You want to create the perfect survey that actually entices respondents to complete it. Here are 5 fun survey questions that make customers feel important.
survey questions
5 Survey Questions Customers Will Skip Every Time
Survey Tips
As you’re crafting your survey, it pays to know what works, and what doesn’t. Here are five survey questions customers will skip every time.
The Ultimate Survey CTA When A Survey Is Completed
Survey Tips
Words are great, and while it’s always a best practice to thank your survey respondents when they’ve completed your survey, there are some actions you can take to really drive your thank you home.
You want to use an action to show your respondents your gratitude, and this is where the call to action (CTA) comes in.
Your best call to action is to take action first by creating a CTA that shows your survey respondents you know they just did you a favor, and now you are going to do them one. (tweet this)
In this article, we look at the ultimate survey CTA when a survey is completed. We’ll look at how this can further solidify their loyalty to your business.
A Good CTA
When your survey is completed, a good CTA you can provide is either the incentive you promised or one you are surprising your respondents with.
For example, you may have promised them a coupon for free shipping, a percentage off coupon, a free download, or something free from your store.
Whether you told them this up front or are providing it as a surprise, it is the ultimate CTA when a survey is completed because your customers are getting what they wanted.
But, if you really want to wow your customer with the ultimate call to action, give them the one that meets your respondents where they are.
The Ultimate CTA
There is one more thing you can do with your after-survey CTA that propels your CTA to the ultimate stage and beyond.
You can further increase your results by creating a CTA based on survey responses.
This means providing a call to action that meets your customers’ needs, wants and desires.
Your survey helps you determine what your customers think about either your products, services, or your business. Because you know this, you can provide them with a proper call to action.
For example, perhaps you created a survey that asked your respondents if they want coupons, free shipping, eBooks, webinars, whitepapers, or free services.
Based on their responses, you can provide a CTA at the end of the survey based on their answers. For example, for the ones that want free shipping, give them a coupon. For those who want eBooks, give them a link to a new one.
Not only can you provide an appropriate CTA, but you learn more about your customers so you can provide them with the right content, products, and services.
You can also reach out with a CTA to customers who may or may not be happy with your company. Let’s say you conducted a Net Promoter Score survey. You could provide a different call to action for several groups:
- If your respondents’ NPS survey response score is less than six, you can create a call to action that appeals to your detractors.
- If you have responses in the range of seven-eight, you can also create a CTA for this more neutral, passive group.
- For NPS survey responses that are greater than or equal to nine, you can create a promoter CTA that appeals to your biggest fans.
Each of these CTAs can be different. To create the CTA, research your audience, know what makes them happy and what doesn’t. Then, you can fine tune your CTA at the end of your surveys to appeal to each of those audiences.
Final Thoughts
Sending surveys helps you learn valuable information about your customers. It helps you fine tune your marketing and provide the right things at the right time.
So, why waste one minute of that time. Give them a CTA when the survey is completed that matches their survey responses.
In doing this, you not only express your overwhelming gratitude, but you tell your customers immediately that you are listening to them.
Surveys help you make the best decisions for your business. Are you ready to get started with your free Survey Town trial? Start with your free account today, and you can upgrade at any time.
Images: Brett Jordan on Unsplash
10 Tips for Encouraging Survey Completion by Customers
Survey Tips
Are you looking to increase your survey response rates for better data? Check out these 10 tips for encouraging survey completion by customers.
How to Know If You Have “Good Survey Questions”
Survey Tips
You’ve done your research. You’ve drafted your questions, and you think you’re ready to send your survey.
But, how do you know it’s good enough to elicit the kinds of responses you need?
While online survey tools make it easy to send surveys, you still need to do the legwork and create a survey that actually works. This requires careful planning.
Without it, you may not get the meaningful data you’re looking for.
To help you evaluate your survey, in this article, we look at how to know if you have “good survey questions.”
Take a look at the following and then look at your survey questions. If they meet these qualifications, you have good survey questions.
Have a Goal
Do you have a goal for your survey? It’s best practice to have a goal in mind before you start crafting your survey questions.
For example, ask yourself about the objective of your survey. What’s the most important thing you want to know? What else are you looking for?
Once you have your goal, you can craft questions to go with it.
Keep It Simple
We can almost promise you that your customers won’t answer long surveys (unless the reward is overly beneficial).
Because of this, you want to keep your survey as simple as possible. If your survey is simple, and short, you’re more likely to have a larger pool or respondents.
People are busy, and you want to provide them easy access to your survey. Make sure they can complete your survey in under 10 minutes. (tweet this)
If you want to ensure the best results, keep your survey well under five minutes. Show your respondents you care and respect their time, otherwise your abandonment rate will skyrocket.
Stay Away from Yes/No Questions
Otherwise known as a polar question, the yes/no question in most instances isn’t going to provide you much data.
