6 tips to running successful surveys

Surveys are one of the tools we sometimes pull out of our research toolbox. When something is off about a survey, it can really throw a wrench into your research. Here are some things I’ve learned:

Try to keep your data as clean and standardized as possible; it will save you a ton of time in the long run. Generally, inputs that aren’t text fields will be easier to analyze. If you don’t have access to a tool that analyzes text fields, they can be a nightmare to go through. If you do have to use them, try adding a short, reader-friendly clarifier which can help prevent extra terms to sort through, including formatting differences and spelling errors (jr vs junior or bulletin vs bulletins).

Don’t forget to take care in the delivery of your survey — you spent all that time creating it, so you should capitalize on your chances to have it completed! Whatever your method of distribution, remember that your copy and visuals are important for strong engagement.

For example, one of the surveys we emailed with the subject line “We want to get to know you!” performed really well with one of our user groups and had the highest open rate of any email sent that year. It was different from our other typical subject lines in that we used natural language instead of static descriptors.

There are lots of types of biases that exist that may affect your survey results, so it’s important to recognize them. That being said, your results depict a story, and you just need to be clear about what that is.

On one of the surveys we sent out, we received a surprising amount of respondents who identified as VPs at their company. Since this isn’t a descriptor that we had tracked before, we didn’t have access to the level of experience for all of our users. We had to take this number with a grain of salt, since our users could choose whether or not to respond to the survey. Did VPs feel more motivated to give their two cents than lower-level employees? How can we be sure this is an accurate ratio of our users if we don’t collect that info when they sign up? In this case, we were looking for a very high-level overview and didn’t need to break down any further, but you should consider what the limitations of your survey might be.

You have a greater chance of submission if your questions are optional, but if you have some questions that you absolutelypositivelycan’tlivewithout…make sure you actually remember to mark them as required. Most platforms default to optional — it’s really unfortunate to not have that superduperincrediblyimportant question answered.

I know, I know, thanks Captain Obvious right? But really, be very specific in what you’re asking for. I recently sent a survey asking respondents to “Describe the company in three words,” but what I really meant was “What three adjectives would you use to describe the company?” While enlightening, not all of the responses I received were adjectives, which is what I really needed. If you have the opportunity, it pays to have a few people run through the survey beforehand to expose any ambiguities or any questions unintentionally open to interpretation.

Yeah, do that.

What have you learned from conducting surveys? Share in the comments below!

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