5 Benefits of SMS Surveys
Do you want to survey customers, but aren’t sure how to create a survey that’s economical and efficient? Or, have you been disappointed with the results of the surveys you’ve sent to customers?
It might be time to try a different distribution method. Text messaging, or SMS, surveys send your target audience a text message. This message contains a link to your online survey. Respondents can easily tap the link in their messaging app and be taken directly to your survey. Surveys can be quickly completed on the respondent’s mobile phone and the results are sent to you instantly.
Read on to learn the five biggest benefits of using SMS surveys for your business.
- Increase Survey Open and Response Rates
Think about how often you look at your phone. It’s likely you check it for new messages, emails, and other notifications several times throughout the day. There’s even a chance you’re holding it to read this article.
Whenever someone receives a message, they’re highly likely to open it. By sending surveys through automated text messages, you get the attention of your target audience almost immediately. A quick tap on the survey link and your respondents can quickly complete your questions. Once they’re done, your participants can go about their business without losing a lot of time.
Other distribution methods can’t compete with the pressure to open an unread text message. An email survey, for example, might sit unopened and forgotten in an inbox clogged with promotions and important updates. Mailed paper surveys could quickly get tossed in the trash as junk mail.
- Get Almost Instant Feedback
The pressure to open an unread text message doesn’t just help you increase survey responses. This pressure is also leveraged to get fast feedback from your customers. The respondent is likely to have their phone nearby when you send the survey. Their phone lights up and beeps, letting them know they have a new text message.
For most people, the next natural response is to reach over and open the message. SMS surveys use the power of instant gratification to benefit both the consumer and the sender. You’ll see a decrease in the time it takes to receive responses. You can begin to analyze responses in just a few minutes or hours after you distribute the survey. There’s no waiting for surveys to return in the mail or for respondents to get around to checking their email.
At the same time, your participants can enjoy knowing their feedback is collected immediately. This allows them to feel heard and that they have a real advocate for their needs in real time. You can send a follow-up message to let participants know the value of their feedback and thank them for their time.
- Survey Responses Are More Honest
Face-to-face surveys or a telephone conversation can lead to biased results. Customers tend to be less honest and give the response you want to hear — not the honest responses you need. The conductor of the survey is often one of your employees, or even yourself. Your customers don’t want to hurt your feelings by telling you if they had an unpleasant experience.
The survey conductor might unknowingly contribute to the bias as well. When you ask a question in person, your voice inflection or phrasing can influence the response. The survey conductor could be setting up the question in a way that makes the natural response the answer you want to hear.
By cutting out human interaction, you will get more honest responses. Customers won’t feel pressured to give you completely positive answers because there’s no one on the other end of the line to disappoint. You also have time to look over the phrasing of your questions or even give them to a focus group to determine if they encourage honest, unbiased answers.
- Simple Set Up and Distribution
One of the biggest things that hold businesses back from sending regular surveys is the time it takes to create and distribute them. Paper surveys must be created, printed, addressed, and mailed. It could take several days for an employee to get through all of this. Likewise, phone surveys require someone on the line calling respondents. An email survey involves time to design and write the email invitation.
SMS surveys remove all of these major barriers. SMS Survey software tools make it easy to set up your SMS survey without advanced coding knowledge. You will also be able to distribute your surveys with a click of a button. With less time spent creating and sending surveys, you can focus on improving your business.
- Cost Effective Method to Survey Audience
In addition to being efficient, text message surveys are incredibly cost effective. There are plenty of affordable SMS survey platforms that give you the tools you need to survey customers. By using software to help you build your survey, you won’t need to pull employees away from their usual work to help write questions, stuff envelopes, or make phone calls. You also won’t need to pay for postage like you would with a paper questionnaire.
For example, you could either send an SMS survey or a paper one through the mail. With the text survey, it will take a few minutes of your time to create it using sample questions and a template. You’ll probably pay a small fee for the software and text messaging rates.
With the paper survey, you’ll have to create the questions, design the format, and start printing. You’ll pay for each paper that’s printed, in addition to the cost of the ink, whether or not it is used. Then you’ll spend several hours putting the surveys into envelopes, which may require the help of an employee. You’re still paying your employee, but they’re not using that time for their normal tasks. Each envelope will require you to pay for postage as well. And with all this time and money spent, there’s still no guarantee that the paper survey won’t be put in the trash.
Get Started with SMS Surveys
SMS surveys make sense for a lot of businesses. You’ll have lower costs and receive more honest feedback from customers compared to other methods. It’s easy to get started creating and sending text message surveys by using an online survey software platform. By using software, you’ll also have access to the tools you need to analyze your responses for trends and actionable insights.
About the Author
With over 2.5 million users across 40 countries, QuestionPro is a leading provider of online survey software that allows users to generate the insights they need to make better business decisions. QuestionPro’s software includes not only tools for creation, distribution, and analysis of surveys, but also provides a platform for polling, tablet-based mobile research, and data visualization. QuestionPro has provided reliable and innovative technology to Fortune 100 companies, academic institutions, small businesses, and individual DIY researchers for over ten years.
