How to get 8x the responses for your next survey

Picture this: you are getting ready to complete a research study. You have spent weeks debating questions for your survey with colleagues. You finally nailed the perfect questions. You planned how you will distribute your survey ---and have an email campaign setup. You are looking for 250 survey responses within the next two weeks. 

Your emails are drafted and designed. You schedule them, sit back, and wait to watch the responses pour in. Awesome.

However, this is not your reality. You push out your campaign and only get 30 responses. Now what? 

Designing surveys and collecting data is pretty hard --unless you are Facebook. It takes entire teams and big bucks to complete a survey with the appropriate sample size so your answers are accurate. Unless you are a Fortune 500 company, all of your time may be spent on getting answers for a survey that no one completes. 

Why does this happen?

Think about your inbox. How many emails do you get each day? How many of those do you actually open? And of those, how many do you actually click?

This is an attention span problem. Getting people to opt-in to surveys from an email is going o be tough. You are competing with news, products they like, family emails, and spam emails. In the era of content, it is hard to single yourself out and give a solid call to action. 

This is why we say scrap the email campaign and consider SMS (text messaging) for your survey. 

FACT: SMS has 8x the response rate of emails.

SMS, when used correctly, cuts through the noise and captures people’s attention in ways that traditional channels (e.g., email, PPC) can’t. According to Gartner, SMS open rates run as high as 98% compared to email’s 20% mark. What’s more, is the data cited by Digital Marketing Magazine indicates that 75% of consumers actually prefer to receive promotions via text message.

How SMS Marketing Is Changing Customer Engagement

People are not only more accustomed to using their mobile devices, they prefer this as an option as opposed to our oversaturated inboxes. As a bonus, SMS gives a sense of urgency that prompts people to respond faster. 

Your survey being launched via text message gives people the option to participate, similar to any survey, but it is a design that is formatted like a conversation. The final perk is the ability to create unique logic jumps, a feature that typically costs with products like Survey Monkey and Typeform. 

But, how do I get people to opt-in?

The great part about forgoing your email campaign is SMS is more personal. A campaign to get people to opt-in can be a grassroots effort, promoted on social media (especially on Instagram), or even announced during special events. 

So, before you build out an email campaign to promote your next survey consider how SMS can be your best outreach method. 

Interested in sending your survey using SMS?