With this question there are only two possible answers, and that is all you’re going to get.
You leave your respondents without a voice. They can’t tell you what they think, and they have no other choice by yes or no. It may be they are somewhere in between.
What’s more, this question is leading. If your respondent isn’t squarely in the yes or no corner, they are forced to pick one of those answers, creating bias.
You’re after real, authentic data, and the polar question isn’t the way to get it.
If you are really set on a closed-ended type of question like this, at least give your respondents multiple items to choose from. The multiple choice question is certainly a better option because you are giving them more choices.
In addition, you may also want to include a line for “other,” so they can add their own answer. After all, you may not have thought of all possible answers.
Use the Right Type of Question
When working with surveys, you’ll note there are many different types of questions.
In order to get the best data, you want to use the right type of question.
Qualitative questions are open-ended. Use these types of questions when you want a written answer.
Quantitative questions are closed-ended, and you offer options for respondents. These may include:
- Check boxes
- Drop down menus
- Radio buttons
- Rating scales
- Ranking scales
Often, you’ll find that a mix of questions is ideal for your needs. You might even follow up with an open-ended question after a respondent answers a closed-ended question in a particular way.
Use Open-Ended Questions
This type of question can be very valuable because your respondents provide a comment. It can be one sentence or many and often gives you insight into how your survey respondents really feel about your business or your products.
The open-ended question allows you to really dig deep for data.
As we just mentioned, not all of your questions have to be open-ended nor should they be. Consider one or two open-ended questions so as not to overly tax your respondents.
Do be careful when wording this question. You want to ensure you aren’t leading respondents to a particular answer.
Ask One Thing in Each Question
This is a problem that derails many survey writers.
It happens when someone writes a question that actually includes more than one question. For example:
- Do you like product x? What is your favorite thing about it? How is it beneficial?
Not only are you asking too many similar questions, but you’re confusing your respondents.
If it was open-ended, you might expect to only get one of your questions answered. If it was closed-ended, your respondents wouldn’t know what to answer, so your data will be skewed.
Each question should pose only one thing. Don’t make it hard for respondents to answer you accurately and precisely.
You might reword the above example like this: “What do you find most beneficial about product x?”
Don’t Use Leading Words
Great writers know that words can have very different meanings depending on their context.
Good survey writers are aware of the same nuances.
In order to get the most precise data from your survey, be very careful with your wording. Make sure your questions aren’t leading and that they say exactly what you mean.
Have others look over your questions to see if they interpret them differently than you meant them.
Avoid Double-Barreled Questions
Similar to the leading question, this one shows great bias.
For example, if you own a hotel, a double-barreled question might look like this: “Is our hotel your favorite place to stay?” Or, “What is the most economical hotel for you to stay at?”
Not only are these questions leading, but in the case of the last question, one person’s economical isn’t always the same as another.
Final Thoughts
Some sources attribute the following to Albert Einstein, “If I had an hour to solve a problem, and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask… for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.”
As you craft your survey and look for good survey questions that produce the best data, consider this quote.
If you ask the right questions and in the right manner, you’re sure to get the data you’re looking for to meet your overall goals.
Surveys help you make the best decisions for your business. Are you ready to get started with your free Survey Town trial? Start with your free account today, and you can upgrade at any time.
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5 Unique Survey Questions
Survey Tips
Surveys are a terrific way to gather vital information for your business. You may have already started surveying your customers with this popular data-collection method.
You may have found that surveys can help you survey large groups of people in a cost-effective manner. Perhaps you’re getting ready to send another survey, and you’d like to send one that isn’t predictable or boring.
Asking unexpected, fun questions is a great way to encourage more survey responses. You might find that shaking things up a bit increases your response rates.
We put together this list of five unique survey questions so you an reduce your survey abandonment rates and encourage more respondents to not only start your survey but finish it.
#1: Picture Question – Choose One
The image choice question is fun for respondents, and it’s especially useful for your more visual customers.
This type of question is a simple, closed-ended question where your survey respondents can choose from one or more image answers.
You provide the images, and they are free to pick their favorite(s).
We like the image-based question because it’s highly interactive for your survey respondents and encourages engagement. This is especially helpful if your customers are suffering from survey fatigue.
Because your customers are hit every day with surveys, the interactive image-based question can energize your customers and make them want to complete your survey. This can reduce your survey abandonment rate and increase your response rate.
The picture question can help you break through the survey clutter and show your customers their opinions matter.
#2: The Constant Sum Question
With this distinctive survey question, you allow your respondents to express how valuable or important something is to them.
A constant sum survey question helps you collect a ratio of data showing it in comparison to other data.
For example, you might offer respondents a sliding scale that they can move themselves. You could ask them to show how likely they are to do a series of things.
