How to Increase Survey Response Rate - 8 Easy Tactics

So, you decided to conduct a survey on your website or via email. That's a great idea!

But here is a tricky part: most people aren't fans of taking surveys 😬

If you want to know how to increase survey response rates, tune in. We’ll cover 8 ways to get people to participate in your research and provide you with the valuable insights.

Looking for a tool to survey your website visitors? Try Getsitecontrol. It requires zero technical skills and includes lots of handy templates.

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Chapters

• 0:29 Getting people to take a survey is sometimes challenging
• 1:12 1. Offer something in return for participation
• 1:57 2. Give customers a gentle nudge
• 2:42 3. Pick the right time to survey your customers
• 3:24 4. Keep things short and sweet
• 4:38 5. Use fullscreen forms
• 5:23 6. Pick the right channels to display surveys
• 6:15 7. Use targeting to approach the right audience
• 7:08 8. Use personalization when possible

Transcript

Hi, you’re listening to Getsitecontrol Insider!

If you’ve ever tried to conduct surveys, you know that most people aren’t big fans of taking them. In this episode, we’ll cover 8 ways to fix that and get people to participate in your research.

Stay tuned!

When you run a business, you can’t improve things without knowing what actually needs improving. That’s why customer surveys are so important. They provide the insights you can use to optimize your marketing campaigns.

But here is the tricky part. Getting people to take a survey is a challenge. 

So how do you increase survey response rates for your research?

Well, for starters, think of it from your customers’ perspective. For example, the most common reasons why people quit surveys before completing them are:

• too many questions
• too much typing
• the purpose of the survey is unclear
• no incentive for the respondent

In the research conducted by Survey Monkey, 50% of the respondents said that they only complete half or even fewer feedback surveys they receive.

Sounds discouraging? Worry not! There are ways to improve that.

First, offer something in return for participation

When you ask your customers to participate in a survey, you’re asking them to spend their time and effort, so that you could gain valuable insights. But what is there for them?

Yes, you should think of an incentive.

Incentives work wonders when you’re trying to get people to take your survey. 

Lots of companies use this approach and offer gift cards, discounts, or any other bait that might be of value to the respondents. You can also consider samples, upgrades, or even a PDF with unique content.

To deliver the incentive, just add an email capture field at the end of the survey form and send an automated email with a discount code or a download link upon submission.

Second tactic - Give customers a gentle nudge

Filling in a survey probably isn’t at the top of many people’s ‘to do’ list. That’s why, whether you’re surveying customers on your website or via email, it’s a common practice to give them a gentle nudge from time to time.

For instance, you can set up an automated reminder email that is sent a few days after the original invitation. If you’re surveying people on the website or in your app, you can nudge them by displaying a pop-up survey every 7-10 days until a customer fills out the form or declines the invitation.

There’s no need to be too persistent when it comes to surveys, but if you only display them once, you might miss out.

Tip number 3. Pick the right time to survey your customers

In order to get people to take your survey, make sure you pick the right time for the invitation.

What is the best time? It depends.

Some surveys, such as customer satisfaction or customer effort score surveys, are best displayed right after they have interacted with your business.

Others – such as the Net Promoter Score survey – can be sent via email up to a month after a customer has completed a purchase.

When in doubt, ask yourself: do I need to get feedback about the experience a customer just had, or do I want to give them more time to evaluate the product?

Tip #4. Keep things short and sweet

The fewer fields there are in a form, the higher survey response rates will be. That’s a given.

However, businesses can’t completely avoid using long-form surveys, right?

If you are running marketing research that includes multiple questions, there are a few tricks to make it easier for your customers.

For instance, include a progress bar to show how much is left. Seeing a dynamic progress bar makes people feel as if they are advancing. And that will motivate them to follow through.

When possible, use skip logic and branching. It’s a feature that allows you to display questions based on the respondents’ answers. As a result, irrelevant questions get automatically ‘skipped’. For example, you will want to ask a customer about a feature you offer only if they have bought or used that feature.

And finally, use questions that require minimum interaction. Open-ended questions are everyone’s least favorite type because they require a lot of effort from the respondents. So, whenever you can – spare them typing the answers. Use checkboxes, dropdown menus, and radio buttons to minimize the interaction required.

Quick tip #5. Use fullscreen forms

In addition to the way you phrase questions, there are a couple more tricks that might help you get people to take your survey.

First, you want to use fullscreen survey forms whenever it’s possible. They provide a distraction-free experience because they take the entire screen. This trick alone will increase survey response rates significantly.

Plus, they provide a better user experience on mobile. With half of the Internet traffic coming from smartphones these days, chances are a large number of people will see your survey while using small screens. That’s why it’s important to make sure the questions will display well on both desktop and mobile devices. 

Number 6. Pick the right channels to display surveys

We’ve just talked about surveying people via email and on websites. But when and where exactly should you do that?

Now, this is very important. The best moment to display a survey form is when your customers are most engaged. Which is:

• At the end of the checkout process
• Right after they’ve had a live chat
• At the end of a blog post
• On a thank you page

Whenever a customer accomplishes something on your website, they are more likely to provide feedback because they feel good about themselves, and chances are – about your business, too. 

Next step? Think outside the box to find more channels for sharing your survey. For instance, you can link to them directly from social media and messengers using tools like Getform.

Tactic #7. Use targeting to approach the right audience

If people ignore your survey, you might be trying to approach the wrong audience. To start getting quality responses, make sure you understand who you’re targeting exactly.

For example, if you’re displaying a survey on a website, you can use targeting settings to reach only people from a specific location, using a particular device type, or showing specific user behavior.

You can also display different surveys on different pages of your website.

If you’re sending an email survey about your product, it’s crucial to have the email list segmentation in order. For instance, sometimes, there is no point to invite every subscriber to participate – because only those who have been on a customer journey with you will be able to provide valuable insights.

And finally, tip #8. Use personalization when possible

Personalization is known for increasing email open rates and click-through rates. When it comes to surveys, it’s very helpful, too.

If you’re inviting people to participate in your survey via email, make sure to use their first name in the subject line and the opening part of the email.

Once you’ve got their attention, maintain it with a good email copy!

For instance, before getting to the questions, explain why you’d like them to take the survey and how long it will take.

Compare the following invitations:

• “Please participate in our survey”
   OR
• “We’re working on improving our customer experience. If you could answer our quick survey, you would help us a lot. It will only take two minutes”.

Which one sounds more personal and thoughtful? Clearly, it’s the second one.

When preparing your survey, you need to have a clear objective, a hypothesis, and an easy way to analyze the results. Based on these components, you should set up audience targeting and choose the channels to promote your survey.

If you’re looking for a tool to survey your website visitors, try Getsitecontrol. It requires zero technical skills and includes lots of handy templates. 

This is it for the episode.

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Until next time.