How to Write Better Questions for Email Marketing Surveys
One of the primary keystones of effective email marketing is to fully comprehend your audience in order to laser focus your campaigns to their specific requirements and preferences.
While many of your customers may balk at the prospect of divulging extensive personal information during your sign up process, they are more likely to provide that critical data during an email survey.
The pivotal factor in capturing relevant and valuable information during a survey is the manner whereby the questions are written. Email surveys are prototypical examples where garbage in equals garbage out, so here are effective tips you can use when you’re compiling your next survey:
Be Neutral & Non-Judgmental – The question should not betray your brand’s particular slant or policies. Instead of asking: “Most Americans prefer to buy products Made In The USA. Are you one of them?” a preferable option is: “What countries do you prefer the products you buy to be manufactured?”
Be Unambiguous – “Would a bimonthly newsletter frequency make you more or less likely to renew?” Does that mean every other month (6 times a year) or twice a month (24 times a year)? Many subscribers who would welcome a 6 per year newsletter would be scared off by a four times greater frequency.
Shun Acronyms & Jargon - “Have you ever flashed your BIOS in CMOS?” is simply not comprehensible by most people. You’re better off defining and describing industry and technical terms for the uninitiated.
Be Definite - “Have you recently purchased a big screen TV?” has two indefinite elements: Is recently this year, this month or when? Is a big screen TV a 28” CRT or a 50” LCD? A preferable phrasing is: “Have you purchased a 35” or larger flatscreen television in the last 12 months?”
Limit The Options - The Journal of Consumer Research reported a 2008 study which provided 22 different questionnaires with variable numbers of attributes. It found that when more choices were provided, the responses decreased in consistency. Limiting the answering options to a reasonable number will boost the validity of your survey results.
Provide Multiple Choice For Clarity - “What is your marital status?” can be answered with “Great”, “Lousy”, and other terms referring to marital satisfaction rather than the presence of a spouse. In these cases it’s best to provide multiple choices of formal marital status.
Include “Other” In Multiple Choices – “Employment status: White Collar; Blue Collar; Unemployed” is woefully inadequate. What about students, pensioners, self-employed, etc.? Since you don’t want your multiple choices to run off the page, including Other with a write in box for greater detail is imperative.
Allow Your Prospects To Express Themselves – Some participants may want to provide feelings and reactions to certain questions. Ensure that you provide a write in box so that they may express these sentiments. These impromptu expressions can provide extremely insightful customer information.
Ask One Question At A Time – “How do you rate our customer service and prices?” is two questions crammed into one. It’s preferable to ask: “How do you rate our customer service?” followed by “How do you rate our prices?”
Be Specific – Too strong a reliance on big picture issues such as how often a customer buys from your company in a year can skew survey accuracy. Better results can be garnered by asking more specific questions such as “Do you have a preference from our three lines of widgets?”
Avoid Obfuscation - “Do you believe our brand’s distribution is adequate?” lacks context and is vague. What exactly is meant by distribution, and are you asking your customer to comment on your national wholesaling policies, which they likely know nothing about? A better option is to ask “Are our brand’s products easy for you to locate?”
Ask For Their Guidance – Many surveys fail to contain at least one “wrap up” question regarding what the customer wants to see from your brand in the future. Providing both write in boxes as well as predetermined selections such as “online billing & payment; live online chat; 24/7 customer service” will assist your customers in expressing their preferences and allows them to feel like they are helping to shape your brand’s policies.
Properly written email marketing survey questions can confirm aspects of your audience’s preferences and requirements you were already counting on, as well as revealing factors which may surprise you.
Strive to ensure that your questions are accurately worded and structured in such a way that they provide clear and valid data as it can make the difference between obtaining credible customer insight and just collecting gobbledygook.
