Online Surveys - How to Maximized Your Response Rate

Online surveys are undoubtedly the most cost effective way to gather important data such as customer satisfaction and employee opinions. But how do you maximize your response rate? This is a problem incurred by most businesses undertaking online surveys and there is much literature available relating to the topic, all with varying facts and figures in relation to what response rate to expect, techniques for increasing responses, what length of survey should be used etc.

The simple truth is that there is no single guideline to follow when undertaking an online survey, as each survey has its own set of variables affecting its response rate. However, there are some common techniques used to enhance the likelihood that a potential survey respondent will complete your questionnaire.

Having undertaken hundreds of online surveys of customers, employees, businesses, membership groups and event guests, I began recording survey response rates and the types of key variables likely to affect them. The variables recorded were:

1. Whether survey invitations were personalized (i.e. Dear John Smith v Dear customer)
2. Length of survey (categorized into completion times of 1-4 minutes, 5-9 minutes & 10+ minutes)
3. If a reward/prize was offered
4. Whether or not the survey was sent to people with a known interest in the survey subject (i.e. job related, previous customer, linked to social interests etc.)

The figures shown below were derived from the data of 143 online surveys, which were completed by a total of 49,335 respondents. As a general process, potential respondents were contacted twice via email to encourage participation in the online surveys.

Please note that the majority of respondents had submitted their details to various databases or were customers of my clients; therefore, it is likely that they were aware of the brand/company prior to receiving the online survey invitation. People sending email invites to random sub-sets of contacts should not expect to achieve response rates as high as those listed below.

Taking into account the 4 variables and their options, there were 24 possible combinations - this will make sense when looking at the dot-points below. The combinations with the 5 highest and 5 lowest response rates have been listed.

5 highest response rates

1. Personalized email & 1-4 minutes to complete & reward offered & respondents had a known interest in the survey subject = 45.3% average response rate
2. Personalized email & 5-9 minutes to complete & reward offered & respondents had a known interest in the survey subject = 40.1% average response rate
3. Non-personalized email & 1-4 minutes to complete & reward offered & respondents had a known interest in the survey subject = 39.8% average response rate
4. Personalized email & 1-4 minutes to complete & no reward offered & respondents had a known interest in the survey subject = 39.2% average response rate
5. Personalized email & 5-9 minutes to complete & no reward offered & respondents had a known interest in the survey subject = 38.4% average response rate

5 lowest response rates

1. Non-personalized email & 10+ minutes to complete & no reward offered & respondents did not have a known interest in the survey subject = 8.2% average response rate
2. Non-personalized email & 10+ minutes to complete & reward offered & respondents did not have a known interest in the survey subject = 15.5% average response rate
3. Personalized email & 10+ minutes to complete & no reward offered & respondents did not have a known interest in the survey subject = 16.2% average response rate
4. Non-personalized email & 5-9 minutes to complete & no reward offered & respondents did not have a known interest in the survey subject = 19.4% average response rate
5. Non-personalized email & 10+ minutes to complete & no reward offered & respondents had a known interest in the survey subject = 19.5% average response rate

So what works best?

The above findings show some clear correlations between response rates and the variables affecting them. As a general rule, it appears that the following actions should ensure that you gain the highest possible response rate when undertaking an online survey:

1. Personalize your email invitations. People are more likely to respond to emails that address them by their name rather than 'Dear Sir/Madam', Dear Colleague' or 'Dear Customer'. If you have the names of potential survey respondents, use them! This is easily done using simple software such as Microsoft Word in a mail-merge format sent via your Outlook account. It links directly to your database, removing the burden of typing every single name into each email invitation.
2. Keep the survey as short as possible. In most cases, the shorter the survey - the higher the response rate. Obviously some online surveys need to be in-depth and cannot avoid being 10+ minutes in length; however, try to avoid asking questions that only gather irrelevant information. This is a common crime amongst survey developers when preparing questions for an online survey.
3. Offer a reward. Everybody loves getting something for free, so try and offer a reward when sending out online survey invitations. Some experts such as Kurt Knapton, Executive Vice President of e-Rewards Market Research, suggest that you are more likely to gain a higher response rate if you offer every respondent a small reward rather than a chance of winning a large sweepstakes prize. His study found that offering 4,000 people $2 each to complete a survey achieved a 19.3% response rate. Offering the same volume of people with an entry into a $2,500 sweepstakes draw only managed a 12.2% response rate.
4. Find contacts that are likely to have an interest in the survey subject. This is no scientific discovery, but response rates are always going to be higher if the potential respondent has some interest in the survey subject. Job satisfaction surveys always gain high response rates because employees believe that their answers will influence beneficial changes. Likewise, repeat purchasers of a particular product/service will undoubtedly have more interest in a related online survey than someone who has only used it once or never at all.

