Monday, April 23, 2012

Surveying the Masses: How to Create an Effective Survey

Surveys can prove to be a very useful tool in measuring the success of your client or serving as a learning tool for future improvements. But how do you build a survey that will not only yield maximum results, but can also clarify what audience your client should be reaching out to. Below are some tips on creating an effective survey:

Define your objective: What are you trying to achieve? Are you trying to increase traffic or improving customer satisfaction? Make this clear, and keep this goal in mind when making the survey questions. Make sure the person filling out your survey is aware of what you are trying to achieve by both stating your objective and keeping this objective constant throughout the survey, taking care to avoid jumping to different topics.

Write the questions carefully: Write for the average person, avoid using complicated wording and jargon. You want to avoid confusing anyone and yielding inaccurate results. Holding a focus group may help in the preliminary stages to test-drive your survey and get a clear idea of who to write for.

Consider using an incentive: To show appreciation to the people who took the time to take your survey, offer a small prize or an invitation to enter a raffle for a grand prize. Though this will be harder for you, it will almost guarantee a higher response rate, your ultimate goal.

Manage the project closely: Enlist a detail-oriented staff member to oversee the survey. This individual will make sure that each survey is conducted exactly the same way to ensure a level playing field and minimize errors.

Analyze the results: When presenting the results of the survey to your client, consider your method. Rather than writing a laundry list of numbers, sometimes pictures speak louder than words. Utilize tools like maps and graphs to visually showcase results. Also, take notices on areas of improvement or trends. Why is one group responding more than the other? The answer may point you in the right direction towards a more specific audience.

How do you conduct surveys? What methods to you use for a higher turnout? Feel free to let us know!

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