3 Keys To Winning Surveys

Posted by Lucy T Zhang on February 24th, 2018

Everyone wants answers, and today’s data-driven culture highlights this need more than ever. Whether you want to know whether your event was successful or if your employees are engaged, there’s no better way to get answers than to ask.

If you’ve never conducted a survey, no worries. Even beginners can take advantage of plenty of online survey tools available today that include survey templates, wizards, and plenty of online guidance. If you just don’t have the time to do it yourself, look for a fully managed survey package service. In most cases, though, you can probably do it yourself! A few tips:

Set Clear Goals

Maybe not all who wander are lost, but this is not the time to stray off the path. Why are you conducting this survey? If the reason is that it’s a tradition, or because your boss asked you to, you might need to drill down a bit. Figure out what data you must come away with and you’ll have an easier time narrowing down the right questions.

Connect Correctly

In most cases, your audience isn’t just sitting around hoping for you to send them a survey. How can you make sure this survey appeals to them directly and inspires them to participate? create a survey that uses features like pre-population, logic, and advanced question types to make sure the survey experience is simple and easy for participants. Plus, an attractive and professional survey design will certainly help, both for your survey and invitations. Finally, make sure your distribution plans ensure you reach your audience at the best time and in the best way. Whether it’s email, from your newsletter, on your website, or at an event, you’ll improve your response rates when you connect strategically.

Reporting For Duty

There’s no use in going through the work of conducting a survey if you’re not going to actually use the data. Since you’ve already figured out your goals, it should be simple to apply what you learn. Are you making a strategic decision? Improving customer service at key touchpoints? Whatever your next steps, be sure to share with your participants that you’ve heard their feedback! Sometimes this means sharing highlights or a full report of what you’ve learned in an upcoming communication, and sometimes it means emphasizing the reasoning behind your next moves.  Showing results improves future engagement, too.

Whether you go for paper or survey software, if you’re working alone or with a team, and no matter your audience or purpose, these tips will help you get the results you need from you next survey.