In the world of surveys, there is a term called ‘survey fatigue’ that describes the feeling of people who are asked to do too many surveys.  If you think about it, almost every company in the world is trying to gather feedback from their customers and employees (and other stakeholders), which adds up to a whole heap of surveys being sent to people.  And this leads to survey fatigue.

The reality is that grabbing someone’s attention to do a survey is not necessarily easy. Even when incentives are offered, there are a few things to consider to ensure your survey won’t be instantly ignored.

So how do you increase your chances of having people answer your surveys more regularly? Here’s a few expert tips…

• Use everyday language.

There is almost nothing more boring than receiving a survey that has no personality.  If the wording is boring and it doesn’t feel like it is ‘speaking to me’, then there is a strong chance it will be ignored.  There are so many other things that someone can do with their time, so you want to try to connect with people in a voice that they feel speaks to them in their language.

• Check for errors and spelling mistakes

If someone asks you to do something but then they haven’t thought it through, it can be frustrating.   The same goes for a survey.  If someone sees an obvious spelling mistake or an error in the survey, they will stop doing it and you will struggle to get their attention in the future.  They need to know you have carefully considered everything before asking the to invest time answering questions.

• Share back the results

One of the biggest criticisms of surveys is that they become a very one-way conversation.  Someone gets asks a bunch of questions and then doesn’t hear anything about how their contribution made a difference or changed anything.  Most people won’t engage in one-way conversations for very long, whereas sharing the results will often increase the chances of someone participating again in the future.

• Most importantly, consider whether you would do it yourself

Probably the best tip we can offer is to complete the survey several times yourself as if you were the recipient. It sounds obvious, but it is possibly the thing most commonly ignored. If you do the survey and get bored or aren’t engaged in the process, imagine what others are going to think when they receive it. Put yourself in the shoes of the person answering it, and you will know what changes you need to make to the survey before you send it.

And remember, if you have any questions about creating and designing surveys or need some general assistance, simply get in touch with us here at Tandem Surveys.