Subscribe to My Ezine Articles 

Feedback PR: Online Marketing Surveys

Tap into a secret source of marketing intelligence that hones your competitive edge with instant feedback

 by Barbara Rozgonyi, founder of CoryWest Media and Public Relations Expert

Ever wished you could climb inside your prospect's head to see what they're thinking? Why not ask them? Punch up your marketing and public relations with online surveys that give you almost instantaneous feedback. In this article, you'll learn how to set goals, format questions, motivate participation and publicize your results.

Setting Goals to Meet Your Marketing Objectives

Who do you want to ask – the world or your best customers? What do you need to know – what’s on their mind, what they think of you, how your product changed their life? Be as specific as possible. To get the best response, you’ll need to explain the survey’s goals in your communications. And, if you think about what you want to report on at the end of survey, you’ll have some great questions in mind at the beginning.

Formatting Survey Questions for the Best Response

Script out your questions before you sign up with an Internet survey provider like www.surveymonkey.com or www.zoomerang.com. Most sites offer a free trial so you can sample how their system works before you buy a monthly subscription.

Limit your survey to ten or 20 questions that can be answered in three minutes or less. Most online survey providers give you a variety of question formats, including:

-          yes or no

-          demographics: by age, location, type of company, user experience, etc.

-          click a box with multiple choice

-          drop down menus

-          rate on a scale

-          rank by levels

-          open-ended, fill in the blank

-          place for name and contact information, if the respondent would like to give permission to use their comments

Mix up the question formats to add interest and tighten response. Test the questions with a small sample to make sure your questions are neutral and clear. Sometimes one or two words can completely alter the response, especially if you’re too subjective or ask leading questions.

Motivating Participation in Marketing Communications

Depending on who you want to reach, you’ll need to develop a communications plan that reaches your intended audiences.  Incentives, like a chance to win a prize or a gift card for everyone who enters, motivate response. Some online survey providers allow you to add in a thank you page with a redirect to the URL of your choice after the respondent completes the survey. If you need to capture more data, set up the thank you page to go to a special offer in exchange for more information.

Reporting and Publicizing Your Survey Results

If you’ve never done an online survey before, you’ll be surprised at how quickly you get so much data. Don’t be discouraged if your response rate was low. The demographics question will tell you who responded. If only your best customers answered and you preferred prospects, rethink who you’ll invite next time.

After you interpret the results, decide what you want to report to each audience: employees, prospects, customers, community and media. Pull out the most interesting and relevant findings for each group. Be sure to send out a news release that lets the media and consumers online know about your results. Use testimonials to attract new prospects in marketing materials. Running a monthly survey keeps the data flowing and fresh. Announcing an upcoming survey builds anticipation for the results.

Need help designing your survey? Contact us at connect AT corywestmedia DOT com.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To request permission to reproduce or republish this article, contact connect AT corywestmedia DOT com.

About the author . . .

An in-demand publicist, professional speaker and marketing communications consultant since 1990, Barbara Rozgonyi is grounded, edgy and prophetic. "Panoramic PR," Barbara's latest project, compresses everything she knows into an affordable, manageable course that teaches small business owners, entrepreneurs, authors, experts, coaches and anyone else who wants more free publicity how to get completely covered by being fully exposed. Claim a free report and get automatic articles like this one at http://www.powerprsecrets.com.

 Craving inspiration? Here's the latest from my blog, Wired PR Works. 

 

 

All site content copyright Barbara Rozgonyi, CoryWest Media 2005-2007