Five Takeaways I've Learned From Writing My First Case Studies

The following information are five things I took away from my first PR case studies class. I have learned a lot from it and this post barely scratches the surface on all I could say about it.

Pages 1-10 of my first case study.

1.) Research is important and typically difficult.

Luckily, this case is the Starbucks Case Study which is well known. In another class I'm currently writing a case study as well and it is driving me up the wall. Researching feels like looking for a needle in a haystack. I hope that when I work for a company that they will hire someone to do the research, I enjoy it--it's just time consuming until I learn how to utilize my resources. The more I do it, the better I'll get at it.

2.) Key Public's are easy to identify and difficult to define.

When developing a case it is rather easy to identify which public's will be crucial to accomplish the goal. However, when trying to analyze the demographic and psycho-graphics including the five elements of each public it is hard to find written facts in comparison to making assumptions about each public.

3.) Think backwards to assure each section in the study fits together like a puzzle.

When I made it to the end of my case to write the communication confirmation, I was a bit baffled because glancing through my case, I realized I did a lot of it wrong. I was frustrated, I felt as if I had worked on a math problem for hours on end and just discovered I got the wrong answer. Next time I write a case, I think it would be easier if I draft out communication confirmation first before I continue onto action planning.

Pages 11-20 of my first case study.

4.) I am addicted to highly interactive communication strategies.

Who would have thought I would be addicted to highly interactive communication strategies? I don't know if it's because I'm a younger generation, but anything else besides highly interactive communication strategies appeared boring to me. I think this will be important to remember when I write my next case study that it's important to have a wide array of communication strategies.

5.) It is EASY to accidentally mix up goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics.

When writing my action planning, I really got caught off guard when I would write it out, then look over and compare this section to examples in my book. As I was looking over the definitions and seeing if they matched up to what I wrote, I came to the realization that writing a case study is like learning to speak a new language and that it is important to take my time working through it and to try my hardest to avoid simple mistakes.