15 Ways to Increase Survey Response Rates
Survey research is the most valuable form of data collection for businesses. It gives you numbers that you can use to affect business strategy, whether it is information on a new path to take with you...
Introduction
Survey research is the most valuable form of data collection for businesses. It gives you numbers that you can use to affect business strategy, whether it is information on a new path to take with your product, feedback on a marketing campaign, or validation that your current techniques are meeting market needs. Yet one of the primary difficulties in collecting survey research data is the response rate. In order to collect data, a respondent must be willing to fill out the survey in full. These days, few people want to take time out of their day to help a company collect data. The higher your response rate, the more reliable your data will be. But getting that response rate can be tough. The below list represents quick and easy ways for improving your overall response rate and receive more reliable data for your market research needs.
15 Ways to Increase Survey Response Rates
You want to receive the best response rate possible in order to collect data. Here are 15 quick and easy ways to improve your overall response rate to your surveys. 1. Give Your Survey a Purpose The more interesting your questions and the more engaging your survey, the better your response rate will be. Try to send out surveys that have relevance to the customer, and the response rate should improve a great deal. 2. Create an Attractive Survey The better looking your survey, the more it will be completed. Customers want to believe they are participating in something valuable, and a cheap, shoddily thrown together survey won’t provide that. 3. Simplify Your First Survey Page Once someone starts a survey, it becomes much more likely that they’ll complete it. So you want to make sure that the first page of the survey gets as quickly to the "start" button as possible. Avoid any unnecessarily long language and instructions unless you absolutely need it. 4. Send a Pre-Survey Email It’s not uncommon for businesses to send out the survey email on its own. But a pre-survey email can easily help to warm up your sample so that they know it’s coming, potentially explaining the incentives and the benefits to the company. The more the respondents are prepared for the survey, the more likely they are to fill it out. Find ways to make sure they are fully notified and prepared about the survey’s arrival. For example, you can make sure to only send the survey to those that opt in voluntarily, or you can send an email that is more personalized before sending the survey to explain the purpose of the survey to participants. 5. Don’t Use Spam Language Make sure that your online survey email is not a sales page and isn’t trying to win over the customer. Customers don’t like to feel they’re participating in something spam related. Instead, personalize the email and make it more attractive to participants. 6. Check for Spam Filters Before you even send out your survey to the public, check to make sure that it isn’t being caught in spam filters. So many companies try to use surveys for phishing that some invitations get marked as spam by email carriers. Check with many email addresses and many different times. If your emails are marked as spam, your response rate will be much worse. 7. Choose a Good Incentive Incentives are an important part of getting a good response rate. Whether the incentive is a substantial prize, a gift card, or a discount on future purchases, the incentive must be something that truly benefits the respondent. The more they want what they’ll receive, the more likely they are to fill out the survey. Avoiding the standard "Win $50" incentives will help a great deal. 8. Shorten the Survey Survey dropout is extremely common, especially on larger surveys. The shorter your survey is, the fewer people will drop out, and the better a response rate you’ll receive. 9. Limit Scrolling Survey dropout is also higher if customers have to scroll up and down or back and forth to complete the survey. They may also miss questions in some cases if they don’t realize a question is below. Break the survey up so that you fit as many questions as possible on a page, without any scrolling. 10. Add a Progress Bar People have short attention spans. They want to know that they aren’t going to have to spend a lot of time completing a survey. Many participants drop out if they feel their survey is taking too long. A progress bar on the survey shows them how much they have left, so they won’t become too dissatisfied wondering when the survey will be over. 11. Limit Private Information Do you really need to know their race, ethnicity, age, income level, etc.? For some companies it can be valuable, but in general demographics questions create analysis that is highly prone to small sample sizes. Avoid personal questions and private information, and emphasize your commitment to privacy. 12. Keep it Anonymous The more personal sounding information you ask for, the less likely participants are to fill it out. Try to avoid personal questions, and when you ask one that may be considered personal, always allow the respondent a way to skip the question (such as a "prefer not to answer" option). 13. Send Personal Reminder Emails Reminder emails are very important. If the person doesn’t fill out the survey after the initial email, sending a few reminders can be a big help. Make sure the reminders are personal, and don’t be afraid to guilt trip the customer a bit within reason. 14. Don’t Be Annoying Similarly, however, don’t over-send your response emails. Give a good, long time in between emails. Not everyone checks their accounts every day, and you want to make sure that when they do you don’t seem pushy, as though you’re trying too hard to get their survey results. 15. Send during Free Hours The time you send the survey affects how strong your response rate will be. Sending a survey during a time when people are usually very busy will reduce the likelihood that they are willing to take time out of their day to respond to your questions. Your survey should be sent at the most ideal time for the market you’re trying to reach. These are just a few of the ways to create a better response rate to your survey. The better the response rate, the better your data will be, so always look for better ways to improve your overall response rate in your sample. Overall, response rate is one of the most important parts of running a survey. Make sure that you are doing everything you can to get the best response rate possible from your sample. You need to get a great response rate to your survey not just so that you can fulfill your quota – although that is an important reason. It is also because you need to avoid the potential for those that skip out on taking your survey to have a characteristic that affects your analysis. The better your response rate, the more likely your results will be representative of your population.
Key Takeaways
- Introduction
- 15 Ways to Increase Survey Response Rates
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