Author: Franz Malten Buemann

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Have you ever heard the age-old classic story of a company that got its start from a back-of-the-napkin idea? Or about the start-ups that started in someone’s garage?
While all those stories are, of course, inspirational, a huge element that they leave out is that every business started because someone felt the project justified spending time and money on it.

That’s why some projects require you to write a business case. Whether you want to start a company, pitch a new product, or perhaps you just want your business to use a new project management tool. Either way, a project that requires time and resources will also require justifying those expenses in the form of a business case.
Below, let’s review what a business case is, plus an example and template to inspire your own business case.

In a business case, you might include the background on a project, expected benefits, costs, risks, and opportunities. This document will justify taking on a certain project. So, how do you develop a business case? Let’s dive in below.
Business Case Development
To develop a business case, you’ll need to write several key components, including a proposal, strategy, budget, SWOT analysis, and project plan. With these documents, you should be able to prove that the project you’re pitching is worth doing.
Let’s dive into the steps for how you’ll develop a business case below:
1. Research
Before you can write a business case, you need to do your research. First, you should have a goal in mind for your project, whether it’s to create a new product, help drive more traffic/leads, or improve user experience.
Write down your goal and then conduct research to prove that your project is the way to achieve your goal.
You can begin by researching what competitors are doing and look for gaps that your project solves.
Start to brainstorm what this project’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats are. Additionally, you’ll want to learn about your market — whoever will be the consumer of the project, even if that’s your own team.
Finally, you should start to look into what a budget would look like for your proposed solution.
2. Focus on one component at a time.
A business case will usually include several documents. Focus on one at a time, while keeping your notes organized.
Start with your proposal, then move on to your SWOT analysis, the competitive analysis, the project plan, overall strategy, and then the budget. It can be easy to get lost in just one of these tasks, so focus on one thing at a time to complete the bigger picture business case.
3. Write an implementation plan.
Once you’ve gathered your research and you’re working through each component, it’s time to start thinking about implementation.
How will you implement your project? Once you’ve made the business case that your project should be done, stakeholders will wonder how you’ll execute it.
To do this, write an implementation plan that discusses how you’d complete the project and metrics that you’d track to measure success.
Once you’re done writing your business case, look at the whole document and ask yourself whether it’s comprehensive, measurable, and adaptable.
A business case doesn’t need to be an entire business plan for a new product. Sometimes it will be less formal due to the size of the project. Either way, you want to make a strong case for your project, so it should be easy to understand and implement.
Now, let’s look at an example of what a business case might look like.
Business Case Example
Now that you’ve seen what it takes to write a business case and what the process looks like, let’s look at an example for inspiration.
In the example below, the project is about getting a new phone system to help the sales staff. Because this is a fairly small project, the business case isn’t several pages long with exhaustive research.
However, it’s important to keep in mind that while your business case might look something like this for a small scale project, it might include several pages of information if you’re pitching something like a new product or a new UI to improve user experience.
The point in the business case is that it’s adaptable to be whatever you need. However, the components of the business case will be the same regardless of how long it is. Every business case should include why a project should be done, the benefits, costs, risks, and budget.

Image Source
Simple Business Case Template
Proposal

Project details
Strategic context
Vision, goals, objectives
Benefits

SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)
Competitive Analysis

See if competitors are doing the same thing
Look for gaps in their offerings, if applicable

Risk Analysis

What risks are involved?
Will these risks present opportunities?

Market Assessment

Do your consumers want this?
How will this help your stakeholders?

Budget

Economic analysis
ROI

Implementation/Project Plan

Roles/Team
Duties/Responsibilities
Stakeholders
Specs and Requirements
Timeline

If you have a new project idea for your company that requires a budget and resources, it might be a good idea to develop a business case to show your superiors that the project is worth taking on.

The other day, I searched for “Taylor Swift” on Facebook.
I was shocked to find hundreds — if not thousands — of Taylor Swifts in the United States alone.
Fortunately, I was able to find the mega-pop star’s page easily, with the help of a small blue badge:

When searching for a business (or person) on Facebook, a verified badge is often the easiest and most reliable way to ensure the page you’ve found is authentic.
As a business, it’s critical you use a verified badge so that prospects and customers can easily find your true page and access up-to-date, accurate information about your brand. Without a verified badge, it can be difficult to trust whether the page is legitimate.
However, the process for securing a verified badge is different for a business’ Page than it is a personal profile. Here, we’ll explore the steps you need to take to obtain a verified badge — plus, why it’s important for your brand in the first place.

