Let’s face it: passing out paper conference surveys can be a logistical nightmare (and where will you find hundreds of pencils?). On top of that, hand entering survey results into a spreadsheet after your event can take hours. As a result, many event and meeting professionals are switching to online surveys but finding that response rates may be lower. Here are five tips on how to design your online conference survey to increase response rates.
Conference Survey Tips
1) Ask questions upfront.
During the registration process, have attendees answer questions about their company size, city, etc. With this information you can create an overall profile of your guests. You can even create a word cloud at Wordle to add as event signage the day of the event.
2) Make surveys available immediately.
Don’t wait until the end of the conference to survey attendees! At that time, guests will be tired and thinking about the trip home. Have attendees fill out surveys immediately after breakout sessions. At Message Blocks, you can create an agenda page with built in survey links for attendees to complete immediately after a session is over.
3) Keep it short.
Think about how many times you faced a multi-page survey and abandoned filling it out altogether. According to Constant Contact, surveys that take 5 minutes or less yield the best response rates. This amounts to about 10 questions.
4) Use a mobile survey
Many of your attendees may prefer to use a smartphone or tablet to fill out their responses. Make sure to create your conference on a mobile-responsive site (such as Message Blocks) so that it is easy to read for all your attendees.
5) Limit open-ended questions.
Ask a combination of yes-or-no questions and rating scales ("On a scale of 1-5..."), leaving comment boxes for the end. According to Oracle, it's best practice not to ask more than three open-ended questions at the end of a survey. Often, having just once can be sufficient in providing valuable feedback.
Do you have any other tips for creating a conference survey? Let us know in the comments!