Developing surveys and getting the best out of them is now, more than ever, critical for understanding your market on a qualitative level before you launch and gain quantitive data.

Learn how to perform your own original research using surveys to complement your content marketing efforts and produce articles that can help you attract media attention, leads for your company, or organic website traffic.

‍

A. Introduction:

A survey is a methodical way to obtain data from a chosen group of people by asking them a series of questions. You can get a variety of information via surveys. They can gather data on people's actions, productivity at work, knowledge, preferences, attitudes, beliefs, and feelings, among other things.Surveys can be used for a variety of things, such as: figuring out what customers need/how satisfied they are; figuring out organisational strengths and weaknesses; focusing on areas that need improvement; and figuring out how effective new or current policies or programs are.Although creating a questionnaire is simple, creating a successful questionnaire requires much expertise and experience:Every question must be addressed clearly, precisely, and with results that may be put to good use.

It is likely that the survey attempt won't be successful without a clear aim. This could lead to a waste of resources, the collection of meaningless data, and disappointment on the part of both the survey's creators and respondents. As a result, survey objectives should be as precise, unequivocal, and explicit as feasible.When conducting a poll "simply to see what's going on," exercise extreme caution. An organisation may attract attention from those who receive the survey and those who learn that it is being conducted if a survey is conducted. Expectations that executive actions will soon follow due to this attention may arise.

1. Before to begin

So you've come up with the ideal concept for an article that suits your brand, achieves your objectives, and supports other projects and campaigns you're working on. It's pertinent, intriguing, and you've even thought of a catchy headline for it. It's time to start composing questions, don't you think?

Wait!

To create a successful survey, consider the outcome in advance.

‍

1. Who will be surveyed?Identify the types of people who can provide the information you are interested in. Do they belong to a single organisational level or do they come from a variety of levels? Do they work in the organisation or are they end-users of the organisation’s products or services?

2. Who will utilise the outcomes?

Determine who will use the survey results and what information needs they have. What kinds of choices will they make in light of the outcomes? How ought the data to be organized for them? Do they require specific answers, or will the "big picture" suffice? Which method of information delivery do they prefer?

‍

1. What exact details are required?

Determine the subjects or themes of interest and the information types required to fulfill the survey's objectives. For instance, if you're interested in maintaining the equipment at an athletic facility, you might find out how frequently people use the facility, what amenities they utilize, and what hours they use them. Additionally, you may ask visitors to review the caliber of the pool, treadmills, gym equipment, shower area, towel service, etc. You could ask folks to identify their projected requirements or interests in terms of physical fitness if you're interested in anticipating future needs.Each of these subjects might be covered by one or more survey questions.

‍

1. Ahead of creating any survey questions

Create a concise thesis that you want your survey to explore. Choose one argument or path to concentrate on if your thesis is later shown to be false (which we discover happens frequently).To decide which arguments will best support your thesis, conduct some preliminary research.Consider the supporting evidence you'd require for those primary claims.Make inquiries that will enable you to collect those data points.

‍

B. Design project

1. Who will be in charge of creating the survey?Small teams frequently create surveys. Consider including members who have some familiarity with the subjects or issues that are of interest. Additionally, make an effort to include people who are familiar with graphic or planning tools. Have a member who has knowledge of statistical analysis and survey development, if at all possible.

2. How will the survey be carried out?

Choose the approach that will efficiently deliver enough information. While interviews can yield a wealth of specific information, they can also be time-consuming, challenging to analyze, and require specialized training to do successfully. When you need to get in-depth information from a relatively small group of people, interviews can be helpful. More so than self-reported surveys, interviews can be used to investigate challenges and options. Self-reported surveys frequently offer less specific information, but they can be used to gather a lot of data in a quick amount of time.

‍

1. What materials will be required?

Determine the personnel and other resources needed for the survey. Resources can include a project manager, skilled interviewers, statisticians, data analysts, printing costs, mailing costs, data entry costs, and data processing, depending on the type of survey being undertaken. Remember that the survey respondents should be viewed as a resource in terms of quantity, time commitment, and information delivered.