How to Verify a Facebook Page
Note: The following steps outline how to verify a Facebook Business Page — if, instead, you want to verify a profile, you’ll fill out the same form, but you’ll need to upload a copy of your official government-issued photo identification, instead. (You only need to verify a profile if you’re a public figure or celebrity.)
1. You’ll need to fill out this form to request a blue verification badge from Facebook. Since this is for business purposes, you’ll want to click “Page” rather than “Profile” … 

… and then click the “Select page to verify” drop-down menu to find your business page in the list. (Note: You must be an admin of the Business Manager account to submit this form.)

2. Since this is a business page, you’ll need to attach a copy of a phone or utility bill, certificate of formation, articles of incorporation, or tax exemption documents.

3. Fill in the box explaining why the account should receive a verified badge. You’ll need to include a minimum of 10 characters.

4. Add other social media account URLs if possible, as well as any additional comments.

5. When you’re ready, click “Send”. You’ll be re-directed to the following page, where you can watch the status of your request: 

(Facebook notes: “You’ll receive a notification once we review your request. Please don’t submit more than one request for your account. For denied requests, you can submit a new request after 30 days.”)
Why can’t I verify my Facebook Business Page?
There are a few reasons Facebook might deny your request. Let’s explore two common ones, and how you can fix them.
1. Something is wrong with your submitted documents.
Facebook outlines a few primary issues you might have with the documents you submitted in the request form. If your document doesn’t align with Facebook’s requirements — or is low resolution or low-quality — consider re-uploading a new document that fits Facebook’s standards.
For instance, your document:

Might not be the type of document Facebook accepts (more on that here).
Might be a self-filed document. Facebook needs to see a document with an accompanying official signature or seal.
The document is blurry, low resolution, or corrupted. Ensure you’ve scanned your document at a high resolution or format.
The document is expired.
The document you submitted doesn’t contain your full business address.
The document’s language is unsupported (supported languages are shown in the image, below):

2. Your information — including business website, business address, and your business’s legal name — doesn’t match up.
When it comes to requesting a verified badge, accuracy and attention to detail is key. For instance, your request might be denied if your company’s name listed on your Facebook Business Settings is different from the name that appears on your submitted documents.
Here are a few considerations to keep in mind:

The legal business name on your submitted document needs to match the name that appears in your Business Settings. (To fix this, update your business name in Business Settings or submit a new document that includes the business name that appears in your Business Settings.)
Your document needs to include your business’s full address and business phone number. (A partial address won’t be accepted.)
Your email domain and website address need to match, and your website should feature your company’s name or logo.
Your business name needs to be listed on your submitted document. For instance, if a utility bill has your business’ phone number but your business name isn’t included, it won’t be accepted. (More information on acceptable documents here.)

Why Its Important to Verify My Facebook Business Page
A verified badge tells prospects and customers that they can trust your Facebook Page as the true, authentic presence of your brand. Additionally, it’s often critical for differentiating your brand from other, similar terms that might make it difficult for users to find your business on Facebook.
However, there are a few other major benefits to having a verified Facebook Business Page, aside from increased visibility.
For one, Facebook’s algorithm automatically places verified badges at the top of search results when someone is looking for your business. This is especially important if your brand hosts a few groups on Facebook.
For instance, HubSpot has a few dedicated groups for various, niche purposes like HubSpot education or HubSpot marketers. It’s critical Facebook users are able to find the more general, official HubSpot Page when searching “HubSpot”, which is why it’s good HubSpot’s Page has a verified badge, which enables it to rise to the top of search results:

Since the verified badge will help surface your brand to the top of search results, you’ll ideally increase followers and leads as a result of having a verified badge — a major benefit of the symbol.
Additionally, a verified badge earns you early access to new Facebook features that aren’t yet available for all users. This can help you level-up on competitors who might not have the same access. 
And that’s it! You’re all set to request a verified badge for your own business’ Page. Next, take a look at the Ultimate Guide to Facebook Marketing for more tips on driving demand and growing your business on Facebook. 

