1. PLAN, PLAN, PLAN
Define the objective for your survey and the specific information that you need to gather. Narrow down what you want to know into one isolated problem that you need to fix, and keep the number of questions as low as possible. Think of the customer’s journey through the survey.
2. KEEP THEIR FOCUS
Whilst the survey should be easy to answer, try to vary the answer formats to maintain concentration. For Example use a combination of drop down boxes, free text, radio buttons, scales etc. to find out what they really think.
3. ENGAGE PARTICIPANTS
Describe in your invitation how the information will be valuable to them and to others. Demonstrate to respondents that their answers matter. Publicise your results and any actions that may arise from them. This will encourage people to continue participating in further surveys. If you are asking for personal information, spell out exactly what your privacy policy is and how their information will be stored and used. Give participants as many different methods of answering the survey as possible via a website, via email, by paper, by phone, face-to-face. But use one system to collate the answers.
4. TEST, TEST AND THEN TEST AGAIN
Invite someone to answer the survey beforehand. Ask them to check for ease of use and spot any unclear, repetitive questions or confusing instructions, also ensure that the results can be analysed in the way you expected.
5. USE YOUR RESULTS
Let respondents know what you’ve learned and what actions you are taking as a result. Following up with respondents validates the relationship and sends the message that their opinions make a difference; they should then be more likely to complete the next survey. If appropriate publicise improvements made from one survey to another.
Online surveys provide an effective means for research, marketing and customer service as well as solving the distribution and collection problems associated with paper-based surveys. Most importantly, they are an integral part of B2B marketing and can be quickly measured. Having access to results instantly means it’s quicker to interpret the findings and therefore formulate actions for future marketing campaigns and improvement.
For more information about how Intellegentia can shape your marketing campaign, contact us: