| |
| |
|
Marketing Information |
|
|
|
How To Conduct Effective Online Surveys
Although they are inexpensive and product fast results, online surveys still need to be conducted properly to be really effective. The key steps for conducting effective online surveys are:
* Identify your objective Online surveys are conducted to find out the characteristics, behaviors, opinions, and knowledge of a particular population. No matter what the subject matter, all surveys are conducted with an objective, to gather information relevant to a specific problem or situation. And the key to a successful survey is clearly identifying that objective upfront. To do that, ask yourself "what problem am I trying to solve?" The ideal objective has a narrow scope and can be clearly stated. The wider the scope, the more complex your survey and the less meaningful its results. Always remember, your survey is only as good as your understanding of your objective! * Decide what information you need Once you have defined your objective, identify the information you need to gather to achieve your objective. If the objective is clear and narrow, the information you need to gather will be apparent. Be specific and avoid the temptation to gather "extra" bits of information that are "nice to know" but not relevant to your objective. Once you have identified the information you need, you should explore the possibility of gathering it from existing data sources. With an abundance of information available from corporate databases and public information sources, you might gather the information without even conducting a survey! * Develop a questionnaire Developing the questionnaire is undoubtedly the most important part of conducting a survey. The quality of the questions will determine the quality of the results and the effectiveness of your survey. Get tips for developing an effective questionnaire. * Conduct the survey Once you have developed the questionnaire, you need to test it on a few people to determine if it is clearly written and can be understood by people representing your potential respondents. Testing the survey might take several iterations, but it is well worth the effort. Once you are satisfied that your questionnaire is clear and unambiguous, you are ready to conduct your survey. If you are going to distribute your survey through email, make sure that your email message is clear and compelling. A boring message will not get the attention of your potential respondents and decrease your response rate. Additionally, you should also remember the following things:
If you are going to distribute your survey from your website, you need to consider how will get visitors to take the survey. If your site has just enough traffic, you can probably place a hypertext link on your home page through which visitors can reach your survey. If you have very heavy traffic, you can use a program on your web server to randomly deliver your survey to some of the visitors. However, if your website doesn't have enough traffic, you should consider sending invitations by email or other traditional methods. Once you have sent out notifications, responses will begin to come in immediately. For online surveys that invite individual participants (email or postal mail), most people will respond within 72 hours of receiving your invitation. Surveys that rely on passive participation (clicking on website links or responding to indirect advertising) generally take much longer. In either case, you need to decide how long to keep your surve active based on your target audience and how many responses you need to collect. If you are surveying a known group of people (e.g. customers, employees, students, etc) you might need to send out reminders to remind some people to take the survey. * Analyze the responses You can begin to analyze the responses as soon as you receive them. Unlike traditional methods, online surveys make it possible to analyze responses without human intervention. Responses are received in electronic format and immediately added to a database. Once in the database, they can be manipulated with a variety of tools, including the survey software, statistical packages, spreadsheets, and presentation programs. The key to proper analysis of online surveys is no different than that for traditional methods. You must be able to filter the data and display results in a variety of formats for effective analysis. And always remember to relate the analysis back to your objective. * Recommend a course of action The last step in conducting effective online surveys is to recommend a course of action. With your objective in mind, you should be able to recommend specific actions as a result of your survey. Your recommendations can vary widely depending upon the nature of the problem you are trying to solve. If you cannot identify any actions as a result of your survey, then it is highly possible that your objective was too broad, your information needs were incorrect or incomplete, or your questionnaire was poorly written. In these cases, your recommended action should be to conduct further study. © Web Based Survey Software 2004 About The Author This article has been copyrighted and has been reprinted with the permission of Web Based Survey Software (http://www.web-based-survey-software.org). If you want to reprint this article, please send an email to webmaster@web-based-survey-software.org to inform us and we will grant you the permission. But please ensure that this message appears at the end of the article and proper credits are given. nick@web-based-survey-software.org
