Whether you’re looking to get feedback from customers, conduct market research for a new product, check in with your employees, or just about anything else, online surveys have become a popular way of reaching out – and for good reason!
In a digital world, it just makes sense to reach out to our audience via the most convenient method: the internet!
When you reach customers, employees, or even the potential market segment online, they are far more likely to engage and give you the feedback you need to stay on the path of evolution and improvement.
Online surveys are not the answer to everything. While they have become the most common mode of feedback collection in recent times, they too come with their limitations.
In this article, we’ll dive into the advantages and disadvantages of online surveys to help you better decide if they are right for your next project.
Advantages of online surveys
Let’s begin with the benefits. Online surveys are a a favorite amongst businesses. So, let’s understand the reason behind their popularity!
- Cost and energy efficient
Online surveys are easy to distribute and require far less manpower to get started. All you need to do is create and send. Of course, this is assuming you have a contact list at hand!
The relatively seamless process of creating and distributing online surveys has made them an essential part of most businesses. - Highly customizable
Looking to add in a video? Not a problem! Perhaps change the color and theme? Easy peasy!
Creating online surveys can be a hassle-free process, filled with numerous options for customizations so you can create the survey you want.
- Anonymity
Keep it confidential. Online surveys can be set to anonymous, so participants’ privacy is protected. This makes it easier for employees to share their candid perspective. It can also help you capture more relevant market research insights as participants are assured that their identity will be protected with our anonymous survey tool.
- Automation
Sometimes, you don’t even need to lift a finger beyond the initial set up. With the right automation tools, you can trigger surveys after specific actions (example, post-purchase surveys) that are immediately sent to customers as soon as they make a purchase. These ensure you get answers from customers at the right time, giving rise to more valuable feedback.
- Wider audience reach
Go global! As the world becomes increasingly connected, businesses are realizing the potential of global reach – and they need technology that keeps pace with these demands.
Online surveys are the most cost-efficient and effective way to reach customers from across the world, helping you garner feedback with ease.
- Extensive distribution methods
The most important rule of seeking feedback is to reach customers wherever they are.
If you want feedback about the buying experience, a website pop-up survey that is triggered after the purchase ensures customers give you instant feedback. If you’re following up with customers after a while, sending the survey via email might be a better bet, or if you’re looking to better understand a product reception, perhaps sharing the survey on your target audience’s preferred social media channel is the way to go.
Online surveys provide this flexibility in distribution, helping you capture the more relevant responses every time. - Response validation
Did participants give a valid response? For example, if, to subscribe to your channel, participants need to share their email – you can use validation to ensure they’re giving you a valid email address.
This prevents fraudulent or incorrect information, improving communication for both parties!
- Real time reporting
Got the answers rolling in? Real-time reports help you see answer trends and response patterns so you can keep an eye on what your customers are saying – and make proactive changes before it’s too late!
Disadvantages of online surveys
Online surveys just seem to be all that, don’t they? So, why would businesses ever not opt for these? Let’s dive into the limitations of online surveys so that you can make an informed decision before your next project!
- Selection bias
You need to have a clear perspective of who your target audience is and determine if they are all online or not. After all, online surveys can only reach people who have internet access and/or email addresses.
So, if you’re looking to survey all the patients that walk into your clinic, you may want to make it an offline survey since some of your patients may not be online. - Comparatively inflexible
Interviews allow the interviewer the ability to modify the questions, change the course of the conversation, and capture insights based on participant responses.
With online surveys, you’re limited to the survey you’ve created. You can modify the flow to ensure the participants see only relevant questions, but that’s about it!
- Limited depth
In-person interviews can reveal a lot more information than an online survey. With rating scale questions, multi-choice and single-select answers being the most engaging, online surveys are far better for collecting quantitative responses as opposed to qualitative insights.
- Survey fatigue
People are being bombarded with surveys from all directions. Whether it’s the recent e-Commerce purchase, a newsletter they forgot they had signed up to, or promotional emails that they didn’t even realize.
As a result, it’s easy for online survey to get lost in the noise.
- Low response rate
When your target audience is the world, you might not get quite the response you’re hoping for. Since online surveys are easier to skip past or ignore, you will notice a comparatively low response rate – especially for longer surveys.
That’s why businesses opt for quick surveys that only ask for a single response. For example, how satisfied are you with the quality of your purchase?
The shorter the survey, the higher the response rate!
- Lower quality of responses
When participants are overwhelmed by surveys, they’re more likely to ignore or participate half-heartedly. With the massive influx of surveys coming their way, this becomes an even bigger concern.
As a result, you might be bombarded with less-than-accurate information that unveils misguided insights. - Technical issues
One of the biggest issues with online surveys is the technical issues participants may face. Perhaps the survey is incompatible with their browser, isn’t adapted to mobiles and other electronic devices, or maybe there is a server error. When you’re distributing online surveys, you must be ready for just about anything!
Should I use online surveys?
The short answer is: absolutely!
But it’s important to use online surveys with caution. They may not be ideal for every use case, especially when you’re looking for more qualitative data collection.
The best way to identify whether an online survey is right for you is by understanding what the purpose of your survey project is.
So, before you begin, identify your goal, budget, and target audience. This will help you better determine if an online survey is the right option for you or not. When you’re looking to enhance customer and employee experiences, online surveys via platforms such as Sogolytics are the easiest and most efficient way to reach your audience. To ensure your survey is optimized to garner quality responses, Sogolytics also offers survey project management services, free online survey tool and professional consultation.
Ready to get started? Let’s get in touch!
