market size, as it gives solid proof of real market performance and customer habits. By studying sales data companies, you obtain insights into market patterns and possibilities. This approach is vital, as it sets standards and guides choices guaranteeing that resources are used efficiently and market prospects are evaluated accurately. - Thasha Batts , Pinnacle Global Network

9. Research TAM And SAM

An aggregation of market research data from different reliable entities (like market research firms, analyst firms and management consulting firms) is a fair indicator of market size. Market size definitions in terms of TAM and SAM are key inputs required to define go-to-market strategy (sales channels, product management, marketing, pricing, service strategy and so on.) - Bindesh Pandey , Comviva Technologies Limited

10. Gauge Metrics At Predetermined Intervals

Market size is a key metric that should be measured before you make any attempt to enter the market, as size dictates efforts and resources in order to be impactful. The best way to go about this is to gauge the total serviceable market size at predetermined intervals over the course of a specified time period and use that to develop a baseline. This will account for any changes due to seasonality or other events. - Mustansir Paliwala , Zomara Group & EQUANS

11. Calculate Willingness To Pay In Adjacent Markets

The best way to measure the size of the market is by understanding the pain point you are trying to solve, the associated willingness to pay and unit economics and multiplying that with a conversion ratio based on the number of deals that are potentially available in the segment. This exercise, repeated for all adjacent markets beyond the core market, can reveal the total and service obtainable markets. - Nimay Parekh , Security Scorecard

12. Use A Top-Down And Bottom-Up Approach

Measuring TAM (total addressable market) is key for any business; in fact, it is even more critical at each customer and prospect level. There are three key ways to get the TAM nailed: 1. Top-down with the number of target customer(s) footprint and average spend they do; 2. Bottom-up with assumed revenue capture with the target customer base and 3. Exhaustive with account-based TAM aggregate. - Bharath Yadla , Workato

13. Hire A Local Market Expert

Get a real market authority, not just by states but by cities. Most market size calculations are not realistic, so they are not actionable with simple statistics like case studies. If leaders cannot guide team members with practical sales strategy, none of the stakeholders or investors will be convinced. The best way is to hire a local citizen, who has understood the market for generations with their neighbors. - Gyehyon Andrea Jo , MVLASF

14. Test The Market With Both AI And Traditional Methods

AI can help you get some good research, but AI is still in the early stage and not always perfect. Testing the market through panels and perhaps discussion groups may be old school compared to AI results, but it can still work and give you additional insights that AI is not able to achieve right now. A combination of both is probably the best way to move forward. - David Strausser , Fonseca Advisers

15. Conduct Qualitative Interviews And Use Modeling Tools

Market sizing is the activity of determining how large or small your product's audience or revenue potential will be. Incorrectly assessing this dynamic could lead your ship into very problematic waters. A few ways to operate efficiently are using statistical modeling tools, conducting in-depth research, assessing competitive analysis, qualitative interviews and employing forecasting consultants. - John Drumgoole Jr , USA Mortgage

16. Build A Business Plan Around An Addressable Market

Building Total Addressable Market (TAM), Serviceable Addressable Market (SAM) or Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM) models are the easiest way to identify and size the dollar value of a market before you build out a comprehensive business plan. You want to build a business plan around an addressable market that is large, has runway to grow and has fragmented competitors to share market from versus monopolies. - Archana Rao , Innova Solutions

17. Conduct A Broad View Analysis

I believe a top-down analysis or approach can be considered more efficient. Starting from the broader view of the market size through available secondary data sources (like governmental ones) would allow you to segment the consumer base in that specific market quickly and be much simpler to execute. It would also be beneficial for a high-level decision-making process. - Mohamed Madkour , Mastercard

18. Combine Data With Customer Conversations

The best way to measure market size is to mix hard data with real customer conversations. Market reports give you the numbers, but talking to your customers reveals the story behind them. This blend is vital because it helps you see where the real opportunities are, guide your strategy and connect with your audience in a meaningful way. - Richard Lindhorn , VivoAquatics Inc.