MORE RESOURCES:
Marketing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
4 Sales Strategies with Your Trade Show Exhibition Booth Trade show booths can act as an excellent source for generating sales enquiries in the short run. Companies are able to demonstrate their products or services and get instant enquiries at the booth which on timely follow up can result in sales. 10 Elements Every Direct Mail Piece Should Have Don't want your direct mail to end up in the trash with the rest of the unread mail? Studies show an effective direct mail campaign should draw a .5 to 1 percent response. Your Marketing Plan - Prerequisite to Success Marketing is a vital aspect of a business' operations. It has been said that, "Nothing happens in business until a sale is made". The Money Making Secret of The Toll Booth Position I'm a marketing consultant and at one of my client-companies, acompany that, in less than 10 years, has gone from a $10 millionto a $100 million dollar business one of the people I work withfrequently has jokingly given herself the title, 'Vice President,Back-End.' Although that clearly opens her up to be the butt of many jokes,it does very accurately describe her very, very important area ofresponsibility, in direct marketing parlance. Why Surveying Matters What is the single most important thing you can do as a business owner? That is a question that this week I think I have found an answer to. The answer? Keep your ear to the marketplace by listening to your customers. Consistent Marketing Provides Big Rewards Being inconsistent when it comes to marketing your business can be a recipe for disaster. Nothing is more irritating to a potential customer than inconsistency. Basic Marketing Dope Sometimes the simplest data is the best. Marketing is not complex if you know the basics - that's true with anything by the way. Joint Venture Marketing: What and Why What is a Joint Venture? A joint venture is an agreement in which two or more businesses work on a project for a set period of time. Usually with a specific project or goal in mind. The Use of Bar Code SMS in Mobile Marketing, Advertising, CRM Anybody that frequents shopping malls are familiar with the bar coding systems used by retailers to ease the line at the pay points. No more long lines at the till as the operator just pulls the product past the scanner and voila - the buyer pays and are on their way. How to Get a 100% Return on Your Marketing Investment Guaranteed! One of the most effective ways to market your products/services is to create strategic alliances. Strategic alliances are partnerships with companies who sell to a client base similar to yours but they sell different products/services. D.A.N.C.E. With Me Recently, a client asked what he could do to help my business, but I wasn't ready with the answer. A lot of us probably miss these opportunities because we don't think through what we need and how to respond when someone offers to help promote us. Attracting Clients With Incremental Marketing Do you ask prospective clients to go too far?Must your new clients take a "leap of faith" when they engage you?Or do you gradually draw them closer using a series of pre-planned contacts designed to address their concerns and build their trust in you.Too many service providers wait for potential clients to take that leap of faith. A Jack Of All Trades Is Often The Master of None You've heard variations of that saying your entire life. Consider: a marketer to all markets . Thinking About More Business What does an old Russian joke have to do with getting new business? Did you increase your business in the past 12 months? Don't discriminate between more new clients or old clients spending more money--count the increase either way. If you didn't, you really should be asking yourself why not. Increase Your Profits Through Customer Loyalty The job of convincing your existing customers to spend higher and more often can be an extremely tough task. There are many ways of achieving customer loyalty. Creating Customer Value The purpose of business is to create and retain a customer.Much has been written about customer orientation, customer relationship management (CRM), Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) metrics, Customer Centric organization models, customer retention, customer care?add any high sounding word with 'customer' preceding or succeeding that word and you have a new model, a new theory. Marketing Strategy and Template for Independent Professionals Having a marketing strategy and marketing approach is very important. Thus, instead of recreating the wheel, here is a short, sweet, easy-to-understand marketing strategy template to help you place your ducks are in a row in designing your marketing strategy. An Internet Marketing Strategy that Works You can't put up a beautiful (or any) web site and hope that people will just arrive. You have to let them know, IN EVERY POSSIBLE WAY, that your web site is there. How to Really Get Your Customers What Really Makes Your Postcard Mailing Successful? The biggest single factor in the success of your postcard mailings is who you send your postcards to.You need a list of people or businesses to send your postcard offer to. Grow Your Business By Getting Your Customers Buying From You More Often - 35 Ideas 35 Ideas to Spark Your Creativity:There are 3 ways to grow any business. Just 3:- Get more customers- Get more from each sale- Sell to each customer more frequently.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |