It’s never been easier to field your own market research. Survey tools are cheap, if not free (hello Google Forms!) and you can find targeted participants by just posting the link in relevant Facebook/Slack/Reddit/etc. groups.
Et voila! Consumer feedback.
Unfortunately, in the name of being scrappy, a lot of surveys out there are just….crappy. If you think about research as another touchpoint between your brand and your customers, you hope that experience makes sense to them and delivers for you – so how can you make sure DIY research maximizes insight and minimizes missteps? Here are my top 5 tips to writing a better survey.
- Identify the results you need (or want.) Write down three talking points you want to emerge from your study. Craft questions that map directly back to those points. Keeping a desired outcome in mind helps you focus on asking questions you actually need answers to.
- Be colloquial. Limit jargon and overly formal survey-speak. Use the language your audience uses, include answer options that reference contemporary culture and be explicit in your concept descriptions.
- Be provocative. Force a response. I’m not talking about a “required question” asterisk, because, really?? If you want to understand why, Yes/No is a no-no! Pin people down on a POV. I love using a “would you rather…?” to secure a fun data point and make inferences about mindset, which helps when you start creating your narrative around the analysis (the spin!)
- Limit open-ends. They’re like Yelp reviews – raves are boring, negatives illuminate areas for change. Ask “why not?” instead of “why?” And kill the desire to ask for “anything else you’d like to share?” unless you enjoy sifting through a bunch of No’s.
- Leave it to the professionals. If the 3 minutes it took you to read this post was more time than you expected to spend on just getting some questions out there, it’s best to leave it up to us. Save time, aggravation and ensure the audience has a positive experience. You can thank me later.