Conducting online surveys is an excellent approach to collect data and feedback from your target audience. According to the research made by Khoros, 64% of consumers appreciate when a brand seeks out their feedback or opinion in a survey.
Thus, if you want your survey to be successful, you need to make sure that you follow some basic guidelines.
This article will assist you in getting started by providing some valuable tips.
1. Establish the Purpose of Your Survey
Your online survey is useless unless you know what you want to gain from it. Make sure that the purpose of your online survey is clear in your mind before you even begin creating one.
It doesn’t help anyone if you are conducting online surveys only to get data for the sake of having data.
You have to establish why you need it, what information and details you want from your online survey and how this will be helpful for your business in the long run.
2. Draft Questions That are Clear and Concise
Asking online survey questions that are too generic or long will not give you any helpful information.
It would be best to always think about your online survey as a dialogue rather than a lecture.
People don’t have the time to read several paragraphs, so asking short and specific online survey questions is always a good idea.
3. Make Sure Your Questions are Relevant to Your Target Audience.
According to usability.gov, online surveys offer companies a way to collect information from a broad audience for very little cost. When conducting an online survey, you have an opportunity to learn “Who your users are?”, “What your users want to accomplish?”, and “What information your users are looking for?”.
When asking online survey questions, make sure that you look at things from your target audience’s point of view.
If the surveys you conduct online do not directly relate to the future development of your product or service, then there is no point in completing it.
4. Encourage Respondent Engagement in Online Surveys
You can get more engagement in online surveys by including video and photos, along with online surveys questions.
This will not only make your online survey more fun to answer, but it will also allow you to convey important information about your business or product/service through images rather than words alone. You should also incorporate interactive elements into online surveys whenever possible.
For example, if people must rank items on a scale of 1-5 (with one being “not at all” and five being “very”), then let them know what the scores mean – whether they are supposed to represent how much respondents like specific online survey questions or how well they performed after taking part in an online contest.
5. Conduct Online Surveys at Regular Intervals
The more often you conduct online surveys, the more data you will have to work with overtime.
This will help you better understand your audience, allowing you to streamline online objectives and goals and online strategies for online promotion.
So if possible, try and conduct online surveys at least once a month so that you can spot trends in the results over time.
6. Set Expectations for Online Survey Respondents
When people sign up for online surveys, they expect a certain amount of compensation in return. If you fail to provide participants with incentives and other benefits that come along with online surveys (such as discounts and prizes), then do not be surprised when your online survey results are less than stellar.
Try and understand what type of online survey respondents you want to attract by setting realistic online objectives and goals, which you can measure using online analytics tools.
7. Pilot Test Your Survey Before Sending It Out to Respondents
You should always contact a small group of people before sending online surveys to a larger audience.
This will help you identify any problems with the online survey and correct them before you make it public.
8. Analyze the Results
Once you have conducted online surveys, make sure that you analyze the results and draw meaningful conclusions from them.
If you use online surveys for future marketing purposes, it is essential to know your online survey respondents’ thoughts about your brand.
This will help you create a much more focused online campaign that gets better results in the long run.
Who Can Take Online Surveys?
There are several requirements that companies look for in online survey applicants before inviting them to take online surveys for money or other types of incentives. Here are some:
The Age Requirement
Most online survey companies require online survey takers to be at least 18 years old since you have to be a legal adult to sign contracts and enter into agreements with third parties.
However, some online survey sites allow those as young as 13 years old with parental permission.
The Availability Requirement
Most online surveys ask for respondents’ time commitments on short (immediate) or at least within 24 hours.
This means that most people who take online surveys need to be available whenever they get invited or scheduled to take an online survey which may not always be convenient.
It’s not unusual for online survey takers to be asked to take online surveys when they are about to leave their house or in the middle of doing something important like cooking dinner, watching a movie, working on a presentation, etc.
The Technical Requirement
Some online surveys require online survey takers to have specific computer programs installed before being invited to take online surveys.
For example, some companies will ask online respondents if they have Microsoft Office installed before inviting them to take online surveys, because some surveys are created with Microsoft Office documents (like Excel spreadsheets).
What are you waiting for? Start taking surveys today!
Surveys are a valuable tool for understanding your customers and getting feedback on your products or services.
If you’re thinking of conducting an online survey, keep the following tips in mind to ensure its success!
