Ever wondered what your customers really think? It’s easier than ever to find out. A number of new and not-so-new online survey tools are making customer research accessible to everyone. But while the tools exist, the art of questionnaire design and the science of research methodology are still critical to successful surveys.
Several for-profit and open-source organizations have created affordable, user-friendly online survey tools. The most common are Zoomerang, Survey Monkey and LimeSurvey. Each of these providers offers free basic service and a variety of paid premium services. Each has basic tools for survey design and reporting. With some variations, each allows marketers to build, conduct and analyze surveys. Here’s a little tour of each one, with some pros and cons.
Zoomerang has lots of options for question types, but data analysis features leave a little bit to be desired. One great feature that Zoomerang offers is the ability to embed images into questions, allowing researchers to gather data on visual responses as well as written questions. Zoomerang’s annual contract pricing may scare some noobs away and may prohibit some low-volume researchers from using the service.
Formatting/question type options are not quite as robust as in Zoomerang, but data analysis options are a little more sophisticated. Survey Monkey is very easy to use and has an affordable monthly rate. One thing I really like about Survey Monkey is their tie-in with Mail Chimp – an online e-newsletter tool.
Disclaimer: I haven’t used this service yet, but in taking the tour, I’ve discovered a few very interesting things. Before I jump in, I’d like to thank Guy Hagen @ Innovation Insight for turning me on to this open source tool.
LimeSurvey offers an online, hosted version, called LimeService, and a customizable download version that allows sophisticated web programmers a very robust tool. The download version can be a powerful tool for more advanced researchers. LimeService has an interesting band-width-based pricing model. The more questions you ask and the more respondents you have, the more you pay. This is a great feature for low-volume researchers and makes it easy for newbies to kick the tires. LimeSurvey appears to have some limitations in question/survey formatting, based on the demo survey on the site. In particular, it doesn’t appear that LimeSurvey allows for skip-pattern survey design. This is a big deal, especially if you have a highly heterogeneous respondent pool.
Online survey tools are making market research much more accessible for small businesses. Short learning curves, low pricing and relatively robust survey and analysis capabilities make the leading services great options for entry-level researchers.But with great power, comes great responsibility. Sound research strategy and solid survey design practices are critical to getting the most out of these tools. It’s easier than ever to ask bad questions and gather misleading data. Just because a tool is easy to use, doesn’t mean it will generate worthwhile data. Researchers must be sure their results are reliable to avoid making bad decisions later on.