Centralize your plans: Once you've gathered all the necessary data from all parties, put it all in a document that everybody can access. Make sure to record the start date for each person's component of the project. Writing and promoting truly good survey material is surprisingly challenging, but if you plan well, everything will go according to plan.

‍

1. Establishing Survey Items

For each topic of interest, create survey questions; jot down any ideas you have. It is preferable to start with more stuff than not enough. Don't worry about crafting the ideal inquiry. Covering all of the topics up front is more crucial than using beautiful language. To generate survey items, think about using brainstorming, tree diagrams, and other idea-generation techniques.Create materials that are:

• Well-written. Statements must to be succinct and simple to read. Avoid using acronyms, technical phrases, or jargon that respondents to the survey may not be familiar with.

• Strict. Get right to the point as soon as you can. Remove superfluous phrases or concepts to allow the respondent to focus on the survey item without becoming sidetracked.Particular. single thought at a time. Each item should compile data about a specific act, attitude, belief, occurrence, or topic.

• Express. Do not make folks guess what you are asking. Clearly state what information you need to make sure they understand. Put a highlight or underline where an answer is required, if applicable.

‍

1. The Choice of Response Formats

You must include instructions on how to submit an answer along with the statements and questions. People are frequently asked in surveys how much they agree with certain statements, how significant they think something is, or how frequently certain events occur. Here are a few typical formats for survey responses used to gather data:

• Questions with multiples options

• Grading scales

• Likert-scale inquiries

• Matrix inquiries

• Drop-down menus

• Closed-ended inquiries

• Census-related queries

• Ranking issues

• Image selection exercises

• Map questions by clicking

• Uploading files issues

• Slider inquiries

• Benchmarking inquiries

‍

The greatest survey question kinds are included on this list, so after you get proficient with Using them, you'll be ready to create surveys like a pro!

‍

Questions with multiples options

The most common sort of survey question is the multiple-choice question. They enable your respondents to pick one or more choices from a set of predetermined responses. They support the production of easily analysable data, are intuitive, simple to use in many ways, and offer mutually exclusive options. Your responders will find it simpler to complete the survey because the answer alternatives are predetermined.

Most importantly, you'll likely receive well-structured survey replies that result in accurate data for analysis.

Multiple choice tests can be formatted in a variety of ways.

The single-answer multiple choice question is the most fundamental variation. To allow respondents to select only one response, single answer questions use a radio button format (circular buttons that represent possibilities in a list). They function effectively for binary and rating inquiries.

‍

Grading scalesOrdinal questions, often known as rating scale questions, display a scale of response possibilities from any range (0 to 100, 1 to 10, etc.). The respondent chooses the number that best captures their answer.

Inquiries using the Net Promoter Score® are a nice illustration of rating scale questions. To determine whether clients would be likely to promote their good or service, they employ a scale.

‍

Net Promoter Score definition

What is the Net Promoter Score? The Net Promoter Score definition and formula is based on the following idea:

NPS is a highly regarded loyalty metric that people at companies like yours use to collect the customer feedback they need to inform their business strategy. It’s seen by many as a better indicator of customer loyalty than traditional customer satisfaction surveys.

‍

Likert-scale inquiriesYou have probably encountered this type of inquiry before. Likert scale questions, sometimes known as "do you agree or disagree" questions, are frequently used in surveys to determine the thoughts and sentiments of respondents.

Respondents have a variety of choices when answering questions using a Likert scale, such as those that range from "not at all likely" to "very likely," for instance. They are useful for understanding specific input because of this. For instance, a Likert scale is frequently used in survey questions for employees to gauge their opinions or attitudes on a variety of topics.

‍

Matrix inquiriesMatrix questions are the greatest choice if you wish to ask several questions in a sequence that all have the same possible answers. As a matrix question, a succession of Likert scale or rating scale questions can be effective. Many topics can be made simpler with matrix questions, but it's crucial to utilise them responsibly. The matrix shown below is an example of how very big matrices can be confusing and challenging to use on mobile devices.