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We’ve partnered with Unsplash to bring millions of beautiful, and best of all, free stock images directly to our customers.
Our Free Image Gallery is available in our email builder, saving you the time and hassle it would normally take for you to find a stock photo site, search for the perfect image, download, and then upload that image back into our builder. Our customers have already saved over 300 hours by using our Free Image Gallery.
We want our customers to feel confident about every send, so we’ve asked Meghan Sokolnicki, Senior Email Designer & Developer at CM Group, to share her best advice when it comes to designing emails with images.
Ready to give it a try? Sign up today and start building your best email yet.
Here are her best email design tips.
What is the best way to use images in emails?
Bottom line, it’s best to use images to help support your message. Images can be a great and effective way to capture an audience’s attention and add some visual interest to your emails. 
While I’d encourage using images in emails, it is important to make sure that images do not contain the most important pieces of information. They should be used to help support your message, not be used as the only way to deliver the message. As a rule of thumb, deliver important information with live text and support that information with images.
Keep in mind that not everyone receiving the email will be able to view images. Many people use screen readers or voice commands to listen to emails. Even people who are reading the emails may have images turned off or have spotty wifi that delays the time it takes for the images to download. 
As email designers, it’s our job to make sure that everyone receiving the emails has a consistent experience no matter how they interact with them.
What is the wrong way to use images in emails?
Don’t send image-only emails! I see this all the time and do not recommend it. Sure, it may be beautiful artwork, but that doesn’t make it an effective email. 
When images contain all of the key information in a given campaign, this can greatly limit the amount of your audience who can interact with the email. Think about all that information getting squished down on a smaller screen! It can be so hard to digest, and who wants to have to zoom in to read the message? Not me.
A common mistake designers make is to take a print design and paste it into an email without making any adjustments for the new medium. Print and web are completely different experiences so it’s best to design with those differences in mind. 
For example, instead of copy/pasting, make sure you’re adapting your designs for email. Be thoughtful about how your audience will interact with an email. In email we have the opportunity to click around, scroll, and engage with the campaign on a variety of different devices. Let’s use that to our advantage!
Give it a test drive in our free email template builder. 
How do designers choose the right image for their email? 
Most importantly you want to make sure that the image fits with your content. Consumers are less and less interested in seeing generic stock photography that serves no purpose. Instead, think about how you can use images with specificity to emotionally connect readers with your brand.
Everyone’s needs are going to be a little different, so choosing the right image comes down to if that photo makes sense for your brand and makes sense for the content. 
As a tip, we as humans seem to love seeing other humans! So our designers see a lot of engagement come from images using pictures of faces. I also love using illustrations and icons as a way to break up space. Even a small clock next to content about an upcoming deadline can help draw attention.
If you’re sending a letter or a quick announcement, you might not need an image, but there are other ways of adding some visual interest to your email design. Instead, use bold headlines or add a background color to help emphasize text. While I encourage using images where possible, they may not always be needed and that’s okay too! 
How can an email marketer measure whether their email design was successful or not?
Success is measured differently for every marketer. Sometimes the purpose of an email is to drive clicks or promote sales and that could be “successful,” and other times an email is about sharing relevant content to help your audience stay engaged with the brand. 
In my opinion there’s not a blanket answer for how to tell whether an email design is successful, but every brand needs to define success for themselves and work their design around that. 
An overall successful design for email is one that feels effortless for the consumer. This means making sure the content is compelling and styled in a way that takes out the guesswork: Clear hierarchy marked with headlines, bold calls-to-action, and whitespace used throughout the design to help give your text and images some breathing room. 
Also never underestimate the power of relevant content paired with a compelling subject line.
What is your design pet peeve?
I have a few actually! As you can tell, one major pet peeve is copying and pasting a print design into email and not considering the mobile experience. (See answer #3!) Another pet peeve, when there is too much text included on images, it can be such an awful experience. Some text can be included on images—just not all of your text. It’s such a quick fix to include live text in emails!
Also, trying to cram too much information into one email. This can feel so overwhelming for your audience—give your content room to breathe!
Where do you look for email design inspiration?
I love looking at Really Good Emails and seeing what other email designers are coming up with. Email design can sometimes feel like a very limited medium, because we’re designing with so many factors in mind. I love seeing how other designers use those limitations and make it work for them! Litmus is always testing the limits of what’s possible in email, and I love receiving their emails. 
It’s not supported everywhere, but I still love seeing simple movement in emails. A well-designed .gif can brighten my day.
What are your final design tips?

Make sure you use a balance of images and live text in your campaigns. Images are great to include in emails, just make sure they support the message. We don’t want “seeing” the image to be the only way to absorb your content. 

Use alt text when you include images! This is text that helps describe the image or the image’s intent for those who cannot view the image. You can still include some text as images (for example: Sale Today! You’re a winner! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!, etc.) just make sure when you, do you include alt text, so anyone not seeing the image still gets the full experience.
Don’t shy away from .gifs! Movement can be really fun in email.

Wrap up
There you have it, some of our best design tips from one of our in-house email design pros. If you’re ready to put these design tips to the test, you can start building an email in our drag-and-drop email builder right away for free. Check it out.
If you’re already a Campaign Monitor customer, sign in and get started.
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Imagine being able to talk to thousands of potential and loyal customers one-on-one. That’s what email marketing does for you. It remains one of the most popular forms of marketing, thanks to its high ROI and incredible reach. Email marketing doesn’t work like magic, though. You need to have an actionable strategy, gather valuable insight,…
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