19. Gauge Needs Of Target Audience And Competitor Strategies

The simplest (and most cost-effective) method is to multiply the approximate price of the product by the total number of potential customers. It is used to achieve basic business goals: identifying the key needs of the target audience, recognizing the most successful strategies of competitors and learning from them, creating a unique selling point and seeing the potential for expanding the product line. - Dima Raketa , Reputation House

20. Analyze Industry Reports And Government Data

Accurately measuring market size is crucial for strategic decision-making and resource allocation. A comprehensive approach often combines analysis of industry reports and government data with primary research like surveys or interviews. The Total Addressable Market (TAM) framework is particularly useful, helping estimate full revenue potential. - Gunjan Paliwal

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Outbound marketing drives sales —  and Lifetime Value

Improving results. a case study: growing market share, revenue and lifelong customers.

The Client: A petroleum and heating oil supplier looking to expand its presence and customer base in the North East for their home heating oil deliveries. Much like other utility customers, home heating customers remain customers for approximately 10 years before looking around at the alternative supplier options.

The Opportunity: Known primarily a regional gas station brand, this leading oil distributor was looking to retain their current residential heating oil customers, while growing their customer base for new heating oil deliveries. However, cross-sell opportunities were proving difficult – being a gas station customer didn’t always transfer to being a customer for your home heating oil. It was time to lay the groundwork for greater awareness.

The Assignment: Secure the current customer base at the end of the Winter heating season and help reduce possible attrition through Spring and Summer. Capture new sales from competitors and promote cross-sell opportunities with the gas stations and C-stores [convenience stores] – building not only awareness, but brand loyalty and customer longevity.

The Campaign:

• Working with the client’s promotions agency, develop an aggressive and exciting cohesive “Favors for neighbors” cross channel marketing campaign – including TV, radio, a campaign-specific website and newspaper ads – targeted direct mail, in-store brochure/applications and all in-store POS advertising.
• The campaign kicked off with direct mail to approximately 50,000 existing automatic delivery customers via a multi-panel brochure, letter and activated discount card. A week later: TV/Radio, geographically-restricted prospect direct mail and in-store marketing reinforced our client’s USP and created greater awareness.

The Results: Following this more conceptual and cohesive multi-channel campaign approach to their marketing: brand awareness and new home delivery sales were up. Annual attrition was down. The client also saw a bump in their C-store [convenience store] sales.

The ROI: Factoring in the typical lifecycle of a home heating oil customer, the client reported results of nearly 500:1 * — a hot result in anyone’s book!

Find out how indigoOne can help you generate results like these on your next campaign!

Call us at 612 349 2711, or send us an email  and let’s see how we can help you boost your roi., *results are not typical and can never be guaranteed due to a variety of external factors..

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Where it pays to get choosy: A case study in stock selection

• Ibrahim Kanan
• Tony DeSpirito

The healthcare sector offers a compelling mix of defensive characteristics and growth potential driven by innovation. It also features ample dispersion that presents stock pickers with an opportunity to parse potential leaders and laggards in pursuit of above-market return.

As active equity investors , we’re not content to accept what the market has to offer. Our mission is to assess companies on their underlying fundamentals to target those stocks that we believe have the potential to outperform the broad market over a three- to five-year time horizon.

This mission takes on greater significance in what we see as a new era of more normalized interest rates and volatility ― an environment in which a rising tide no longer lifts all boats and stock selection becomes more important to portfolio outcomes.

While attractive opportunities are on offer across all sectors and industries, our daily work as stock pickers has revealed that the opportunity for selectivity is more prominent in some areas of the market ― a function of greater dispersion and industry-level nuance that can be concealed at the broad index level. Case in point: The tech sector led the market in the first half of this year, but the lion’s share of that return came from semiconductors ― the not-so-secret sauce to enabling AI.

More surprising may be the importance of selection in the healthcare sector. As shown in the chart below, healthcare ranks among the top three sectors for return differentiation across individual stocks. This suggests greater opportunity to apply fundamental research to parse potential winners and losers in pursuit of index-beating returns.