‍

Drop-down menusA lengthy list of multiple choice answers can be displayed simply and without overwhelming your respondents by using a dropdown question. With it, you may present them with a scrollable list of options.A relevant context for the question can occasionally be provided to your respondents by displaying all of the answer choices at once. Whenever you consider including more than one dropdown question in your survey, keep that in mind.

‍

Closed-ended inquiriesOpen-ended survey questions don't offer any pre-determined answer selections and require respondents to input their response into a comment box. The responses are then examined separately or by text analysis software.

Open-ended questions aren't the ideal choice when assessing data. Written responses are difficult to measure, hence text boxes are preferable for presenting qualitative data. You might find possibilities you might have otherwise missed if you let respondents provide input in their own terms. However, you could want to conduct some quantitative marketing research and use closed questions if you're seeking for data to evaluate.

Using closed-ended and open-ended questions together will help you better understand and analyse your quantitative data.

‍

Census-related queriesIf you're interested in learning more about a respondent's history or income level, use demographic survey questions. These kinds of questionnaire questions can help you learn more about your target audience when handled properly. You can further analyse your data by using demographic questions to classify your audience depending on their characteristics and activities.

Age, gender, and occupation are examples of common demographic queries.

‍

Ranking questionsA ranking question requests that respondents rank the possible answers in their preferred order. This not only enables you to comprehend respondents' opinions regarding each answer choice but also aids in understanding each one's relative popularity.

Ranking questions can require more time to respond to, so it's crucial to keep that in mind. So, if alternative inquiry kinds can give you the information you need, try to avoid using them. Additionally, only use them if you are certain that respondents are familiar with all of the answer choices. Otherwise, it will be nearly impossible to respond truthfully and accurately.

‍

Image selection exercisesYou can utilize photographs as answer possibilities while using our image choice question type. This is effective when you want people to rate something's visual appeal, like an advertisement or a brand. As it gives responders a break from reading, it might also be a breath of fresh air for them.

‍

Map questions by clickingDo you need immediate, gut-level feedback on a picture? Make use of a click map query! Include an image in your survey and instruct respondents to click on a specific area of the image. You may, for instance, inquire as to which item on the shelf catches your eye the most or which area of your website is the most user-friendly.

‍

Uploading files questionsDo you require resume uploads from respondents? A portrait? their ID? Whatever you require can be gathered as a PDF, PNG, or Doc file. And after your responses are received, downloading the files is simple.

‍

Slider queriesWith our slider question type, you may allow responders to rate something on a scale of 1 to 10. They are interactive, which makes them amusing to do, and they let you measure respondents' feelings both individually and collectively.

‍

Benchmarking questionsWhile benchmark-able questions can be presented in a variety of ways, what makes them unique is that they let you compare your responses to those of other survey authors who used the same question.

‍

Benchmark-able questions come in a wide variety and can be applied to various audiences (employees, customers, etc.). Use our question bank or one of our survey templates to choose one for your survey. Any question with a tiny bar chart indicator at the top can be compared to others.

‍

‍

C. Sanding

The objective you set out with at the beginning of your project has everything to do with who you submit your survey to and the kinds of questions you ask.

As we've already discussed, some content marketing efforts may be less rigorously required because they are less "serious." But it's ideal to make sure that your survey is as reliable as possible if you're going to produce material with the intention of having it "go viral," get picked up by PR, or be utilised as a resource by people in your business.

The people you send your survey to and the methods you use to send it can have a significant impact on the outcome. Let's examine three of them.

‍

Social media survey

‍People on social media enjoy distractions, and well-designed quizzes and surveys can be one.

Fun social media surveys (see the preparation section) about topics that are important to your company or customers are already customer touch-points. Additionally, followers become invested when you offer them to take part in your study. They'll naturally be interested in the content you produce using their responses since they'll want to see how their answers compare to those of others.

