Getting feedback from customers or employees is an effective way for businesses to provide better services or make adjustments if their company culture is starting to shift. While creating and sending out surveys is the perfect way to collect this feedback, getting responses when needed quickly isn’t always easy..
Even if you’re not getting the results you had hoped for from your surveys, this doesn’t mean this method can’t still be effective. However, you may need to change how you approach your feedback collection to get better response rates.
Below, we’ll highlight some key ways to get you more useful feedback from the surveys you create.
1. Streamline Survey Length and Design
Almost everyone lives a busy life. If they’re not dealing with work-related issues, they’re tending to their family or trying to get some rest and relaxation. So it should be no surprise that filling out a survey for your business may not be the first thing on their priority list.
Keeping your surveys short and sweet is one way to show your respondents that you value their time. Depending on the information you’re trying to gather, make sure you’re formatting the survey so that you’re still getting the helpful insights you need without requiring long, exhaustive responses to each of your questions.
2. Target the Right Audience
It’s important to understand exactly who your audience is. Not all customers or employees may respond the same way to having to fill out surveys, especially if they’re on topics that don’t really concern them.
Instead of mass-sending your surveys and hoping for enough responses to gather actionable data, identify the specific groups of people that are most likely to give you helpful information or feedback.
Also, try to look for ways to personalize the content. When a respondent sees their actual name assigned to survey pages, they are likely to feel like their opinions are valued.
3. Create Compelling Invitations
You may have a subscriber list that you’re trying to connect with or a group of followers on social media that you want to poll. Regardless of the groups you’re trying to survey, how you distribute your polls or questionnaires will affect how many responses you receive.
Think of the last time you received an unsolicited email asking you to complete a survey. Which ones did you take and which ones did you avoid? Chances are the subject line and the delivery method have a lot to do with your choices. When sending out your surveys, consider running different subject line tests to see which ones received the best click-through rates and update your approach.
4. Optimize Survey Timing
If you’ve realized you’re not getting an active response when sending your surveys, you might want to think about the time of day or which days you’re sending them out. While there is really no right or wrong strategy here, your audience’s typical routine should be a primary consideration if you want to improve your survey response rates.
Another good best practice is to automate follow-ups after sending your first survey request, and if you haven’t yet received a response.. Make sure there is enough time in between the original request and the follow-up (typically, 2-3 days). You don’t want to come across as pushy or inconsiderate by sending constant reminders to your audience every 10-12 hours.
5. Offer Gift Cards and Incentives
Time is valuable to most people. You might find it beneficial to offer a gift card or other incentive to respondents in exchange for the time they put into your surveys.
The great thing about offering custom gift cards to employees or customers is that they’re flexible and allow the recipients to choose the reward that “they” would prefer. While this may not necessarily be within your budget, you should consider how valuable the information that you’re receiving is. The ROI you receive may surprise you and make this type of initiative a much more reasonable expense than you initially think.
6. Ensure Anonymity and Confidentiality
Most people have become much more sensitive to the requests from businesses to provide them with personal information. It’s important that you remain sensitive to this fact and ensure you’re following certain laws and regulations in your area regarding data collection and storage.
Assuming you’re within your right to ask for survey submissions, you want to ensure your respondents that the information collected will be anonymous and secure. This may mean investing in secure data storage solutions and following specific compliance guidelines in your industry.
7. Use Multiple Distribution Channels
While email is typically the most used format for sending out survey requests, you should consider other distribution methods and channels that could help to improve your response rates. Social media platforms, physical thank you cards with QR codes, video ads, and email campaigns are all effective ways to point employees or customers to your surveys.
Think about where your audience is most likely to spend their time and create a survey distribution strategy that’s likely to help you get the results you need. Don’t be afraid to experiment and try different distribution methods. You may find that what works well today may change considerably over time.
Get More Results from The Surveys You Send Out
Even though everyone is busy, surveys can still be a great way to extract invaluable data insights from your customers and employees. By modifying the format of your surveys, considering the best times of day to send them, and trying out different distribution strategies, you’ll start to increase your response rates and see better results from your efforts.