Ewan McKenzie, Owner/Senior Consultant of Easy Research, is a quantitative research consultant with extensive experience in the field of designing and analyzing online surveys. Working with small and large businesses, Ewan has undertaken quantitative research for purposes such as customer surveys, employee surveys, salary surveys and large scale data analysis.

Ewan's academic and work history extends from Australia to Denmark and the United Kingdom. He has also co-authored a number of statistically based research publications whilst working with the Learning & Skills Network in London, UK.

Easy Research works with businesses to develop online surveys, which can then be used to easily and cost effectively gather important information. Visit the website to view online sample surveys and other services provided by Easy Research.

Free Survey - 15 Paid Survey Sites Part 2

In my previous article you have got a list of top 15 paid survey sites. This is the second part of my previous article. Here you will get information about next 15 free to join paid survey sites.

So simply join next 15 paid survey sites and make more opportunities to getting money:-

1. Permission Research
Permission research is basically an online market research community and its surveys are normally related to internet and software. It has over 2 million members worldwide. To join this site, new member need to install their software. In the survey site members get a lot of free software.
2. Survey Head
It is another new online survey panel. If you fit the demographic for the current surveys then you can immediately get started with a survey today. And if you do not qualify, you will get an instant reward of $5 after joining this panel. For every completed survey members account will be credited with cash. Its minimum payout is $25 and its payment method is PayPal.
3. FocusLine
It conducts online interviews about a variety of consumer oriented topics. It pays typically $25 to $45 for each completed survey. Teens can joins this site because its minimum age requirement is only 13 years.
4. YourSay
At this site you can share your opinions on products and services. The uniqueness of YoursSay is you may take surveys by phone or in-person. For cash payment it pays $15 to $100 for each completed project.
5. Clear Voice Surveys
It is new survey panel and it is different from other survey sites, most survey sites only pay you for survey you qualify for and complete. Clear voice will pay you for each survey you participate in. Clear voice run cash and rewards system, for cash you can request your payment through PayPal and for gift you can get gift certificates for Buy.com. Minimum payout threshold for PayPal account is $10.
6. Planet Panel
Planet panel conducts online survey on a variety of subjects like products and services offered by different companies, current events, government policies etc. it refer a lottery point for each completed survey. Lottery point used for monthly draws for grand prize of $1000 and other one of many $50 prizes.
7. eLab Vanderbilt University
This survey site is conducted by Vanderbilt University. It takes survey to know how to people behave in digital world. This university holds a drawing for cash prize of $250 or more every month.
8. Valued Opinions
Valued opinion offers its panelists with lots of interesting free surveys for cash and gift cards. Average cash reward for online survey is $2 to $5 and its minimum payout is $20.
9. Test and Vote
It gives offers to its members to test products for free and get paid for it. A new one can take part in paid surveys and paid voting. It gives both cash and gift vouchers. Member can also get a chance to win grand prize of $1000 in cash every month. To referral others member can make some extra money.
10. Harris Poll Online
Become a member of the Harris Poll Online and you will have the opportunity to influence important decision makers in government, corporations, and non-profit organizations. You can help shape the policies, products, and services they offer you. Harris poll appreciates your participation and to show you that, it has given away cash prizes ranging from $50 to our grand prize of $10,000.
11. NPD Online Research
It is a research team that provides a chance to win cash or prizes for taking surveys. When any one join this site he will entered into a drawing for $1000 and it provides surveys members will be entered into a drawing for cash or other prizes.
12. Esearch.com
Esearch is another online survey that pays cash to their panelists. It was one of the first sites to develop an online research panel. After completing every survey members will automatically enter into a drawing for special prize. Also it pays for each completed survey.
13. Survey Lion
Survey lion is a Canadian based survey site. It pays near about $5 for each completed survey. The minimum payout amount for it is $25. It has a good referral system for their Canadian member. If you join this site, then you will get $5 bonus on your Survey Lion account.
14. Socratic Forum
It is a web and technologies based survey site. Normally its surveys are related to new technologies, new software, business to business products, e-commerce etc. every new member will be entered into a monthly drawing to win $100. Also members are created for gift and cash rewards by participating in surveys.
15. Question Market
You can become a member of Question Market by taking their short registration survey. Every time you participate in a Question Market survey, you will earn QM-Points which can be traded in for cash rewards. Just for joining, you will automatically earn 100 QM-Points, which will be added immediately to your account. From time-to-time you could also earn an entry into a cash sweepstakes and win up to an additional $500.
Joining 15 survey sites is taking a wide time. You may take advantage of Robofrom. It is a from filler software, it can save a lot of time. And it is absolutely free.