Sending surveys via social media is often regarded as the least statistically rigorous means of sending, despite the fact that it's an effective way to interact with your followers. They are therefore typically most effective when used for amusing subjects that interest your following.

Let's examine some of the advantages and disadvantages of this sample strategy.

‍

Benefits:

Quick, simple, and uncomplicated double-dipping engagement. Social media users enjoy both their original material and entertaining, pertinent surveys.

‍

Drawbacks:

‍False science. Your Twitter following is not an accurate representation of the general public.low levels of reaction. It could be difficult to receive enough responses if you don't have a large number of followers.shut-off circuit. Only your social media fans will likely find interest in a survey of your following. Partnerships or pick-ups from PR and journalists are probably out of the question.

‍

Send an email to your connections or clientele

‍If your business has been around for a while, you probably have a vast pool of clients that would make excellent survey respondents for the proper project. But conducting client surveys may be a complex process. It's essential not to irritate them with erroneous surveys on irrelevant issues since they are the ones who are paying your bills.

Focus on your brand or product instead. Inquire about email sending practices from marketers if you sell email marketing tools. Inquire about the business outlook of contractors if you work in interior design.

They frequently have real value to individuals in your sector, which elevates you to the role of a thought leader and can aid in the growth of your company—especially if you "gate" the asset to gather sales leads.

Additionally, since your customers are the experts on your products, polling them can be a terrific way to find testimonials, case studies, statistics on ROI, and other useful sales content.

‍

Benefits:

For useful "business insights" content, surveys that you send out to your clients are frequently the best choice.Relevancy. Consumers and potential customers will find the data based on their jobs to be organically fascinating.Ease. If your customer email lists are in good shape, they are free and simple to deliver.

‍

Drawbacks

‍False science. Again, your clientele is not a representative sample of the whole populace, but it is acceptable to inquire about their employment.Annoyance. Because your clients are the lifeblood of your business, it's better to refrain from pestering them with excessively frequent or irrelevant surveys.limited appeal. The content from customer surveys won't typically have appeal outside of your sector (though it still has value appeal).

‍

Use an international survey panel

‍Using a survey panel is by far the most flexible and scalable method of sending surveys. It is crucial that the survey panel you choose is reliable if you wish to send a survey utilising it. Using a responsible incentive scheme that compensates respondents for meaningful responses, a good survey panel gives you access to qualified survey respondents from all around the world.

Survey panels are significantly more adaptable than the other options since they make it simple to reach a broad audience. You are free to ask anyone anything (but please, still refer to the planning section to find a topic that makes sense). While it is simple to utilise them to reach a broad audience, the majority of survey panels contain targeting features that can help you select a more specific group of respondents.

‍

Benefits:

‍Backed by science. You can obtain genuinely reliable statistics on any topic with a reliable panel and a sizeable sample size.Targeting. You have a wide range of options for your study by choosing whether to distribute a survey to a broad or a specific audience.Press-worthy status. An intriguing study that is supported by reliable data is an excellent candidate for media coverage and internet virility.Accessible. To send a survey, you don't need a sizeable email list or a presence on many social media platforms.Speed. Instead of waiting weeks for responses to come in naturally, you may gather 1,000 responses in a few days.

‍

Drawbacks:

Budget. It will cost money to send a survey through a market research panel, but you no longer need to hire a full-service agency and spend tens of thousands of dollars to reach your target audience. There are DIY alternatives that are considerably less expensive.Feasibility. Targeting possibilities are numerous, but, as we said in the section on surveying your contacts or client base, job-role level targeting might be difficult.

‍

Samples taken

‍The next step is to choose how many people you'll send your content marketing survey to after you've chosen how to send it. This action is really crucial. The validity of your results, your reputation, and your possibilities for disseminating the information you produce based on your findings are all impacted by the sample size you use. When deciding on your sample size, there are four primary factors to take into account; be sure you've taken into account each one before moving on.

