Tag: constant contact

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.

Online Survey from Constant ContactStep 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.

Survey Dashboard Constant Contact
Survey Dashboard Constant Contact

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.

Report - days and times

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
Start a Trial Today – Constant Contact Survey

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

 

Reach customers where they are every day: their inbox.

We hear it all the time: “Follow us on Twitter.” “Like us on Facebook.” “Connect with us on LinkedIn.” But in the shuffle of social media, one very important marketing tool should never be forgotten: email.

Email MarketingEmail may not be the newest tool, but it is the one with the broadest reach. And with Email Marketing from Constant Contact you’ll reach current and potential customers where they are everyday-their inbox.

Email Marketing helps you connect with customers. And stronger connections turn customers into fans. When you engage your fans through valuable, relevant messages, you build repeat business and referrals-boosting your bottom line.

Don’t have a long email list? No problem. Constant Contact has the tools to get people to sign up through social sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

And as a Constant Contact Solution Provider, I’ve got the expertise, training and tools to help you grow your list and your business.

So check out 5 Ways Email Marketing Will Grow Your Business to learn how you can succeed with Email Marketing, then contact me to see how I can help you convert prospects into customers.

Click for a free trial
Click for a free trial

Newsletters and Social Media Mix

Constant Contact Email marketing + social media
Email marketing + social media

There has been some discussion online about whether you can or should replace your email newsletter with Facebook messaging.  I think the answer is NO — there is place for both in your marketing mix.  In your target audiences some people are more comfortable with email and others are more tuned in to Facebook and other social media.

Constant Contact, an online service for managing your email newsletters and announcements, has added a very useful feature that marries the two worlds so you can reach both arenas with no more work than a click on a check box when you send your email.   Add the social media links to your email and this enables your recipients to easily share it with their Facebook friends, tweet it, add it to LinkedIN or other social networks.  On your control panel you as administrator can also share and tweet the email.

Your internet presence is increasingly a web of interactions.  Ideally you should be driving traffic to your “Call to Action” and tracking conversion of traffic to the relationships you are developing and sales.

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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