Best ways to increase survey response rates

Surveys are a great way to gauge the progress of your business or collect data for your research. However, people do not participate in surveys as freely and as often as the surveyor would love them to. The average response rate for surveys varies from 20% – 30% with a low response rate standing at below 10%.

The goal in handing out surveys is to get as many people as possible to respond to the survey questions. You also want them to complete the survey and be diverse and honest. It is only with high response rates that you can be able to make the changes and conclusions that you need to. Click here to learn more about survey response rates.

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Why you want to increase survey response rates:

It increases the integrity of the collected data: when there is a lot of high-quality and varied data that is accurate, the results are more believable. The data will have taken into account the target populations’ variety through the sample groups’ diversity and closer to the truth.

It makes room for abnormalities to be included without affecting the entire data: sometimes, the sample group may include people with unusual characters. These don’t match your target populations’ normal behavior. If the sample is small, the unusual character will end up being a reflection of them that are skewed.

Prevents a bias in data interpretation: when the data is not inclusive, it might be interpreted wrongly. It might be seen as a surveyor having a low response rate because they did not take into account the opinions and responses of those who do not fit the results they desired to get. The best thing is to pick random individuals to avoid any bias.

How to increase survey response rates:

1.Offer incentives: the human brain gets motivated when there is a reward or incentive for doing something. You can use this method to encourage participation and increase the probability of survey responses and completion. It is usually more effective to use a small incentive for each of the respondents as compared to a large incentive for a few respondents.

Everyone loves to feel valued, so it is important to explain well how much they take their time and resources to fill the survey means to you. Also, explain how the feedback will be used and who will have access to the data.

2.Apply psychological tactics: there are several tactics such as cognitive dissonance that can be used to improve the response rates for a survey. This encourages participants to get on board for a survey by showing how the survey aligns with their values and beliefs. The questionnaire can be crafted to show this and encourage participation, as the person will want to stay true to their belief system.

3.Do it immediately and through the right channel: getting feedback immediately when you need it increases response rates. For example, if you asked for feedback immediately when goods and services are delivered, you are likely to get 40% more accurate responses. Also, choose a means of conducting a survey that is easiest to access by your target group. You can choose SMS, an e-mail survey, or any other online and offline means.

4.Stay focused: make sure that your survey does not bore the respondents by keeping it at less than 12 minutes especially if there are no incentives. Have focused questions and make them short and easy to understand. You can also personalize the survey by using the respondents’ name or other details you have of them

Having accurate survey responses will help to make good choices as informed by the data collected. That is why it is important to do your best to encourage participation and smoothen the process of collection and storage of the recovered data.