How to use an online survey

As part of planning a series of seminars on Social Media I decided to take a survey of my email list that might help decide on the day, length, price and topics. In just a couple of days I had a clear idea of how to schedule the seminars.

To do this in the past I had used Survey Monkey which was an adequate tool but this time I decided to try out the Constant Contact Online Survey Tool and I found there are several significant advantages.

Step 1 – Contacts: I reviewed my contacts in Constant Contact and decided to send out the survey to people who lived in my geographic area. I reviewed the sub-list with the Contact management tool.

Step 2 – Survey Design: The Online Survey tool has many questionnaires already designed and I browsed and selected the one closest to my needs. I deleted some irrelevant questions or modified the wording to make it appropriate. I added introductory text and easily setup a reply page that respondents would see when they completed the survey. I tested the survey to check that everything was working and that the flow would be clear.

Step 3 – Publish the survey: A link is generated that you can send in an email, post on your website or Facebook or other social media. To use it in an email there is a link that takes you directly to templates useful in inviting your contacts to fill out the survey. All of this is integrated directly to your email and contact manager

Step 4 – Send out the link: I created an email inviting people on my specified contact list to take the survey and used the email template as the building block for this. I worked on the email on the weekend but scheduled it to go out on Tuesday morning as that is a good time for people to respond.

Subject: Need your help – Social media seminar planning See the email here

I also posted the link on my Facebook Business page – the results that come in from any replies from website or Facebook are listed as “anonymous”. See link to the survey here.

Step 5 – Track Results: With the excellent reporting features in Constant Contact I was able to graphs and numbers summarizing the results. For questions that were open ended – the text shows up in a table format. For optional contact information for people who wanted to continue to be informed a list of names, emails, website were tabulated – and again a very nice feature to add them to a list – I created a list “responded to survey” and this makes it easy to send them more information about the seminars. The report can be exported to an XLS file. I will also be able to send invitations to this list in the event management module. I was able to see that Thursday mornings for 2-3 hours would be the most popular seminar timing. Many suggestions on topics and popular pricing are very helpful in planning the seminars.

Here’s an example export report from a survey. It includes the summary data in graph and numeric format. It does not include the text answers that people gave as they included comments not for public view. Social Media Seminar – copy for email – RESPONSES from survey1

Some examples of surveys

Here are just a few ideas of how to use surveys: Customer satisfaction, event planning, employee feedback, shopping and purchase experience, product development, website feedback, travel and tourism. All of these and more have several templates in Constant Contact that give you a quick start in your survey design.

Value of a survey

A survey helps you to find out what your contacts think, need, want. You can view the results on an individual or compiled in easy to read reports. With Constant Contact you are able to integrate this information with your contact list management and with your email newsletter or invitation. With the many templates available the design part of survey creation is greatly simplified.

Start your free trial of Constant Contact to see in detail how the survey / email / contacts work seamlessly together to create a powerful way to communicate with your contacts and get relevant feedback directly from them by asking.

Start a Trial Today – Constant Contact Survey

Constant Contact is very responsive in replying to your questions and have great customer support.

Your Nonprofit Website – The Three Cs

Your Nonprofit Website is a key component for your communications strategy. Use the Three Cs to evaluate your current website and as part of the planning process as you move ahead with maximizing the value of the Internet for building your organization.

Communications

Your website is a hub for your internet communications. In your newsletter, social media, email signatures, link back to your website to bring people to your website. Once the person is visiting your website they must see information that is engaging and valuable to THEM.

Identify your target audience(s) and their needs
Your home page must have your key message that speaks to the site visitor
Have latest updates available from the home page – leading in to the specific areas of the site
Update your website on a regular basis with news and changes. Assign someone to review the website on a regular basis to be sure that it reflects your current situation.
Consider integrating Social media such as your Facebook page and Twitter feed with your website
Provide methods for 2 way communications – see the Calls to Action section below

Credibility

You have just seconds to grab and hold the attention of the person visiting your website. First impressions DO count. The person must see in a very short time that the website is of interest to THEM.

Here are a few suggestions on building credibility:

Look professional – and appropriate for your target audiences
Provide easy navigation to all areas of the site
Proofread your content to be sure there are no typos, spelling errors, paragraph formatting errors
Check that all the internal and external links are working. Remember that in your links to EXTERNAL sites – their link may change.
Use graphics, photos, video, colors, fonts, layout for a professional look

Remember that the person is judging your organization and capability by what they see on your website. You want to create a professional and credible presence that encourages them to spend their time and engage with you in some way.

Call to action

What do you want people to DO when they see and like your website? You want the person not only to say “this organization looks like they are doing good work”. People see hundreds and thousands of websites – how do you engage them and have them return. You want to build a relationship with the interested person. Here are a few suggestions on engaging the user and building that trust and interest.

Ask them to bookmark the site
Encourage them to sign up for your email newsletter
Add a contact form to let them ask a question or ask for help
Give a link to download a report – and they give their email address to receive it
Provide a method to donate to your organization – with a variety of levels
Get them involved with information and form on how to become a volunteer
Add a RSS signup to get updates on pages that you update often
Integrate your Facebook page and Twitter feed and encourage people to join your social networks

Then be sure to follow up by

Sending them a newsletter and announcements
Provide updates on donations and how they are used
Add new reports and news
Add regular updates to the website so that a person sees new and updated information when they do return to the site

Denise Davies is an Internet and media consultant. She works with nonprofit organizations and small businesses to maximize their effective use of the Internet to build their organization and achieve their objectives. If you have questions or would like to learn more contact through the contact form

WordPress Customized Comment Form

Hints about setting up and using the new customizable contact form on wordpress.

Word Press has added new functionality to the comment form builder. Try this out to add functionality and 2 way communications to your blog. NOTE – this posting is referring to your blog on WordPress.COM not on the self hosted WordPress.

You can add the form to get feedback, comments and suggestions by readers of your blog
You can set the email and subject heading that you want to use to receive the form output by email
You can also view the form results by clicking on the “Feedback” tab at any time in your Admin view of your WordPress dashboard.
To access the form builder – go to your POST or PAGE – and click on the “Add custom form” icon on the top right.

The standard fields are Name, email, website and comment. You can delete, move or add additional fields.
You have the option to make fields required or not.
When adding a new field you can have check boxes, radio buttons, website, text area or drop down field.

Try it out and give your readers an easy way to communicate with you.

See the Customized form on this blog and use it to send me your comments and questions. –> Contact form

Denise Davies is an Internet and media consultant with Aleph Consulting. She works with nonprofit organizations and small businesses to maximize their effective use of the Internet to build their organization and achieve their objectives. If you have questions or would like to learn more contact by email at davies@alephinc.com

Some examples of surveys

Value of a survey

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Communications

Credibility

Call to action

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