When an organization knows exactly what its customers want, it can deliver improved products and services.
It’s great for a business to care about their product design or to put special effort into their marketing, but many times organizations make assumptions about what their potential customers want until there is proper data to analyze. Getting this data sooner rather than later is always best. One way for businesses to collect client feedback is from surveys, and the online survey tools found in today’s digital world make it easy for any business or organization to collect and analyze feedback from customers.
How Surveys Influence Customers
A study summarized in a Harvard Business Review article showcases the positive influence surveys can have on customers. Customers surveyed were “more than 3x as likely to have opened new accounts, were less than half likely to have defected, and were more profitable [for the business] than the customers who hadn’t been surveyed.” The study had many theories for why a single survey could have such a drastic effect on business performance:
Customer Satisfaction
One theory is that “surveys appeal to a customer’s desire to be coddled” or heard, “reinforcing positive feelings they may already have about the surveying organization and making them more likely to buy its products.”
Brand Awareness
Another theory is that “surveys may also increase people’s awareness of a company’s products [or services] and thereby encourage future purchases.”
Measurement-Induced Judgments
Lastly, it can be debated that “the very process of asking people their opinions can induce them to form judgments that otherwise wouldn’t occur to them” – which can influence a customer’s behaviour.
Benefits Of Online Surveys
Although running a survey campaign may at first sound tedious, online survey tools make things much easier! The benefits of using online surveys include:
Prompt Product Feedback
If your business sells products, online surveys can be a great way to get feedback on certain product items, product lines or categories. Your survey may also give you ideas for new products.
Swiftly Get Service Feedback
For service-based businesses, online surveys can provide insights into service strengths, areas for improvement, and/or opportunities to offer new types of services.
Easily Get Event Feedback
Online surveys can also be used to get feedback on events. Learn what aspects of an event went well and what could have gone better – great information for making your company events better and better every time.
An Organized Collection and Analysis Platform
Besides making survey campaigns quicker and easier to gather data, online survey tools also provide easy-to-use platforms for organizing and analyzing results. This means an organization can act on data much quicker than in the past!
Real World Examples
Here are a couple of real-world examples of how surveys and market research can help an organization:
Pet Stores
Imagine that a pet store wants to know more about the types of pets its customers have. Through a customer-focused survey, the company finds that the majority (50%) of their customers are dog owners, with the remaining 50% split among cats, birds, or other types of pets. From this information, the business can better strategize and execute promotions, marketing campaigns and rewards programs.
Charities
Charities that want to know more about their supporters’ donation habits and communication preferences can collect detailed information using surveys. Do supporters prefer ongoing scheduled donations or do they prefer larger one-off donations? Do supporters enjoy hearing from them weekly, monthly, or annually – and which communication channels (social media, e-mail, physical mail, phone, etc.) do they prefer? All of this information can be gathered from a single survey!
Running An Online Survey Campaign
Although it’s possible to get overwhelmed with all of the different tools available online and the complexities of each, running a successful online survey campaign comes can be distilled into 3 steps:
Build An Online Survey
Building an online survey is very easy these days and website tools like Google Forms or SurveyMonkey allow users to build online surveys quickly. All you need to start is an account and a list of the questions you want to ask!
Share The Survey Online
Once you’ve built the online survey, most tools allow for easy sharing using either a web link or e-mail, so it’s easy to share across social media or through e-mail using an e-mail marketing tool like MailChimp.
READ: E-Mail Marketing Services
Organize & Analyze Responses
Another benefit of online survey tools is how easy they make it to organize and analyze respondent data. View response summaries faster so you can take action on the data quickly!
Work with Caorda
The digital marketing team at Caorda are experts at conducting market research for clients using online survey tools, and we’d be happy to help you get feedback from your customers. Contact us today!