Paid Surveys! A Good Way to Earn Easy Dollars Online

Surveys are prepared questionnaires and all you are required to do is to give your opinions or views by answering the questions, right now there a lot of fake and unscrupulous survey companies online claiming to have huge data base that guarantees tons of survey for you to complete on daily basis, they usually tell their unsuspecting victims to register with a one time processing fee. I want to openly state here that to the best of my knowledge that you are not suppose to pay anybody in order to take surveys, it should be the survey companies or sites paying you for your opinions, views and time.
The genuine survey companies are contracted by big multi-national companies to help them conduct surveys and market research on the market viability for a new product lunch or any other area of business interest. As a newbie in the get paid to take survey business, there are certain things you must know in order to succeed, these include
1. Open a dedicated email account for your surveys, so that all the survey that will be sent to you will be in the inbox or folder of one email account for easy access.
2. If it is possible use the same username and password in registering with all the survey sites, this is for easy and quick remembrance so that you wouldn't have the problem of forgotten username or password.
3. Register with as many genuine and legitimate survey sites as possible i.e. at least register with a minimum of 10 survey sites, this will guarantee that you have regular supply of survey to complete and earn money from.
4. Investigate the integrity and activity of each survey site that you have registered with, so that all your efforts wouldn't amount to mere waste of valuable time and energy. You can easily do this by logging on to Google search engine and type the "name of the survey site + scam" then click search to view the result and get a first hand opinion and thoughts of what people are saying about the site or company.
5. Once you are satisfied with the result of your investigation, the next step is to start completing survey invitations that will be sent to your email address.
6. For a start do not be choosy about which survey invitation to complete or not, try as much as possible to complete every survey that is sent to you, this will help build up your credibility with the survey companies and subsequently they will send higher number of surveys and with better payment reward to your email address on daily basis, once you' ve proven to be reliable.
7. After you might followed these simple steps that I have outlined, you can now relax and enjoy yourself filling each survey that comes your way and watch the dollars roll into your account.
I have put together a list of very good survey sites, which I believe will be of great benefit to you. I have no link or special interest on any of the sites listed below, it's just my sense of judgment and I encourage you to carry out your own investigation to confirm the authenticity or otherwise of each survey site before doing business with them:

• Vindale.com- Get paid $2.00 instantly upon completing your profile, you are paid from $2.00 to $75 per survey completed, and minimum payout is in check.
• Awsurveys.com- Get paid $6.00 instantly upon completing your profile, you are paid $2.00 to $75 per survey completed, minimum payout is $75.00, and payout is in PayPal and AlertPay.
• Acop.com- Get paid $10.00 to $20.00 per survey completed, payout is in check.
• Globaltestmarket.com- Average pay is between $2.50 to $15.00 for each completed survey, you can earn a quick $5.00 just for completing your 10 user profiles.
• Mysurvey.com- Pays in cash, it is one of the oldest and most trusted survey site, 1000 points =$10.00 get entered into the $10,000 cash sweepstakes just for becoming a member.
• Opinionoutpost.com- Earn $1.00 to $10.00 for each completed survey, they pay in cash and sends tons of survey.
• Globalopinionpanels.com- 5000 points =$5.00, pays $5.00 or more for each completed survey, payout is in check.
• Surveysavvy.com- This is one of the best paid survey sites, they send lots of survey, pays $20.00 or more for each completed survey, payout is in check.
• Surveyteam.com- Get paid cash to complete offers and survey.
• Surveyhead.com- Pays you by paypal, they send frequent surveys and they are really good.
• Esearch.com- Sends survey often and pays higher amount than most other paid survey site.

This list is by no means comprehensive, there are still other legitimate and genuine survey site not listed, hence I believe that if you give this business idea an honest trial, you can comfortably earn an average of $300 - $800 per month which I believe is not to bad for your time and efforts.

