How many times have you been asked to complete a ‘quick’ survey online via email or as a pop up whilst visiting a webpage? It has become the ‘norm’! They can become slightly annoying, but from a marketer’s perspective, quantitative research is the essential key to making smarter business decisions. Online surveys allow marketers to:
- study buying habits
- test and develop new concepts
- measure brand awareness and customer satisfaction
- assess market size
- discover demographic information about the market’s consumers
The conclusions that can be drawn from online surveys can be the difference between you and your competitors; i.e. you gain the competitive advantage of knowledge.
So why adopt the use of online surveys as opposed to traditional methods? Times are changing, that’s why! As the use of technology develops in our society, marketers need to keep up to speed. After deciding to give online surveys a go, you then have to choose between an email OR web based questionnaire.
Several studies have concluded that email based questionnaires are more effective than web based questionnaires for a number of reasons. There are hundreds of videos online which help web users avoid questionnaires (as seen below), so why are we soon eager to avoid responding to web questionnaires?
The key problem is that web questionnaires are often designed by persons with little or no training in survey methodology, resulting in poor questionnaire design. It is thought that less time and attention have been devoted to developing and testing motivating tools to increase Web survey response, compared to the time spent studying tools employed in mail surveys (e.g. the use of personalisation, pre-contact letters, follow-up postcards, and incentives). Having said that, a study conducted by Baruch (2008) found that incentives were not related to response rates.
Whether you opt for email or web based questionnaires, collecting data digitally as opposed to traditional methods has a number of benefits such as:
- reduction of costs and time
- the provision of anonymity to participants
- ease in reaching large number of potential respondents
Note the use of the term potential respondents. Despite the many benefits, it is common knowledge that the response rates of both types of online surveys are minimal in comparison to traditional methods such as postal and telephone surveys. So how can we improve this? A basic rule-of-thumb is to keep the questions keep it short and sweet, concise and to the point: the longer the questionnaire, the less likely people will respond. Further suggestions from Van Selm (2006) include:
- undertaking multiple attempts to contact potential respondents through a variety of methods such as pre-notifications, reminders and replacement surveys, and thank you notes
- ensure the topic of the survey is relevant to the target group
- although we are concerned with online surveys, utilise a mixed-mode strategy of both electronic and pen and paper questionnaires, enabling you to reach respondents without access to the internet
I’m sure you’ve at least heard of, if not taken part in a survey created by Survey Monkey. They are the world’s leading provider of web-based survey solutions, used by millions of companies, organizations and individuals to provide them with specific insights into their markets and make more informed decisions.
‘Whether you’re a Fortune 500 or small start up, market research surveys give you a quick, affordable way to perform market segmentation analysis.’ (Survey Monkey, 2015.)
Having used the software myself, Survey Monkey really is quick and easy to operate, giving you guidance throughout the whole process; definitely a great place to start if you’ve decided to incorporate online surveys into your business strategy. They even provide you with templates and sample questions written by experts!
I also found Eric Brandenburg’s article explaining how to create a good questionnaire very useful; and considering he is the UK manager of the market research specialists Marketest, it would be foolish not to take his advice!
An additional point is the importance of using open ended questions as opposed to closed ended questions. What’s the difference?
Open ended question: ‘How did you break your leg?’
Close ended question: ‘Did you break your leg whilst playing football?’
Can you see how open ended questions give the respondent more scope to provide you with deep, meaningful, and thoughtful answers? This is because you are inviting them to open up, because you are showing an interest in what they have to say. Sheehan (2001) also found that respondents seemed to be much more willing to reply to open-ended questions.
WORD OF WARNING: Open-ended questions have the potential to result in long, tedious answers. If brief or relevant answers are what you’re after, be specific when asking the question.
Whilst we’re in the run up to the General Election, a surveys to determine who you truly support have become more and more popular by asking questions based on policies rather than party personalities and media perceptions. Why don’t you give this one a try, it may change your vote!
References:
Baruch, Y. (2008). Survey response rate levels and trends in organizational research. Human relations (New York). 61 (8), 1139 – 1160.
Kaplowitz et al. (2004). A Comparison of Web and Mail Survey Response Rates. The Public Opinion Quarterly. 68 (1), 94-101.
Sheenhan. (2001). E-mail Survey Response Rates: A Review. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. 5 (2), 0.
Van Selm et al. (2006). Conducting Online Surveys. Quality and Quantity. 40 (3), 435-456.
Brandenburg, E. (2013). Market research: How to create a good survey. Available: https://www.enterprisenation.com/blog/posts/market-research-how-to-create-a-good-survey. Last accessed 5th Apr 2015.
Survey Monkey. (2015). Market Research Surveys. Available: https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/market-research-surveys/. Last accessed 5th Apr 2015.
WikiHow. (2015). How to Ask Open-Ended Question. Available: http://www.wikihow.com/Ask-Open-Ended-Questions. Last accessed 5th Apr 2015.
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