To conduct a proper survey for market research purposes, the questions must be carefully crafted so as not to sway the view of the survey taker. And for the survey to be effective, those questions must be relevant. Don’t lead the person to answer a particular way. This is done by asking irrelevant and useless questions that appear to be important, such as
- Did you buy this product because a friend recommended it?
- Would you buy this product because it got 5-star reviews?
- Did this product satisfy your needs?
Ask relevant questions that will provide you with answers you can take action on.
The more you know about your target market and ideal customer, the better sense you'll have of where the answers could lead to action that you are willing to take.
When you create the survey and offer answer options such as multiple choice and text answers, limit the number of answers and types of answers provided as options. This means you don’t want to confuse or overwhelm the survey taker. Don’t offer 10 options as an answer when 3 will do. Think about the last time you took a survey where the answers were to rate 1 – 10 with 1 being the worst and 10 being the best. Really? Don’t you think it would be easier to answer 1 – 3? Where 1 is the worst, 2 is neutral, and 3 is the best? You want to think through the options you’re providing. Sometimes, it really is that simple.
In short – ask relevant questions that will provide you with answers you can take action on. Don’t annoy your survey taker by providing too many options for answers.
The most effective market research survey is the one that tells you what to do next to make more money in your business.