How to Commission a Successful PR Survey

You need to get some positive media coverage for your client and you've decided a survey will fulfill your aims...but how do you ensure that your "wish-list" translates into acres of column inches and great headlines? The team at Consumer Analysis works regularly with many of the leading consumer PR agencies and is highly regarded for the reliability of their research as well as their journalistic insight. Here they give you their own views on getting the best from a PR survey....

Commissioning a PR survey on behalf of a client can be daunting. The client is paying a lot and will often have unreasonable expectations of results and you are very aware that there are never any guarantees when it comes to getting stories and features into the media. But we feel there are ways to give yourself the best possible chance of achieving plenty of good coverage...it just takes planning and know-how.

How to start

• It's best to find research firms to work with before you write the questions. If you want to produce a robust survey with interesting results, you'll need to work with the research firm when considering the ideas and particularly when devising the questions...a good firm will be able to suggest technical ways to word the questions which will give your resulting statistics more impact.

• Look for an established research firm which has worked with other PR companies and has a good reputation. You want your research to be respected, and finding a research company that fits in with your image, and that of your client's, is an important part of that.

• Ask to see results. A good array of cuttings and an impressive list of radio features achieved for other clients will give you the confidence to trust the research firm with your client's money.

• Make sure that you have an objective. If you keep the research focused you are more likely to get useable results. It's a good idea to write some "dream" headlines so that you, your client and the research company know what you want to get out of this survey.

• Decide which type of survey best suits you. The main ways to interview respondents are online, hybrid, street and telephone interviewing. The following is our own assessment of the differences, based on our own experiences...

Different types of survey

Telephone surveys
This is the traditional method of conducting surveys, highly regarded by the media, and gives PR's the opportunity of reaching a wide selection of the population. More than nine out of ten households in the UK have a landline, and a similar number now has a mobile phone, so it's virtually impossible to miss any section of the population when interviewing. That's why surveys done this way are regarded as solid and reliable, and why PR's can find that some clients with blue-chip reputations prefer them.

They stand up to scrutiny and it is easier to verify that the respondents' demographics are correct - such as age, gender, region of the country etc. If you go for a firm with well trained interviewers who can strike up a rapport with the respondent, you can also get interesting comments to add flavor to your press release...and possibly to translate into "case histories" which can be used for features material.

Face to face surveys
Respondents may be approached on the street and asked to complete a survey. Clever extrovert interviewers are able to engage with people and persuade them to take part. Advantages are similar to those of telephone interviewing, but also include being able to target certain groups quickly. It's easy to speak to mothers of toddlers, for instance, or pensioners, since the interviewer can visually assess who they need to speak to. This is also the way to go if you need the opinions of people in a particular locality, since door to door interviewing can be much focused.

Many firms will mix street and telephone interviewing, giving you the absolute ideal in terms of reaching the full population. The results of this type of survey will usually provide the greatest credibility and are generally treated with respect by the media.

Online surveys
Many PR firms are now choosing online surveys, where a link to the survey is distributed via the Internet and is completed on a computer. These are generally the cheapest option and often produce quick results, but although we offer online surveys we feel there are some disadvantages. Firstly, you may be narrowing your sample by only reaching those with a computer and Internet access - believe it or not there is still a significant proportion of the population which doesn't use the internet. This means your survey base is likely to have a higher-than-normal number of younger people with time on their hands.

And the chances are it's likely to have a lower-than-normal number of really busy people, such as professionals or working mums for instance. Some firms will adjust the results for this, but it's important that PR's understand how online surveys work. Also, because there is usually an incentive for the respondent to fill out the survey (like vouchers or money) it's possible that some deliberately give incorrect details -for example a teenage student can gain more by pretending to be a CEO of a company than he can by telling the truth about himself!

With no human being asking the questions, answers given by respondents can sometimes be inconsistent and this explains why online polls may produce results which simply aren't credible. PR's should always ask for "speeders" (who finish a survey too quickly) and "straight liners" (who just click on the nearest/easiest option every time) to be eliminated. However, even with their limitations, online surveys have provided PR's with a swift inexpensive way to give the media some good material.

