Creating a Survey? 7 Tips for Getting More Respondents in 2024

Gathering feedback and insights directly from your target audience is hugely valuable for any business. And one of the most effective tools for collecting that data is a well-crafted survey.

Surveys empower you to make customer-centric decisions that improve your products, services, and overall customer experience. According to research from Microsoft, 89% of companies with "significantly above average" customer experiences perform better financially than their competitors.

But here‘s the thing – a survey is only valuable if you can get people to actually complete it. With countless demands on your audience‘s attention these days, cutting through the noise and motivating someone to take the time to provide thoughtful responses to your questions is a real challenge.

In fact, a recent study by Survey Anyplace found that the average response rate for email surveys has declined to just 2%. And that‘s for surveys with a median length of only 10 questions!

So how can you beat the odds and get the respondents and data you need? Here are 7 proven tips to boost your survey response rates in 2024 and beyond:

1. Make a Strong First Impression

First thing‘s first – you MUST provide a compelling reason for someone to take your survey right from the start. And no, "because it would really help us out" doesn‘t count. Your potential respondents are wondering "what‘s in it for me?"

Craft a concise, benefits-focused introduction that clearly communicates:

1. What the survey is about and why you‘re conducting it
2. How the respondent‘s input will be used and the impact it will have
3. What‘s in it for the respondent – how might this improve their life/work/experience with your brand?

Pique their interest, show them the value of participating, and motivate them to complete the survey.

Here‘s an example:

Hey there [Name],
Want to help shape the future of [Your Company/Product Name]? We‘re conducting a quick survey to gather feedback on how we can make your experience with us even better.
Your responses will help inform our product roadmap and the features we prioritize over the next year.
As a thank you, survey respondents will get an exclusive first look at what‘s coming down the pipeline before anyone else!
The survey should only take about 5 minutes. Ready to share your thoughts?

See how that leads with the benefit to the respondent and makes it crystal clear why their participation matters? This approach is far more engaging than a generic "We want your feedback" intro.

2. Set Clear Expectations

There‘s nothing more frustrating than starting a survey that claims it will "only take 5 minutes" and then seeing question after question after question with no end in sight. It leaves the respondent feeling duped and far more likely to abandon the survey partway through.

Be fully transparent about your survey length and what‘s involved to complete it. Let respondents know upfront:

• Approximately how many questions are included
• The estimated time it will take to complete
• Any special requirements like uploading a photo or completing a task

Consider including a progress bar so respondents can easily gauge how far along they are. According to a study by Survey Monkey, progress bars can boost completion rates by up to 12%.

And here‘s a pro tip – keep your survey as short as possible. Focus ruthlessly on must-have questions and aim for a completion time of 5 minutes or less. A case study by Qualaroo found that reducing survey length from 45 questions to just 15 boosted completion rates by a whopping 125%!

3. Speak Your Audience‘s Language

When crafting survey questions, it‘s easy to fall into the trap of using generic corporate jargon. But put yourself in your respondents‘ shoes. How likely would you be to fully engage with a question like:

How would you rate your level of satisfaction with the onboarding process for our widget monitoring platform?

Unless you work for the company in question, probably not very.

Instead, use the same natural, conversational language your target audience uses, like:

When you first started using [Product Name], how easy was it to get up and running? Did you feel fully prepared to use the main features?

Write your questions as if you were having a face-to-face conversation with a respondent. Avoid confusing terminology, acronyms, and technical jargon as much as possible. Use layman‘s terms and provide explanations if you do need to use an industry-specific phrase.

The goal is to make respondents feel completely comfortable so they can focus on providing thoughtful, detailed responses – not trying to decipher what a question is asking.

4. Get Up Close and Personal

At the end of the day, there‘s a living, breathing human being on the other side of each survey response. So treat them like one!

As you‘re writing your survey, address the respondent directly using "you" language. Thank them for taking time out of their busy day to help. Congratulate them on making it to the halfway point. Encourage them when asking for a detailed response.

Treat your respondents like valued partners in your success, and they‘ll be far more motivated to give you the insights you need.

Here‘s an example:

You‘re doing great! We know this is a meaty question, but your detailed feedback here will help us make some really important decisions moving forward. Don‘t hold back – tell us what you really think!

Small personal touches like this can work wonders for your completion rate.

5. Ask One More Thing

As your survey draws to a close, there‘s one more golden opportunity to gain additional insights – an open-ended question that allows the respondent to share any other thoughts or feedback they might have.

This is the moment where you can uncover true gems you hadn‘t even thought to ask about. Maybe it‘s an out-of-the-box product idea. Perhaps it sheds more light on a response they gave earlier in the survey. It could even be a frustration point you weren‘t aware of.

Here‘s an easy way to phrase it:

Those are all the official questions we had for you today. But before you go, is there anything else you‘d like to share with us? We‘re all ears!

I can‘t tell you how many times this type of open-ended question has surfaced game-changing nuggets that led to significant improvements. Give your respondents the floor and let them tell you what‘s important to them.

6. Take Your Own Medicine

When you‘ve got a draft of your survey ready to go, pause for a moment. Now imagine you‘re a member of your target audience seeing this survey for the first time. Then take the survey yourself, exactly as your respondents would.

How does the overall experience feel? Are the questions clear and easy to understand? Does the flow make sense or are there places respondents might get tripped up? Is it engaging or did you find your attention starting to wane partway through?

Be brutally honest with yourself as you evaluate the survey from the respondent‘s perspective. Better yet, ask team members or a few friendly customers to take it and provide feedback as well.

It‘s amazing how many little opportunities for improvement you‘ll uncover by putting yourself in your respondents‘ shoes. Maybe it‘s a confusing question that needs rewording or a spot where you can cut a few non-essential questions to shorten the length.

Optimize the respondent experience and you‘ll be rewarded with higher completion rates – and better quality data too.

7. Come Full Circle

Here‘s one final tip that so many brands forget about: closing the loop after the survey is complete.

Once you‘ve collected and analyzed all the responses, don‘t just ghost your participants. Circle back with an email to share how their feedback was used and the impact it had.

For example:

Remember that survey you took a couple months back about our customer support experience? Wanted to let you know that we used your feedback to implement a new live chat feature on our help site. Now customers like you can get the answers you need faster and more easily. Thanks for helping us improve!

If you uncovered any fascinating insights from the survey, consider sharing a few high-level findings as well.

Following up like this reinforces that you value your respondents‘ input and care about improving their experience with your brand. It makes them feel appreciated, respected and more invested in your success.

Plus, it primes them to participate in future surveys too. Because they‘ve seen firsthand that their feedback leads to meaningful change.

Driving Survey Success in 2024 & Beyond

If you want to gather the potent customer insights you need to drive real business results, you need an engaged survey audience that‘s motivated to provide it.

By implementing these 7 tips, you‘ll be well on your way to boosting survey response rates and uncovering the data that moves the needle for your business:

1. Make a strong first impression by clearly communicating value
2. Set clear expectations about survey length & requirements
3. Speak your audience‘s natural language
4. Get up close and personal with respondents
5. Give respondents one last chance to share additional thoughts
6. Experience the survey from the respondent‘s perspective
7. Close the loop by sharing how feedback was used

The brands that prioritize the survey respondent experience are the ones that will gain the customer understanding needed to thrive in 2024 and beyond. So start putting these tips into action with your very next survey. Your bottom line will thank you.