Online Survey Tips & Advice

The below post was written by Dorian, a SurveyMonkey customer, for the SurveyMonkey blog. But it’s just so cute that I had to post it here too. Since Zoomerang and SurveyMonkey are part of the same team now, it seemed appropriate.

A bit of background. Dorian is a 10-year-old who co-created Zibkids, a super cool startup which teaches kids about business and even empowers them to start their own. He uses SurveyMonkey to get feedback about how kids were using ZibKids and how it could be improved.

All of this is very cool in and of itself, but there’s an extra reason I’m posting it here. For those of you in the Bay Area, Dorian will be hosting a workshop in the Innovation Lab at the Children’s Creative Museum on Saturday January 28 and Saturday February 11. Stop by to check it out and give a fellow survey-maker your support!

Now Dorian’s post:

Is it worth it?

We have a new feature out that our product guys are really excited about. It’s a simple addition, but our customers have been asking for it for some time now.

The illusive feature in question? The “Add Explain” button is one more option in your multiple-choice question toolbox. It gives you the power to ask not just what your respondents think in one easy-to-answer, multiple-choice question, but also why they think it. It does this by providing a box that asks them to do just that: explain.

Let’s just say, for example, that I want to know who your favorite Simpsons character is. I’m including answer choices other than Ned Flanders (it wouldn’t be a very good survey if I didn’t), but to me the answer is so obvious it’s hard to understand why anyone would choose otherwise.

In comes the Explain feature to the rescue. Just click the “Add Explain” button under “Question Settings,” and up pops a box that prompts them to do just that. Clearer responses are that simple.

Just select this:

These days we have lots of platforms to share content (blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc) and almost as many people telling us that successful marketing depends on that content. The missing link in this fabulous equation is the time, energy, and ideas to create the content itself. It can be a daunting task, but we have 5 simple sources of content creation to make your life easier.

Picture Mania

I recently read an article by Rieva Lesonsky that piqued my interest. Rieva suggested that increasing diversity in the work place is the best thing you can do for the success of your business.

Rieva’s article is based on more than a half-baked hunch. She formulated her ideas based off of a study that was done by Kristyn Scott, a Ryerson University Professor. Professor Scott found that the commitment to diversity must be real and deep, not just for show. She also suggests that our definition of diversity must be broad, including ethnicity, age, level of experience, and educational background, among other things.

Scott suggests that if these things are actively implemented on a meaningful level, they can have a real, positive impact on a business’s success.

2012 is a year full of transitions. Here at Zoomerang, we’re evolving into SurveyMonkeys. But the changes aren’t just happening here. All around the world, technology is changing the way we do business, organizations are quickly becoming social, and the world seems smaller and more complicated all the time. Clearly, some flexibility and restructuring is in order if you (and we) are going to handle all these transitions gracefully and successfully.

It can seem overwhelming, but these transitions can actually be great catalysts for much needed change and growth. With just a little bit of planning, you can make 2012 your best year yet. Here are some ways you can use online surveys to help you manage the changes effectively.

1. Planning Survey

You may have heard by now that we’re joining forces with SurveyMonkey. We’re all getting pretty excited around here, and are using it as an excuse to outfit ourselves out in monkey schwag.

What does this mean? Well for us, it means a cool new office with great snacks, a game room (!), and a super friendly welcome into the SurveyMonkey family. Last week we attended New Monkey Orientation, and now we’re plotting commute routes down to Palo Alto.

For you it will mean better surveys, with more features and functions, and a bigger (but still small) team working to bring you awesome surveys. We’ve also updated our terms of use, to reflect the fact that our survey family is growing. Rest assured that SurveyMonkey values your privacy and will continue to treat your personal information in much the same way as before. You can read about the legal changes here (if you're into that sort of thing).

You want to spend the time to ask for feedback from your customers, and not just to pay perfunctory lip service to their value. You only have to look as far as the Netflix, Qwikster fiasco to understand the potentially devastating consequences of ignoring your customers’ wants, needs, and opinions.

Online surveys are a great way to reach out to your customers, whether you’re soliciting feedback, testing an idea, or asking about their satisfaction. Smart marketers take it a step further by concept testing, or evaluating consumer response to a product, brand, or idea before it’s been introduced to the market. Concept testing provides a quick and easy way to improve your product, identify potential problems or flaws, and make sure your image or brand is properly targeted.

Technology, social media, and the ripples they’ve created are changing the way we communicate. This has implications, of course, for your online surveys, but we're here to help you stay up on the latest tips and trends. 2012 is going to be a survey-worthy year! Here are 3 suggestions to get you going:

Too Legit to Quit

It’s always a challenge to get people to answer your online survey, but in 2012 people will be more, not less, distracted. It’s going to be more important than ever to keep your survey, short, sweet, and to the point, in order to avoid survey abandonment. That means keeping questions focused on one objective, not trying to get feedback on all 671 of your new ideas and products at once. Research has shown that surveys with the most successful response rates take 5 minutes or less to complete, so keep that in mind when creating your survey.

Be Mobile

2012 is quickly approaching, and you and your competitors are no doubt gearing up in anticipation. The tough economy means that it’s more important than ever to be thinking on your feet and making accurate business predictions and decisions. The new social media economy is changing the way business is conducted rapidly, but it doesn’t have to be scary. There are now more ways than ever to engage with your customers, establish new relationships, and find out the buzz on you and your competition. Here are 3 suggestions to get you started:

2012 Will Be Social, Whether You Are Or Not

Our Product Team has been working overtime to bring you an awesome new set of features, just in time for the holidays (sorry Santa, beat you to it!). Our new features give you more control, flexibility, and an overall better survey-making experience. Because I know that’s what you really wanted for Christmas…

Our new features are really fun, so I recommend you make a survey for yourself to test them out. But here are the highlights:

BIG Survey Images:

Whether you’re a soon to be bride asking for feedback on bridesmaids’ dresses, or a creative marketer interested in concept testing, including images in your survey can take it to the next level. We now allow you to upload an image of any width and height, up to 250k in file size, into your survey. Your survey takers will also see a magnifying glass on the image that will expand the image in an overlay if clicked. So you, and they, have more image control.

Mobile Survey Taking: