Step 1: Define your ideal case study structure and target customers

To start, we need clarity on the kind of customer success stories you want to showcase and the metrics that matter the most to your business. It’s hard to understand the business in and out as an employee (imagine it twice as hard if you’re a freelancer).

Gemini will help us outline these and define a perfect case study for PodSource, a Podcast SaaS tool I made up for this tutorial.

I'm a content marketer at [insert company details]. I want to write some case studies that [inset purpose].

What would an ideal case study for [your company] look like? Outline the most successful customer types and impactful metrics this case study should showcase.

Step 2: Identify willing case study participants and craft effective outreach

Now that you understand your ideal case study, it's time to locate potential interviewees. Gemini will help us draft an effective outreach email that both establishes your purpose and sweetens the deal for participants.

What are the criteria I should look at to identify potential case study interviewees? For each company, I have [insert available details].

Help me draft an outreach email template to reach out to these customers for case study interviews. Include options to make the process easy and appealing for them.

Step 3: Structure your case study interview for optimal results

A great case study follows a narrative arc. We need to design interview questions that guide interviewees through this arc and uncover the challenges, solutions, and impactful results they experienced with your product. Gemini can provide us with a tailored set of questions.

Help me develop a set of interview questions tailored for a case study highlighting [your company/product’s features]. Ensure my questions are open-ended and encourage detailed stories about the customer's experience.

Also, should I add these questions to the outreach email? Many people believe in DATA (don't ask to ask) these days.

Step 4: Conduct the interview and gather supporting data

Strong case studies combine compelling narratives with quantifiable data. Getting that requires you and the customer to be comfortable during the interview. Gemini can provide us with tips to conduct an effective interview that allows you to build rapport while gathering the essential details and data points you'll need.

Provide tips on how to conduct an effective case study interview. Include advice on establishing rapport with the interviewee and asking probing questions for deeper insights and quantifiable answers. [you may add any clarifying notes]

Step 5: Craft the case study with Gemini

Once in an interview, there are a ton of AI tools that can help you take meeting notes, or transcribe the whole meeting. This material can act as a raw source for creating first drafts for case studies.

Here, I’m using an example of very rough notes taken during the meeting to create a first draft of the case study.

Below are rough notes from one of these calls. Help me write a first draft of a compelling case study focusing on creating a narrative arc. Also, give specific suggestions on where to improve this first draft in terms of clarity, engagement, and additional data.

[paste your notes here]

I always like to compare multiple answers when using AI to write. I take the best to my docs and then edit to polish the writing and add my own touch.