Let’s say you own a clothing store, and you want to know how likely your customers are to spend money on individual items. They can move the slider showing how they spend their money. You might ask them to slide the scale on the following:
- Pants
- Shirts
- Undergarments
- Pajamas
- Jewelry
- Hats and Belts
- Shoes
You can use this question when you are relatively sure your customers will make a purchase from you, but you want to know on what.
#3: Upload a File
There are times when you may really want to engage your survey respondents and asking them to upload a file on their cellphone is one way to do this.
Perhaps you’re looking for photos, documents or other information. If so, you can add an upload question to your survey.
Using this question allows your respondents to not only provide you a survey response but upload a file as well. It allows you to collect data that might not be available to you through standard survey questions.
While your customers will find this question fairly easy to deal with, you want to make sure to restrict the type of file your respondents can upload. For example, if you’re looking for an image, you don’t want them to upload a spreadsheet.
Be sure to provide hints and tips for users who may not be well-versed in mobile uploads.
#4: Reword the Question
Another way to make your surveys more unique is to get your creative juices working. Find fun ways to rewrite your standards survey questions so they inspire your respondents and elicit higher response rates.
Consider this survey question example:
How likely are you to purchase this product again?
- Heck yeah!
- Stuck in the middle.
- Wishy washy.
- No way.
By using clever choices, you give your customers a smile and create a survey they might actually want to complete.
Note, though, that this doesn’t work for all survey questions, and you should remain serious where it’s called for and if your industry wouldn’t work well with a bit of creativity.
Know your audience and use your best judgement.
#5: Throw in Some Humor
Yes, surveys are important for your data collection, and you don’t want to venture too far away from getting your results, but in the right circumstances you can consider using a little humor.
For example, if you have a long survey of 10 questions, and you want to add a bit of levity to the seriousness of it, you might through in a humorous question in the middle.
Do make sure the question still gathers data but ask it in a unique way. Perhaps halfway through your long survey, you might ask customers, “Are you tired yet?”
For the answers, make it apply to your business:
- Choice #1: Yes! I’m as tired as I was walking from one end of your store to the other to find what I needed.
- Choice #2: Of course not, you would never tire me.
From this question/answer, you add some humor, but you’re still able to take away vital data. If they chose choice #1, you might rethink your store layout for ease of use.
Bottom line have fun with your wording but do make sure you’re still getting valuable data about your customers’ experience with you. (tweet this)
Final Thoughts
Hilary Swank, a well-known actress, said, “If I’m going to do something different, and if I want it to meet someone’s needs, I really need to go the distance.”
If you take this quote to heart, you can see how important it is to first, survey your customers so you ensure you’re meeting their needs. Second, you want to create a survey that is engaging enough your customers will want to take it.
One way to do this is to throw in some unique survey questions to increase your response rate and engage your best customers.
Now that you have some survey questions to help you step out of your response, you’re well on your way to getting responses while making your customers feel that you went the extra mile to make sure their survey experience was one of a kind.
Surveys help you make the best decisions for your business. Are you ready to get started with your free Survey Town trial? Start with your free account today, and you can upgrade at any time.
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Why Embedding Questions Gets More Survey Results
Survey Tips
One of the best ways to increase your survey response rates is to embed the questions right in your email marketing software.
Why does this increase your response rate? You see higher response rates because your respondents don’t have to leave their email to take your survey. They can answer it right in the virtual comfort of their inbox.
This is different than putting a link in your email, and it eliminates an extra step for survey takers.
In this article we look at why embedding questions gets more survey results.
Why are Response Rates Higher?
Response rates for emails with embedded survey questions are often higher for several reasons:
- As your respondent clicks to answer your question, they have already invested their time and are compelled to complete your survey. There is less chance of large dropout rates.
- Your respondents are more likely to answer a single question in your email than invest the time to click through to a long survey.
What is the Best Question?
Surveys embedded in emails generally see a much higher response rate than when you send a link to your survey. (tweet this)
Because of this, you want to ask the question that is the most important to your company. In many instances, this would be your Net Promoter question, “How likely are you to recommend our business to others.”
You’re sure to come up with other one-question surveys that fit your needs, but it’s a good idea to keep embedded surveys to no more than three questions.
Final Thoughts
Email is a powerful vehicle for your surveys. Nearly everyone checks their email, and by embedding your survey questions right in your email, you increase your chances of a response.
Embedding the survey reduces a perceived barrier to completing the survey. Your respondents can complete it immediately upon opening their email. They don’t have to click a link away from their email and take extra steps to complete your survey.
This is a bonus for your business and can help you learn more from your surveys while making it easier for your customers.
Surveys help you make the best decisions for your business. Are you ready to get started with your free Survey Town trial? Start with your free account today, and you can upgrade at any time.
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