How Long Should a Case Study Be? (The Marketing Kind)

One of the most common questions that newer copywriters and business owners alike ask is…

“How long should my email/sales letter/about page/any other kind of copy be?”

Fair question. Length — whether word count or page count — gives the person writing the piece some superficial sense of how long it will take, how deep the copy should go, what to cover, and so on.

Some dismissively claim that you shouldn’t think in terms of length. They have a point, but folks need guidelines.

In this post, I want to share with you some length suggestions for case studies.

Case Study Length: It Depends, But…

The copywriter’s favorite answer to “how long should this piece of copy be?” is “It depends.”

Kind of like I just said.

But wait, what about specific length guidelines?

Stay with me here.

The above is mostly true. You aren’t writing a college essay that has to be 3,000 words or you fail the class.

Instead, you’re writing to accomplish a goal — and with case studies (or really any piece of copy), that goal is to push your customer further along the scale of awareness and get them to take action (buy, book a consultation, schedule demo, etc.)

So when it comes to case studies, it’s more important the key elements are there—background, problem, initial objections, success, results, and CTA.

You want your case study to get your customers excited to buy from you more than you want it to be X words long.

But that’s not the most helpful advice to someone running a non-copywriting business.

Duh, you want people to buy from you. You’re not spending hours writing the case study (or hundreds to thousands hiring a copywriter to do so) because you enjoy writing or shelling out cash.

And your customers aren’t reading case studies solely because they enjoy the wonderful prose flowing from you or your copywriter’s fingertips (although copy that pulls you in is a plus).

There are a few length guidelines you should follow, based on my experience.

Case Study Length Guidelines

Everyone likes juicy, long-form, 3,000 downloadable assets packed with images and infographics.

Whether you package your case studies as downloadable assets or post them on your website, though, they should be nowhere near that long.

I’d say 1,600 words is the upper limit for a case study. Any longer, and you’re adding unnecessary details.

And unnecessary details lose the reader’s interest.

Like any direct response copy, you need to grab the reader by the eyeballs and drag those eyeballs down the page. Fluff doesn’t cut it.

An ideal range, in my opinion, would be 500-1200 depending on your business, industry, customer, and other circumstances surrounding the sale or engagement. That’s just body copy, too — not infographics, images, or big block quotes/testimonials.

That gives room to provide enough details in each section so the reader can identify with the “happy client,” learn more about you and your process, and find out why they should buy from you.

If you aren’t sure if your case study length is good, here’s an email copywriting rule I learned from email copywriter Chris Orzechowski you could apply to case studies:

Write the thing, then cut 10% of the word count.

No need to follow that to a Tee. It’s a general guideline, but it helps you hunt down fluff. Use it alongside your own judgment.

Real quick examples:

Someone who wants a more narrative-driven, personal, “success story” style of case study might need to approach 1,600ish words to really draw out the pain from “before”, the process, and the “after”. For instance, if your product/service involves a more personal relationship.

If you’re a large B2B serving enterprise client, you might not go with this style. Erring on the shorter side and providing more of the facts with a touch of emotion is usually the better option.

Case Studies: Not Too Long, But Not Too Short

Ultimately, case studies are designed to inform prospects, give them transparency into how your product/service works, and drive them to buy.

But length is still important. Case studies should rarely (there are always exceptions) go above 1,000 words, and if they do, you probably have some fluff floating around in there.

Aim for 500-750. Try to cut 10% after writing it. Combine that with good storytelling, and you’ll have a case study that pulls the reader excitedly down the page.

Need a case study, but you don’t have the time/energy/desire to do it yourself? Don’t feel guilty. That’s what I’m here for! Contact me today.