You survey with the hope that you will get a lot of helpful feedback, right? Sure, the more information you have to base your decisions off of the better. So you may be wondering - what kind of a response rate should you expect and how do you get it? These are the two most common questions I get in my survey webinars, so let’s talk about them.

First, a slice of reality. Expect about a 10% response rate. Ten percent is a good response rate across all industries. Get your survey noticed, and you can expect more of a response. Here are two great ways to do that…

1. Use your Website
Too often I see survey links at the bottom of a webpage.         People don’t typically scroll to the bottom of a page. Do you? I know I don’t. So put the link right at the top of multiple landing pages on your website so it gets noticed by visitors. This should increase your response rate.

If the number of visitors to your website is low, drive more traffic to your site by making sure your site is optimized to be found by the major search engines. Research shows 85% of website traffic comes from search engines like Yahoo and Google. If you want to learn more about how to optimize your site, attend a free webinar about Search Engine Optimization.

2. Use an Invitation
Send a noticeable email invitation with a link to the survey. Get your invitation noticed with an intriguing subject line, a clear brand identity, and an incentive.

• The number one thing to get your invite opened is to put   your brand name (however your audience knows you best) in the subject line. For more information, here are a couple of helpful articles to help you create your subject lines.

• Once they open your email invitation, a logo and consistent brand colors should be the first thing they notice. That way customers immediately understand it’s from someone they know and have a relationship with.

• Then pull them into your survey with an incentive. Yes, there should always be an incentive for completing your surveys. You could offer the recipients an opportunity to have an opinion in the way you run your business, or they can get some information (share the survey results, an educational white paper), or you can offer a monetary incentive (an iPod, gift certificate, coupon.) It doesn’t have to cost a lot, it just has to be of value to recipients. Don’t forget to tie your incentive into your survey link’s language on your website and also in your subject line. (“Share your thoughts on Company X, win X”)

Finally, don’t make recipients work to start the survey. Stay short and sweet and make the link to take the survey very noticeable – let them see it without having to scroll, make it big, and give it plenty of white space. Here are many of these lessons in one place – click to see a good survey invitation.

If you have any feedback or questions, I’m happy to hear from you! Just click the comment link below. Watch for the next post where I’ll discuss a few more proven best practices to getting a good response rate to your surveys.

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