Hybrid surveys
This is the latest concept in consumer media surveys, and is becoming popular with some PR agencies who deal with high-reputation clients, where a substantial survey is important. The hybrid survey is a mix of telephone, street and online interviewing. As the name suggests, you get the benefit of using all types. This is a very good method to use if your client is demanding large numbers, e.g. 2000 interviews upwards. The telephone and/or street interviewing can be used as a reliable base, and the results gained can be compared with the online results, which will provide the extra numbers. In this way you can be sure that your client is getting reliable, believable results (vital for the media) but doesn’t have to spend a fortune.
Omnibus surveys
any of the above methods could be conducted as an "omnibus", but there's a lot of confusion about this type of survey. Some PR's will ask for an "omnibus" when they simply mean they want a cheap survey, without realizing that an "omnibus" is a very specific way of carrying out a survey. It's based on the idea that just as passengers hop on and off a bus with other passengers, so clients can join a big survey with other clients. They can ask as many questions as they like. But because they are "sharing" the survey with others, the interviewees will almost always be the general population, so you can't target certain types of people or certain age groups unless you are prepared to interview fewer people.
We've heard of PR's who thought they were getting a survey of 1000, but only got results for fewer than 200 people! The other common limitation is time. You'll usually have to devise the questions on your own, have them ready for a certain deadline, and if you miss it you'll have to wait for the next survey. But the great advantage of an omnibus survey is the price, which is usually very low because you are splitting the cost with other clients.
Tailored surveys
These are really the opposite of an omnibus. The survey will be tailored to your client's needs, reach the target group required, and the interviewing will be carried out just for you. Like an omnibus, they may be carried out using telephone, street, online or hybrid methods. With a tailored survey you should expect to get help in writing the questions and a lot more attention to analyzing the data and providing the results. You should get plenty of comments from interviewees, and it may be possible to convert these into "case histories". If you need to reach a small target group, say mums with children at home, and you need reasonable numbers of interviews in order to appeal to the media, then you'd be well advised to compare prices from tailored firms..
Tracking surveys
This type of survey will allow you to follow, or "track," respondents' opinions and views over a period of time. Certain questions are asked on a regular basis (usually six monthly or yearly). You must make sure that the questions you want to track and the sample type are kept exactly the same.

Things to consider before research starts

• The sample size. 1,000 is generally considered to be the "magic number" as it is large enough to be split regionally and still produce useable results. If you are interviewing a more targeted sample (in just one region or just of farmers for example) a smaller sample is still considered sound. Interviewing 500 is a good compromise if the budget is tight, and with some strong story lines the lower number will often have little effect on the media uptake
• Who you interview. It's tempting to insist on interviewing the target audience of your client's product in order to concentrate on their views and opinions, but you're in danger of shooting yourself in the foot by doing this. Newspapers and radio are attracted to wide samples, so they can appeal to as many of their readers or listeners as possible. It can also reduce the general cost, as it will be harder for the research firm (and therefore more expensive) to reach a narrower target.
• Make sure that your survey is representative of the population. If you interview in all twelve official regions of the UK, to the correct proportions, you maximize the likelihood of regional press coverage and you gain an accurate result for the national population. A good split of regions, ages and gender makes your survey more reliable.
• The number of questions. An ideal PR survey will have between 10-20 questions. We feel the ideal is 12-15 as this should give 4-5 strong news angles. Beware of going over 20 questions because interviewees get bored and tired at this point, and so can give erratic answers. Some firms may charge for demographic questions like "How old are you?" or "Do you have any children?" so be wary of this. We feel they should be free.

How to use the results

To create interesting and unique headlines, what you do with the statistics is just as important as the figures themselves. You often get the best results by comparing differences between certain types of people. Most research companies will give you data splits - tables showing the results divided by factors like gender, age and region - the most common splits. But you can also think outside the box and split by something unexpected - coffee drinkers versus tea drinkers....those who buy your client's product regularly compared with those who do not....blondes versus redheads versus brunettes versus those with black hair...!

Another device you can use is case studies, and these are particularly appealing to features pages. If some interviewees are especially interesting and give permission to speak to a PR, the survey can be an invaluable tool in providing useful case histories. These can add some human interest to cold hard statistics.

You'll get the best coverage if you take the trouble to provide a re-worked press release for each region, with their own stats compared to the national stats. It's also a good idea to provide releases that have been tweaked differently for the national heavies and the national tabloids. It's all work for the PR, but we know that the glory of getting blanket coverage for a client across the nationals, the regional, the trade press, and the TV/radio makes every PR feel it was all worthwhile.