Today’s marketing communication professionals have a plethora of tools they can use to connect with current and prospective customers. Whether it is engaging in a strategic social media or PR campaign, hosting webinars or speaking engagements, or pursuing traditional marketing tactics, companies are often evaluating what the right marketing mix is to effectively reach their target audiences. Thanks to sophisticated technologies and platforms, it has become easier for marketing teams and PR professionals to track the success of their efforts and how these efforts have contributed to the company’s bottom line.
However, while we are often focused on the how and what we communicate, it is worth surveying your customers to hear what content they find meaningful and what communication methods they utilize most to learn more about the latest company news. This input may help to inform your decision about what programs or products you should focus on in the year ahead.
Surveys are a valuable tool in soliciting feedback and securing data from customers. They are a cost-effective and efficient way to get direct input on the wants and needs of your customers so you can better serve them. Furthermore, by asking your customers for their opinion – whether it is on a specific product or what social media platform they use most – you’re letting them know that your company cares about their opinion.
No matter the purpose of your survey, the results are only valuable and reliable if the survey is prepared correctly. Below are a few tips to consider when developing your customer survey.
- Know your Objectives. Before you begin developing your survey, identify what your objectives and goals are for conducting the survey. Are you seeking customer insights that will help inform your decisions on the launch of a new product? Or are you interested in knowing how many of your customers are using Twitter vs. LinkedIn for professional purposes? Identifying the objectives and goals up front will help you craft specific questions to capture reliable and valid results to inform your decisions.
- Identify the Target Audience. Once you have defined your goals, it is important to identify the relevant customers to participate in your survey. While there is no guarantee they will take it, you do want to make sure that those who do respond provide you with the right insight. For instance, if you are seeking feedback on a product’s performance and its return on investment for your customers, it is likely the feedback you receive from a customer who purchased the product within the last three months will differ compared to a customer who purchased the same product over a year ago.
- 3. Develop the Right Questions. Just like you, your customers are busy and don’t have the luxury of taking a long, in-depth survey. It is best to develop short, concise questions to ensure everyone understands what is being asked, and offer possible answers from which customers can select. For example, we recently developed a survey for our client Tecplot to better understand how engineers use social media. In the survey, one question asked, “What social media platforms do you use most often for professional purposes?” and offered a list of the most popular platforms (e.g. Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google +, etc.) for the recipient to select from. We also recommend including “other” as an option with an open comment box for the survey recipient to provide feedback as well.
- Leverage Your Sales Force and Social Media. While survey tools like Zoomerang and SurveyMonkey make it easy to create a survey and send out to your target audience via email, consider leveraging your sales force to solicit feedback from your customers as well. They are already on the front lines of engagement with your customers and most likely have built a strong rapport with them to capture candid feedback. In addition, social media is an excellent way to invite customers to take your survey. Whether they are a fan or follower, they are interested in your company and what news or information you have to share. When given a chance to provide feedback, they will most likely be happy to share their thoughts with you. Consider sharing the survey link in your status updates or post individual survey questions to solicit feedback from your fans.
What are some tips you have for developing successful customer surveys?