Healthy stock-picking opportunities Average return dispersion across selected sectors, 2003-2023

Source: BlackRock Fundamental Equities, with data from Refinitiv, Dec. 31, 2003-Dec. 31, 2023. Chart shows the average dispersion of annual return across the noted sectors in the Russell 1000 Index. Dispersion is defined as interdecile range, or the difference between the 10th (top) and 90th percentile of stock returns within each sector. “Remaining sectors” include energy, comms services, financials, materials, industrials, consumer staples, real estate and utilities.

We have felt this firsthand in our work analyzing stocks for inclusion in the BlackRock Equity Dividend Fund and BlackRock Large Cap Value ETF , where healthcare was the second-largest sector exposure and a top contributor to return despite relatively muted performance at the index level in 2023. (Healthcare returned 2% in 2023 versus an S&P 500 return of 26%.)

Parsing the opportunity in healthcare

The big picture around healthcare makes it an appealing sector for long-term investors. It tends to do relatively well no matter the economic backdrop, given that healthcare needs do not change with GDP. It benefits from the secular tailwind of aging populations, as age begets greater healthcare needs and associated increases in health-related spending. It’s also a diverse sector that is rife with innovation. And despite all of this, the healthcare sector has been trading at an attractive valuation that is below the broad market average.

Importantly, however, not all healthcare stocks offer the same appeal, and investing at the index level could expose portfolios to big risk. The reason: U.S. healthcare benchmarks include heavy weightings in mature pharmaceutical companies ― and these face an onslaught of revenue-busting patent expirations that could weigh on their performance, as well as that of the healthcare indexes.

What’s ailing U.S. pharma

When drug patents expire and cheaper generics come to market, drug maker revenues inevitably decline. Our analysis shows several major U.S. pharma companies losing patent protection on up to 70% of their revenue by 2030.

These companies’ profits are also at risk of disproportionate decline, as it’s usually the oldest and highest-margin products that are losing patent protection. This is because drug makers tend to increase prices incrementally each year after a new product launch. Their manufacturing costs, however, remain stable ― allowing gross margins to rise. Companies also spend less on marketing as a drug matures and gains popular recognition. By the time these drugs hit patent expiration and fall off a company’s line-up, they typically have grown to become the highest-margin products.

Another complicating factor: When a drug patent expires, the same sales force is selling one less product, rendering the business less productive. Companies must find something new to sell to justify the fixed cost of their sales force, or otherwise shrink their business. The options here are limited:

1) Spend more on research and development (R&D) of new products. The rub: Returns on R&D have been declining and the process requires substantial time.

2) Negotiate a deal to buy a (hopefully) blockbuster drug. The rub: Companies typically overpay on high expectations for an essentially unknown, never-marketed product.

At the same time, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) imposes further price pressure by giving Medicare the authority to negotiate prices on select drugs. That process is underway, with results (and potential price reductions) due in September.

Given all of the above, valuations of many U.S. pharma companies require close scrutiny. Pricing that underestimates the pending impact of the patent cliff can make some of these stocks “value traps” ― sporting a low price-to-earnings multiple that is actually much higher when accounting for their patent expirations and the associated earnings impact.

A “remedy” in active selection

Active stock pickers can seek to avert much of the risk at the index level by avoiding those companies most exposed and directing their investments to more interesting pockets of healthcare. Among them:

European pharmaceutical companies. In general, these companies face a much less severe patent issue and have better drug pipelines, offering greater return potential and quality on a par with U.S. counterparts.

Makers of GLP-1 “diabesity” drugs. GLP-1s are a notable exception to our U.S. pharma aversion. We believe these promising new therapies for diabetes and weight loss have ample runway as they just begin their success journey.

Drug distributors. The patent cliff can be a boon for drug distributors in that they are able to distribute generic alternatives, which usually offer higher profit margins than branded products. Plus, volumes are higher as more generics become available once patent protection lapses.

The above case study is just one example of how active stock selection can help to achieve alpha, or above-market return, through a deep understanding of sector-level dynamics. We believe the ability to parse potential winners and losers based on underlying company fundamentals and observations of the industry environment should bring increasing value to portfolios, especially against a backdrop of heightened market dispersion.

Insights from our Global CIO

Taking Stock: U.S. Equity Market Outlook

What’s next for markets? Tony DeSpirito, Global CIO of Fundamental Equities, shares insights on U.S. equities with a quarterly market recap and look ahead.

Equity investing for a new era: The return of alpha

When it comes to stocks, a rising tide is no longer lifting all boats. The era of easy money has ended, and the age of selectivity is on. Tony DeSpirito discusses how alpha, or above-market return, is poised to become a bigger driver of outcomes.

Why BlackRock Fundamental Equities?

With decades of experience and a local presence around the world, our fundamental equity investors bring unique expertise to their discipline and deep, bottom-up insight that powers our mission to generate alpha for our clients.

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Market Share Case Studies Samples For Students

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Digitalizing Smallholder Farmer Agri-Food Supply Chains: A Case Study from a Developing Economy

• Conference paper
• First Online: 07 September 2024
• Cite this conference paper

• W. Madushan Fernando   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4505-980X 19 , 20 ,
• Amila Thibbotuwawa   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5443-8839 20 ,
• R. M. Chandima Ratnayake   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2222-8199 19 &
• H. Niles Perera   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-6329-5967 20  

Part of the book series: IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology ((IFIPAICT,volume 731))

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• IFIP International Conference on Advances in Production Management Systems

Smallholder farming is critical to ensuring food security and alleviating rural poverty. Poor agricultural practices, supply chain inefficiencies, weather challenges, and market disruptions all diminish productivity in this sector. As modern technology and digitalization reshape agriculture, there is a significant augmentation of stakeholder connectivity within smallholder farmer Agri-Food Supply Chains (AFSCs). The progress of technology allows smallholder farmers to gain access to high-quality farming inputs while expanding their market reach. While there are proven benefits of digitally transforming smallholder farmer AFSCs, there is still a significant knowledge gap in effectively assessing the potential of digital technologies from a supply chain perspective. As the overall approach in this paper, we used the case study research method along with inductive reasoning. We combined the AHP and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) methods to include both industry practitioners and academic perspectives in the decision-making process. The process involved using AHP to analyze supply chain inefficiencies, with a focus on their impact on yield, harvest quality, and farmer livelihood, and then using the TOPSIS method to prioritize digital solutions for the chosen case study. The case study revealed that 61% of inefficiencies arose in the early supply chain stages, notably in regulation (28.26%) and farm input supply (33.03%), emphasizing the critical need for prioritizing digital farm record-keeping and registration for improved efficiency. This study emphasizes practical digital solutions for smallholder farming supply chains while integrating industry and academic perspectives, offering a systematic approach to prioritizing interventions.

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Acknowledgment

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support given by the Norwegian Program for Capacity Development in Higher Education and Research for Development (NORHED II – Project number 68085), the “Politics and Economic Governance” sub-theme, the project “Enhancing Lean Practices in Supply Chains: Digitalization”, which is a collaboration between the University of Stavanger (Norway), ITB (Indonesia), and the University of Moratuwa (Sri Lanka).

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Department of Mechanical and Structural Engineering and Materials Science, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway

W. Madushan Fernando & R. M. Chandima Ratnayake

Center for Supply Chain, Operations, and Logistics Optimization, University of Moratuwa, Katubedda 10400, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka

W. Madushan Fernando, Amila Thibbotuwawa & H. Niles Perera

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Chemnitz University of Technology, Chemnitz, Germany

Matthias Thürer

West Saxon University of Applied Sciences Zwickau, Zwickau, Germany

Ralph Riedel

ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Friedrichshafen, Germany

Gregor von Cieminski

Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico City, Mexico

David Romero

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Fernando, W.M., Thibbotuwawa, A., Ratnayake, R.M.C., Perera, H.N. (2024). Digitalizing Smallholder Farmer Agri-Food Supply Chains: A Case Study from a Developing Economy. In: Thürer, M., Riedel, R., von Cieminski, G., Romero, D. (eds) Advances in Production Management Systems. Production Management Systems for Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous Environments. APMS 2024. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, vol 731. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-71633-1_12

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-71633-1_12

Published : 07 September 2024

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