What are online survey tools?
Online survey tools are software solutions that provide the ability to create, run and interpret various types of surveys either on the users own websites, on emails or on hosted web pages. Most of the online surveying tools function on a SaaS (software as a service) model which makes them very convenient to most types of users. Some offer their services for free, others offer only paid plans while some have a mix between free and paid plans. Paid plans are usually priced according to the number of respondents or according to the number of people that viewed the survey.
Common types of online surveys
Cart abandonment surveys are key for e-commerce businesses that want to find out why their users exit the checkout process without finishing the order. Finding out the reasons for their users leaving the checkout can lead to decreasing one of the most important negative KPIs of the e-commerce business model: the cart abandonment rate.
Product feedback surveys are a common way for companies to gauge their product/market fit. The ideal time for running them is after creating a prototype or an MVP (minimum viable product) in order to test if the direction of the product is in line with the expectations of the customers. But feedback surveys can also be implemented for fully finished products, especially by resellers in order to test if they are selling the optimal solutions for their customers.
Market research surveys are an important tool for marketing departments, as they can influence the mid and long term strategy of the company. They are useful in determining what future products or features the company should develop in order to address the needs of their clients as best as possible.
Customer service feedback surveys are used in order to gauge the effectiveness of a businesses’ customer service team. Since they play a key role in the interaction with users, customer service teams should maintain a high level of professionalism at all times. After all, they are the very image of the company and any mishandle can result in long-term negative effects.
Key features of online survey tools
Online survey tool features may have varying degrees of importance according to the type of surveys that are required. However, some features are important to be present in any survey software. Here are some examples:
Survey display options are important in order to give the users the possibility of choosing where to show their survey: on their own website, within an email or on a page hosted by the survey company.
Branching logic (aka skip logic) is the ability to address different questions according to the answer chosen by the responder. For example, if one question is “Did you ever purchase a product from us?” and the user answers “Yes” then the follow-up question would be “What product did you purchase?” otherwise if they answer “No”, the follow-up question would be skipped.
User segmentation is another important feature good online survey tools should have because it allows the business to include only parts of their audience in a specific survey. For example, a survey can be shown only to new website visitors, only to returning visitors, to visitors from a specific geographical location, etc. This feature is invaluable for finding out information from specific groups.
Various types of answers are required in order to get the most granular information from any survey. Some common types of answers include text boxes, unique choice answers, multiple choice answers, and grid/matrix answers.
Some other key features a survey tool should have are:
– multiple surveys triggering options (on-exit, on-load, on-click, on-scroll, etc)
– advanced customization possibilities (add company logo, change CSS, etc)
– an easy to use survey editor
– the possibility to change any informational texts
– advanced reporting and survey interpretation engine
– displaying the survey on specific pages of the website
– setting a maximum frequency with which a survey can be shown to a specific user
– the ability to collect leads before the survey ends
– the ability to automatically send the collected leads to an email processor such as MailChimp
– etc.
Finding an online survey tool that has all the listed features is difficult but not impossible. In fact, Omniconvert.com is such software. Although it’s not just a survey software, Omniconvert offers a complex array of features that can satisfy almost any needs related to online surveying. Signup here and see for yourself.
