Surveys are an important part of any organization. They help you understand what customers want, how they feel about their experience, and how to improve your products or services. However, it can be difficult to get people to fill them out. If you’re looking to get a high response rate, then it’s important to understand what motivates people to partake in surveys. Let’s look at five strategies to boost participation in your surveys.
1. Introduce the purpose
You want your participants to feel as though they are contributing to something worthwhile, which is why it's important to give them an introduction that reassures them before taking the survey. It's the first thing your respondents will see, and it sets the tone for their experience. A good introduction should be short and sweet. Give participants an overview of the survey, its purpose, why you need this information and what they'll get out of it.
2. Explain why you need it
It's easy to forget when you're in the middle of creating a survey that it’s not always obvious to outsiders why it’s necessary. Including this can help increase survey participation by making people feel more invested in their responses and providing them with reassurance about how their information will be used.
Be sure to explain who will have access to their results, whether those beneficiaries are individuals or organizations, what kind of impact their results will have on other people's lives, and so forth. You can even provide examples of how past surveys have been used: "Last year we conducted an online customer satisfaction survey with customers like yourself; based on your feedback we were able to adjust our journals so that now 80% more members use them for continuing education!
3. Incentivize your participants
Surveys work best when they include incentives. These incentives can be as simple as a discount to an upcoming event, or you could give away gift cards, or free entry into a sweepstakes. The important thing is that you know what you’re offering before you start sending out surveys. Make sure the incentive is a large part of the marketing strategy because you can use it to both drive people to the survey and complete it.
4. Make it shareable
Make it easy for participants to share their experiences online or through email. A sharable and responsive link is necessary for this step. When participants post their satisfaction and excitement for others to see, it increases organic brand awareness and drives sales conversions through word-of-mouth referrals.
5. Communicate often
Showcase the results of your survey through various channels as often as possible. If you're running an internal survey, make sure you have a space where everyone can see the results easily. That means posting them on social media too! This way, participants will know how much their cooperation means and can see how they’re making an impact.
Conclusion
Everyone wants to feel as though they have a voice, especially when it comes to a good cause. The more people feel engaged with what you're doing and how their answers will help shape future decisions, then the more likely they'll continue taking part!
