• Online Event Registration – When attendees register for an event
• Lead Capture - Log visitors to a trade show booth
• Sign up for a download, product or report from your Web site
• Recruit and classify business partners
• Respond to a marketing campaign or promotion
• Measure customer satisfaction following a sale

On-Line Survey Design
Every survey should start with a clear objective. Whether its purpose is prospecting or gaining a better understanding of a potential new market, the objective should be crisply defined. As the survey is developed, it should be tested on candidates who are similar in background to the intended audience. Testing will reveal if a survey is too long, leading to a high rate of abandonment, or it can identify questions that have been worded in a way that confuses or misleads the respondent, leading to bad data.

Depending on the particular information desired, there are a number of types of questions that can be employed in a survey. They include:

• True/False
• Multiple Choice - Choose all that apply
• Multiple Choice – Unrestricted (for example, add “other” text field)
• Multiple Choice – Single answer restriction
• Importance Scale – Rate from “Extremely Important” to “Not at All Important”
• Rating Scale – Rate from “Excellent” to “Poor”
• Custom Rating Scale
• Relative Ranking
• Open Ended (essay to text field)
  

There is a type of question for almost any kind of information desired. The challenge is to make sure you use the right type of question for each particular piece of information you are seeking.

Online Surveys vs. Traditional Methods
Traditionally, surveys were conducted face-to-face by individuals. Today, many surveys are conducted over the telephone. Response rates and accuracy for one-on-one surveys are very high relative to other approaches. However the major downside to conducting personal surveys is that they are expensive.

Direct mail has also been used to gather survey information. Respondents are mailed a survey form and encouraged, often through some form of reward, to complete the survey and drop it in the mail. The advantage of direct mail surveys is that they can reach a very wide audience of respondents. The disadvantages include very low typical response rates and the inability to provide ancillary information if a respondent is unclear about exactly what is meant by a particular question. Also, the responses must be converted from paper to a database for analysis, which can be expensive and error-prone.

Survey Design Consulting
Developing a survey can be tricky, and if you ask the wrong questions or use the wrong format, your investment and effort can result in misleading or erroneous conclusions. If you are not experienced in survey design and implementation, it pays to consult with an expert. Market-Vantage provides survey design consulting and on-line survey implementation services that will help you meet the objectives of your next survey project.

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