Say you are about to release a new product or you have just released a new product and want to get some insight into the customer experience. You want to know whether they are enjoying your product, gain insights into what you could improve to maximize user experience, and how to gain a loyal customer base.
But choosing the best methodology of research sometimes is difficult. You can do it through social media, emails, online comments, focus groups, or in-person surveys which have proven to be the best in collecting insightful data. In-person surveys allow you to have first-hand communication with your customers and provides you with a deeper understanding of your target audience. A new market research survey can supply you with all the information you might need to either launch your new product or boost your marketing strategy.
Keep in mind to keep your surveys short and simple. Formulate short, easy questions that can be answered quickly. No one likes reading and responding to long and complicated questions. People are busy and are constantly overwhelmed with information, thus they don’t have time for time-consuming surveys.
Research suggests that the longer the surveys, the higher the prevalence of abandonment. Thus, make sure your questions are straightforward and short, so your surveyors won’t get confused or frustrated. The more complicated the questions, the more evasive the answers are going to be. Use a plain template as a presentation, with one question at a time.
Avoid yes and no questions as you won’t get real insight from your respondents. The information will be limited and void of interpretation. Formulate your questions in such a manner as to get intelligible thoughts on your product from the responders, so you can also make sure to deliver their suggestions.
You could, however, ask multiple-choice questions to make it easier for your respondents. Nevertheless, these types of questions also provide limited information and insight. If you offer your surveyors options to choose, you are withholding the opportunity of getting an answer which might not be listed. You are the product marketer after all, not the customer, thus you cannot assume to know potentially their mindset. If you are however going to use multiple-choice question answers, then make sure to include the “Others-please specify” choice option.
Your best option is to use open-ended questions to collect as much feedback by allowing respondents full freedom to provide authentic answers. These questions are designed to get your customers to respond truthfully, but you also want from them a clear and specific answer, thus make sure to instill a word limit. If you are going to design a survey that includes both multiple-choice and open-ended questions, then you want to have about two of the latter asking what you deem most important in your product feedback.
Don’t forget to collect contact information from your respondents, so you can convert them into potential future customers (if you are about to launch a new product), or loyal customers (if you are surveying an existing product). You can send your surveyors newsletters on updates to your product, upcoming events, or even send them promotions to keep them devout.
Also, send a thank-you email to those respondents whose feedback you used for updating your product, to show gratitude on their valuable insight. This will reflect the values and priorities of your business and will also make customers feel appreciated.
Furthermore, you can use your contact list by providing personalized insight and information to your respondents as to how they can use your product in their work setting. Having a customer engagement, learning about their preferences, and needs will only make your product more user friendly. And you can get all this information through new product market research surveys.
