How to Conduct a Survey for Better Print Marketing
It’s easy to make educated guesses as to what your customers think or what they want. But how do you know you’re right? A simple survey can help you gain more insight into your target demographic: what they want, what they think of your business or brand, what they’re willing to spend, and more – if you ask the right questions. The information you gain can help you make better informed decisions about your next print marketing project.
How to Conduct a Survey
Before you begin writing your survey questions, define a few parameters. Firstly, what specifically do you want to know about your customers? Once this is nailed down, you can begin assessing how many questions you’ll need to ask and in what order.
Your questions should be easy to understand, so write copy that communicates clearly and gets to the point quickly. Don’t overwhelm your audience with a huge number of questions or options, but do provide them with a brief list of responses to choose from by checking off a box or clicking a button. And your professionally printed surveys should include your company logo and a brief introduction to let your respondents know the who, what, and why. “Don’t make me think” is a great phrase to keep in mind here!
Though the majority of your questions should come along with a selection of answers, do provide a section at the end of your survey where your customers can write in any optional feedback or suggestions. And when you receive your responses, pay close attention to this respondent data as it may help you note trends or needs that you hadn’t previously identified.
If you decide to conduct your survey by mail, consider providing participants with an incentive to fill out their answers and mail them back. Or, offer an online version of the survey that’s called out in the direct mail piece they receive, to give them another option and increase response rates.
TIP: Using surveys as a marketing tactic can be complicated – you’ll have to worry about design, printing, and sending them out to people. Choose an online printing service that best suit your needs using a printing comparison site. This lets you see the price, services, and user reviews on all available print companies to help you make a decision for your print marketing.
Once you’ve gathered your responses and analyzed the data, if you’ve asked the right questions you should have a very clear strategy direction for your next print marketing effort in terms of format, content, timing, and features. Surveys are a great way to simply ask your customers what they want instead of trying to guess.