Distribution channel: This subject was covered briefly in the section above, but it can have a significant impact on the sample size you aim for.

Conducting a brief, enjoyable survey on social media? 200 replies should be sufficient.Using a panel or email list, are you attempting to gain some industry insights? The number 500 is a reasonable starting point as long as you're not making unfounded claims and sticking inside your specialised area.using a panel to poll the public in the hopes that the media will publish your findings? The magic number is usually 1,000 answers.

These are really the bare minimum specifications. The more responses you receive in each of these situations, especially the third, the better. The fact that 30,267 people responded to Netflix's survey on cheating gives its findings a great deal of credibility for journalists and their readers.

‍

Error margin

‍Having a high sample size has a significant positive impact on your margin of error. The margin of error indicates how much your results could deviate from the population at large. In essence, it conveys to you your level of confidence in the accuracy of your findings. If, for instance, 50% of respondents claim to enjoy ice cream and there is a 5% margin of error, the actual number of ice cream lovers is likely to be between 45% and 55%.

We even have a calculator that can help you determine the sample size you need based on your desired margin of error.

The essential thing to keep in mind is that the margin of error should be as little as possible. Before writing about a study, journalists will want a small margin of error, especially if the study is about a significant or trending topic. For this reason, political pollsters send surveys to countless numbers of people. As previously noted, you can reduce your sample size standards a little if your topic matter is a little more straightforward. Here is a general overview of the relationship between sample size and margin of error in a population.

‍

Feasibility

‍When a panel is used to collect survey responses, the panel selects respondents from a pool of potential respondents. More people want some things than others. This implies that finding responders will be more challenging the more specialised a group you target with your panel. For instance, finding enough respondents won't likely be a problem if you want to target mothers, like Time did, or Netflix subscribers. However, it will be difficult to locate enough respondents if you want to poll mid-level marketing managers who make use of your program.

‍

Budgetary factors

‍A general survey or one with a little larger margin of error than desired is preferable to doing none at all. Your project will have a budget, and you'll need to do your best to stay inside it.

Try it!We really can't stress this enough, so make sure to test your survey several times before sending it.

If you're utilising skip logic, make sure it functions properly.If you're not utilising a Likert question, make sure your answer choices are random.How long does it take to complete your survey? More than ten minutes long? Take into account cutting some of your inquiries.

‍

‍

D. Analysis

Now for the enjoyable part. Your expertly crafted survey has returned. It was based on a clear objective and distributed to the ideal respondents. The only thing left to do is jump in. It can be simple to select the survey data points that stand out as the most intriguing, but this is not always the case. Not to worry! Even if things didn't go as planned, there are several strategies you can employ to improve the situation.

‍

To locate the stories hidden beneath the surface, use filters.

‍Sending a survey and eagerly awaiting the answers is terrible, but receiving confusing or inconclusive findings is even worse. All of us have been there. When you sample a large population, a normalising effect occurs that can dull the excitement of your findings. Don't worry; occasionally, what particular groups mentioned in your survey is more intriguing than what the majority of respondents said. You can use filters to remove background noise from your results and listen to each group alone.

‍

By demographics, refine

‍Your carefully considered demographics questions will become useful at this point. To find variations of opinion, filtering by demographic group is a fantastic place to start. You can examine how differently each demographic group responded to your survey using this. These findings, for instance, would appear to be quite ambiguous, but when you contrast how men and women responded, distinct differences become apparent.

It's advisable to start broadly when demographic screening then narrow it down from there. Watch out for non-sequiturs. Even while you could notice fascinating distinctions among various groups, think about whether they actually relate to the argument you're trying to make in your writing.

Several well-liked demographic categories to start with are listed below:

• Gender

• Age range

• Income

• Job level

• Location

To get a closer view, you can even stack filters on top of one another. But be cautious. If you reduce the size of your groups too much, your results might no longer be reliable unless you have a very big sample size. Avoid making generalisations about groups with less than 100 respondents and particularly refrain from discussing groups with fewer than 50 respondents.

