In an age of ever-dwindling market research budgets, compounded by an increasing demand for fast, reliable data, more and more businesses are turning to DIY surveys to generate the insight they need to achieve competitive advantage.
For many businesses, the effective use of market research can be the key to determining a company’s need for your service, to successfully launching your new product, or to establishing your key target audience. But where do you start looking for this information?
Many clients looking to launch or promote a product or service face one of two problems: they’ve either been overwhelmed with statistics from their current research project which they’re struggling to put into perspective; or they’re starting from scratch, unsure of where to start in terms of their marketing strategy.
However, thanks to new technologies, B2B marketers now have access to high-quality, user-friendly DIY surveys, which allow businesses to test the waters both cost-effectively and quickly – within hours and days, rather than weeks or months.
For some companies, a DIY survey is enough to deliver the insight they need. For others, it acts as a stepping-stone to further research – determining the specific areas in which more extensive research is needed before implementing a brand campaign.
Creating your own B2B survey is surprisingly quick and easy – but the following points will help you get the most out of yours:
1. Survey objectives
Work out exactly what you want to ascertain before compiling your survey. Start by asking yourself the following questions:
• Is there already a market interest in what you’re offering, or are you looking to generate that interest?
• Are your clients generally dissatisfied with the services available in your sector, or is there a specific problem to which you think your product or service will provide a targeted solution?
2. Time frame
A DIY survey should be quick for you to compile and implement, and quick and easy for your respondents to answer. Long, complicated questions will bore and deter the respondent, so keep questions tight and focused, ensuring that each one asks for a single piece of information. Always aim to limit the survey to less than ten minutes to prevent respondents from becoming frustrated and dropping out early. Finally, try to limit the number of questions you ask to around 15 (although don’t be afraid to ask fewer than this if you’ve covered everything).
3. Question format
The format of the questions needs to be carefully considered and will depend on the types of answers you are looking for from your study. Most of your questions should be in multiple-choice format, although when positioned correctly, open-ended questions can be particularly useful in generating responses or ideas that you may not have previously considered, so are always worth including in a survey. However, make sure you don’t place them at the beginning of your survey and try to limit them to two or three per survey.
4. Biased questions
Before you run your DIY survey, edit your questions carefully to make sure they are not in any way biased or you could end up influencing your respondents before they even think about the answer. Getting your respondents to agree with a statement may yield the insight you think you want, but it won’t give a true reflection of current market trends and may therefore have a negative impact on your objectives. Also, make sure you provide a ‘don’t know’ option where relevant rather than forcing a respondent to answer incorrectly.
5. Multimedia elements
Multimedia is now at our fingertips and a great way to excite respondents and maintain interest. Build video and images into your survey to stimulate and engage your audience
6. Sample test
If you’re unsure about any of the above – how long a survey will take to complete; how clear the questions are (and whether there is a logical progression from one to the next); or whether you may be influencing your respondents – always test it first. This may sound obvious, but you may not even realise that a question is misleading or ambiguous until you have given it to someone else to answer. A good way of getting a ‘fresh’ pair of eyes on your survey is to run it past someone who is not directly involved in the project to ensure they understand the questions and what you want to achieve.
