A marketing case analysis, also known as a "case study," is a written document that helps you analyze and evaluate strengths and weaknesses for your company. There is not a "one size fits all" approach when writing a marketing case analysis; however, there are certain steps that can help you customize your case study to the unique needs of your business. When done correctly, case analyses can be valuable tools for helping you evaluate and communicate a current or past marketing issue with internal or external stakeholders.

Analyze and review your company's past growth and financial statements. Looking at past growth numbers can help you determine your marketing goals and objectives. Review the past marketing strategies and tactics, and make a note of which strategies produced the highest return on investment.

Identify your company's strengths and weaknesses. Develop a list of key differentiators for your company and areas you would like to improve upon. For example, your company may excel at customer service, but your prices may be perceived as high by your customers.

Make a list of opportunities and threats in the market. For example, your business may be expanding into the business-to-business sector in the following year, which represents a significant opportunity for growth for your company. Or, you may have a competitor opening several new offices in the coming year, which represents a threat to your company.

Analyze the data you compiled. This step is where you really put "rubber to the road" when writing your marketing case analysis. First, review the strengths and weaknesses of your company, and compare them to the external threats and opportunities. The key here is to determine two or three key differentiating factors you can use in your marketing materials. Identify these factors and use them to write the first part of your marketing case analysis, which are your objectives. For example, "The purpose of this marketing case analysis is to communicate how AB Industries leveraged its low-cost strategy in its marketing materials in 2010."

Write your strategy you used to achieve the objectives you identified. For this part of your marketing case analysis, outline several specific steps you took to achieve your goals. For example, "To leverage our low-cost strategy during the year, AB industries used a variety of marketing materials to communicate our position as a low-cost leader, including direct mail, email marketing and several trade publication advertisements."

Communicate recommended next steps. The final part of a marketing case study analysis is to conclude the document and provide a plan for moving forward. First, reiterate the objectives of your case analysis and your strategies for achieving those objectives. Then, outline three to five recommendations for what you'd like the reader to do after reading the analysis. For example, "Now that we've presented the strategies we used in the previous year, we suggest several next steps: 1) hold bi-weekly meetings with the marketing and sales teams to communicate progress, 2) develop a company-wide measurement strategy for our marketing efforts and 3) continue to reinforce our low-cost position by implementing the following marketing tactics ... "