Online surveys are great (and underrated) tools to conduct market research on any given topic.
Students can collect data and learn more about how people react to trends for their projects or potential startup product ideas. In addition, businesses, companies, and brands can get feedback on their performance or learn more about the likes and dislikes of their customers.
Did you know that around 3 million people participate in user-generated surveys every day on SurveyMonkey alone? This fact speaks volumes on the number of surveys created every day and the number of people who participate in them.
However, even with the reach and pace that online surveys offer, a few myths and misconceptions surrounding them. So let’s look into a few myths and debunk them.
Myth #1: More Questions = More Information
Most people feel that they will receive more information and learn more stuff from online surveys that contain more questions. While this is logically correct, it doesn’t work with human beings.
Longer surveys are more likely to end up as incomplete and abandoned surveys. Completion rates drop by 5-20% for online surveys that last more than 7-8 minutes alone.
To avoid this from happening with you, keep your surveys short and to the point.
Myth #2: Survey Respondents are Patient
Another misconception about online surveys is that all respondents to your surveys are patient while answering the questions.
On the contrary, the average attention span of a human is a mere 8 seconds. Today, readers have the time to read only 20-28% of the text on a web page. Therefore, when the people are in a hurry and are not concentrating on your questions, the answers might not be accurate for your market research.
To counter this, create engaging surveys for the reader and catch and retain their attention throughout the questionnaire.
Myth #3: Online Surveys Eliminates the Need for Survey Designers
Digitization has indeed made it easy to create online surveys. Today, anybody with an internet connection and a compatible device can create and share online surveys. But this is where most people make a mistake as they create more text-based forms.
Remember the attention span of a human again. You only have 8 seconds (probably even less) to make a person feel that your survey is worth their time. You can achieve this by making your surveys less text-heavy and more visually appealing.
Generally speaking, posts containing images have a whopping 650% higher engagement rate than text-based posts. Of course, this applies to online surveys as well. Experts, skilled designers, and researchers can help you design and create compelling online surveys.
Myth #4: Incentivization has a Negative Impact
A few companies and platforms offer incentives and rewards to online survey participants. However, a few people find this strategy distasteful and feel that it might harm their research and brand.
The truth is quite the opposite. As established earlier, people today have very little time to answer your questions in an online survey. When it comes to customer surveys, the response rates are as low as 1-2%. 98-99% of the people either don’t have the time to answer your survey or are not interested.
Offering rewards and incentives to survey participants is a good way of compensating them for the time they take to fill out your survey forms. In addition, the answers provided and the results generated may even be more accurate through this approach.
Myth #5: Demographic Themed Surveys are a Waste
Demographic themed surveys focus on participants who reside or do business in different geographic areas. However, online survey conductors feel that conducting such surveys is a waste of time and resources, as it won’t yield any new results.
However, such surveys help you learn more about how people from different geographic locations react to certain things, as their needs and requirements change from one place to another. These surveys also help you tap into other areas that may potentially be advantageous for you.
Conclusion
Online surveys can be beneficial in learning more about the market, targeting a wider audience, and tapping into potential territories that might have previously been unknown. However, you mustn’t let any myths and misconceptions hinder your questionnaire while creating an online survey.