What is a use case? Don’t search it, don’t run your AI, just off the top of your head. If you’re like us at Collective Content, you’ve spent years reading about and discussing technology issues. But you may have never had this simple question put to you. But we want to do that because we’ve noticed some confusion about what a use case is.

Is a use case the same as a case study?

No. It is not a case study. If you’d like to learn about case studies, we’ve written the book about case studies and it’s free. A case study is a story about how an organisation recognised a problem, found and implemented a solution and the results of that change, maybe with some lessons learned along the way.

Use cases are about the ways in which a product or service can be used.[1] Use cases can be intended by the designer or be organic – the user discovers a new way to use something that the designers hadn’t thought of. What is an example of a use case? Well, consider an ice-cube tray. It can be filled with water to create ice cubes (the intended use). It can be filled with orange squash to make budget ice lollies for a children’s party. Or it can be used to sort emeralds by size. All legitimate uses for an ice-cube tray.

A great technology example of a device that seems almost entirely about use cases is a smartphone:

• Use the phone to call your friends
• Use text to send a message to your family
• Use the flashlight feature to find your keys when you drop them under a table
• Use GPS to navigate to a restaurant
• Use a secure online banking app to pay for dinner
• Use an online streaming app on the phone to listen to music while writing a blog post
• Use online shopping apps or websites to make purchases while on public transit

You can probably think of at least a dozen other use cases for your smartphone. And whatever use cases you think of, there’s someone else who agrees that use is important.

What do use cases have to do with content marketing?

Use cases are an important part of content marketing. You – along with your agency, if you have one – need to understand how your product is used, and by whom, to effectively market it. You know the specifications and features, sure, but marketing success is not just about what is technically best, or we’d have all bought Betamax.[2]

As our examples above show, products can have multiple use cases. Understanding that can help you focus your marketing content. For example, a business automation application may be widely used in the mining industry and in retail. Each user likely has some different and – to them – vitally important use cases. Understanding them helps you focus when talking to them.

Recently, my colleague Daine Lindsay mentioned that when he’s working with video editing equipment he checks for use cases online to see if there are any that discuss the specific scenario he’s working. Whether in print or video, they can help him quickly dial in settings and they’re just one reason he’s the resourceful wiz he is today. Use cases can be a bit of evergreen content that can really connect with an audience.

How use cases and case studies work together

There is a connection between a use case and a case study. The use case – how an organisation uses the product or service – lays out the foundation for a case study. So, if you want to create a case study, you need to understand the use case. And if a customer of yours has an interesting use case, that could make a great case study. Understanding the distinction between the two can help you find new ways to create marketing content.

If you still have questions about use cases or this explainer has sparked ideas, please get in touch. We’d be happy to talk more.

 

 

 

[1] In software and system engineering, among other technical disciplines, ‘use cases’ are created and tested to ensure things work accurately and safely in a range of circumstances but this is outside our scope in this discussion.

[2] For those under 40, Betamax was a home video cassette format made by Sony that came on the market in 1975 and is said to have been technically superior to the competing – and incompatible – VHS format made by JVC. VHS won widespread adoption, pushing Betamax out of the market.