You’ve made the perfect survey – It’s got all the right questions, it’s just the right length and you know it’s going to give you plenty of data to work with.

But how do you go about getting unbiased people to take their time out to complete your survey?

You need to accept that taking your survey is not always be a top priority for your target audience. 

However this doesn’t mean that you leave everything to the hands of fate. There’s many ways to get people to take notice of your questionnaire. 

Social media is a powerful platform to promote your surveys. Depending on your target demographic, it could be the best your most effective tool for increasing response rates.

To ensure high response rates, you need to convey to respondents that their participation has value and that you respect the time they take out for it.

How can one use social media to effectively get more responses?

Incentives work

There are plenty of reasons for people to not attempt your survey. Incentivizing your web surveys with rewards can greatly decrease drop-offs and increase response rates in one fell swoop. This can get people to prioritize your survey even over their own tasks!

It’s not even necessary to provide every individual with a reward for completing the survey – you can enter their name into a raffle for a big prize on completing the survey, which can work out to be a cost-effective solution.

Different platforms = Different demographics, so choose wisely!

One cannot make the mistake of assuming that the demographics on popular social media platforms are the same. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin – all of them have their own unique audience, each capable of providing you with unique insights gleaned from your survey.

To effectively get good survey results from social media, researchers need to target the right audience with the right surveys.

Mobile-friendly surveys = more respondents

Mobile users account for nearly 64% of internet traffic globally, so it’s quite likely that respondents can attempt your survey on mobile
So If you’re building a web survey, it’s essential to make it mobile-friendly as well or you risk alienating a huge segment of your target audience. Today’s best online survey tools make it extremely easy for researchers to create and deploy mobile-friendly web surveys which can drastically decrease survey drop-off rates.

Shareable surveys are viral surveys

Social media is all about sharing. So why not make your surveys a part of this cycle? You can encourage your respondents to share your surveys among their social circle, and even motivate them with gifts.
Sharing is particularly effective when the survey reflects your target audience’s personal priorities.

Respect the respondent’s time

Although your survey’s target demographic may be present on social media to pass the time, you cannot take them for granted. You’ve got to respect the fact that they are attempting your survey instead of a more entertaining activity.
It’s best to avoid using social media to get respondents for lengthy surveys or you run the risk of severely impacting your drop-off rate. It can also negatively impact your brand in the eyes of the respondent and affect your response rate for future surveys.

Positive reinforcement can work wonders

You need the data that the survey gets you and this data is made entirely possible by people taking out their time to be a part of your questionnaire. So why not tell them that – Both before and after the survey.
Try incorporating a theme of being thankful for their time and that their opinions have value and have the potential to create meaningful and possibly tangible change.

Irrespective of the demographic you’re hoping to survey, social media is an excellent platform to increase responses. However, to truly get the most out of Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter, you’re going to have to approach each platform with strategy – so be prepared to do a little research before and after your survey. 

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