‍

Move past demographics

‍Not simply demographic questions, but any question that your respondents answer, can be used to filter your findings. Your filtering options become far more flexible as a result. You can use it to make claims like "among those who claim to click on advertising online, 54% said they enjoy cheerful ads the most" or "among those who claimed to like happy ads the most, just 22% said celebrity endorsements are most likely to attract their attention."

‍

Selecting the appropriate visual

‍Remember how we discussed the distinctions between single-answer and multiple-answer questions in the section of this tutorial dedicated to survey writing? You'll start noticing those variances in this area.

Though there is a clear winner, it is not particularly obvious because there is not much variation between the response choices. When given the chance to choose from several answer possibilities, respondents frequently have a tendency to "spread out" their answers throughout the available options. The majority of the time, these questions don't make for particularly eye-catching visualisations, but they do offer excellent data points to highlight. In the aforementioned example, it is effective to assert that "80% of individuals think marketers are innovative." However, a graph isn't particularly helpful in this situation because include the other response choices isn't necessary to prove our point and can even do the opposite.

‍

Use of horizontal graphs when

‍You can also use horizontal graphs to display your data. Horizontal graphs perform best for displaying how answer options compare to one another, while bar graphs are most illuminating when they highlight discrepancies between answer possibilities. They are useful for presenting information from queries with numerous possible answers.

‍

Horizontal bar graph

‍When you need to demonstrate the differences between seven or fewer answer choices, use horizontal bar graphs.

‍

‍Vertical bar graphs

‍When you need to show the link between seven or more answer choices, use vertical bar graphs.

‍

Pie graphWhen displaying the distribution of the parts that make up the whole, use pie charts.Use them to demonstrate no more than three different possible answers.

‍

‍Line diagram

‍To demonstrate how trends change over time, use line graphs.

‍

Considerations

‍Remove the clutter. Numerical axis labels and individual data point labels are not necessary. When you simply have one data series, the chart title will do as the legend, so you don't need one. The best rule of thumb is to provide as little information as necessary to convey your message clearly.Your friend is rounding. Readers won't hold your use of decimal places to a high standard. Plus 50% sounds more appealing than 49.51%.Recall that none of these are rigid guidelines. Depending on the situation, how data is presented—as dots on a graph or otherwise—can vary greatly. You must choose the most effective presentation strategy to make it useful and illuminating for your audience.

‍

‍

E. Content creation

The time has come for which you have been waiting. You may start developing your content once you have a folder full of instructive charts and infographics, as well as a long list of data points that work together to produce a pertinent and engaging tale.

This ought to be the simple portion if you've followed every instruction in the manual. There are three primary directions to follow depending on your goals, as we outlined in the planning section of this tutorial. Following is our advice for producing content for each of the three categories of projects.

‍

Blog or article creation for your website

‍Even if you intend to gate your report or offer your data to the media, you may still create an article about the data to drive traffic to your website.Make sure you don't reveal all of your data in your blog post if you're using it to create a gated report. Instead, write a blog post teaser that gives readers just enough information to whet their appetite for more.

The fundamental outline for your article can be based on the survey development framework we used in the Design section of this guide: You have a thesis to emphasise in the introduction and a number of supporting arguments that you can group into the body's sections. Each of those parts will be filled out, justified, or explained by the survey findings.

‍

‍

F. Bringing everything together

‍The last thing we want is for you to feel constrained by the guidelines in this manual. More power to you if you want to combine a few of these strategies or pick and choose the ones you believe best fit your circumstances.

The principles we've provided here are based on our own experiences, which we only acquired through a great deal of trial and error. We don't want to force you to behave exactly as we do. We hope that by building your own surveys, you will feel comfortable utilising them to gather information for any topic you want to write about.

We enjoy surveys a lot, and we appreciate quality content that is derived from them much more. If you create clever, engaging content using strong survey principles and ethical reporting techniques, you can convince even the most cynical media consumers to trust you and win over your ideal clients.

‍

Have fun!

‍