Twenty tips on how to write a survey

Research and a thorough understanding of customer demographics and behavioural patterns lay at the heart of successful marketing. So here are twenty tips on how to draft an effective customer survey.

1. Keep it simple
Don’t make reading and answering questions an effort. Questions should be easy to understand and to answer. Use simple language that a child could understand. Limit the potential length of answers by avoiding questions that involve elaborate responses.

2. Test
Test your survey on a sample of respondents before giving it the green light and sending it to everyone on your database. Include a couple of questions along the lines of, "Was this survey easy to understand and respond to?" to get feedback about its mechanics. Analyze responses to help fine-tune layout and wording.

3. Do your homework
Surveys are only as useful as you make them, and the art and science of creating effective surveys is highly specialised. Read everything you can about what does and doesn’t work. Consult experts, study examples, and learn as much as possible about the subject before sending out your survey.

4. Don't use a big net when a simple hook might do
Surveying a target demographic is like fishing for information. But as every good fisherman knows, different species of fish respond to different types of bait. So instead of casting a big net and hoping to catch everyone, try targeting specific groups with individual surveys. Refine your focus and you will automatically improve your results.

5. Follow up a survey with another survey
The more you build on the feedback you receive, the more valuable your surveys will become. Don't limit yourself to just one survey. The more you use surveys, the greater the return. Screen responses from your first survey to tailor a second that homes-in and digs deeper. The more you follow-up, the richer the results.

6. Pay attention to non-responders
When people don’t respond to a survey that also counts as valuable feedback. Try to understand why, and always embed a question that asks non-responders why they were reluctant to answer. The answers people don’t give often offer valuable clues to the areas to which you should really be paying attention.

7. Make it convenient
One of the first rules of successful surveying is that the survey process needs to be easy for respondents. Forget pen and paper surveys or calling people on the telephone. That risks annoying them. Use a virtual email survey they can respond to at their own convenience.

8. Experiment with formats
Try sending out a short survey consisting of only 3-4 questions. Then experiment with a longer one of 8-10 questions. Find out how that affects results and then tailor your next one accordingly. Look for the optimal size or style of survey that yields the highest response rate.

9. Keep it fresh
Wait too long to get survey results back and you risk answers being stale and misleading. Use an electronic computer-based survey platform that offers immediate delivery, instant access to results and real-time analysis.

10. Use incentives
Everyone likes incentives. Link customer feedback or employee input surveys to some form of reward, such as a discount or the opportunity to attend a company workshop.

11. Customise data and reports
Survey data is like gold, and so should be mined efficiently and effectively. Use a survey system that lets you crunch numbers and organise information into different report formats. Have one report type for the sales team for example, and a different one tailored around the needs of senior management.

12. Use surveys to strengthen your brand
Use surveys to establish whether prospect and customer groups recognise your brand name, logo or slogan. Then use the findings to adjust your marketing messages.

13. Leverage the power of internal surveys
Surveys are great tools for getting customer feedback, but they’re also a useful route to understanding what employees and managers think and feel. Use internal in-house surveys to keep open lines of communication and improve the dissemination of information within the company.

14. Ensure confidentiality and anonymity
Instead of sending out surveys directly via email – which makes it obvious you know who the recipient is – consider emailing a link to a survey site. People are more likely to give accurate and honest answers if they believe they can do so anonymously.

15. Use survey feedback to inform future survey models
Once you get feedback from one survey, use it to help construct the next. Analyze which types of question got the most helpful answers, which subject areas yielded most data, and which groups responded in most detail. Learn from your results to make future surveys even more impactful and valuable.

16. Avoid technical jargon
If you send a survey to someone who doesn't understand it they’ll either not respond or respond without properly grasping the question, thereby producing false results. Avoid technical jargon or words and phrases that could potentially have two meanings. Straight-talking should get you straight answers.

17. A-B test
Survey wording is key to success and effectiveness, but sometimes it’s hard to know the right question or the best way of phrasing it. So try two ways of asking the same, or similar, questions. Test both at the same time on a representative sample, and then examine all responses to judge which version works best. Once you’ve determined that use it in your main survey.

18. Tie-in surveys to rewards programs and give-aways
Whenever you stage a competition, prize draw or give-away promotion tie it in to a short survey. You can also tie-in surveys to rewards programs for preferred customers. When they sign-up for the program invite them to fill out a survey form too. Connecting it to a reward or the chance to win a prize provides an added incentive to answer questions.

19. Let surveys be the eyes and ears of senior management
Senior managers need to know what is going on across all levels of the company, but employees are often reluctant to speak their minds openly about company matters. Use anonymous and confidential surveys to elicit frank and truthful feedback. Employees will feel that their voice is being heard and management will stay better informed.

20. Use a survey as a trial balloon to float new ideas
Before launching a new marketing campaign, brand, logo or product, test the reaction to it first by conducting a survey. The results may save you a lot of time, money, and aggravation – and help make it an even greater success.

 

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