Web surveys offer marketers a multi-tool that can help their budgets go far, very far. You think you know them – the SurveyMonkey style surveys that often pose as a legitimate survey but are as transparent as televangelist asking for your credit card. They ask questions that are instantly seen as a gimmick: “Who do you think will win the election?” “Do you think that social media is here to stay?” They are a blatant attempt to engage, not illuminate.
But legitimate B2B web surveys can strike at the heart of your target market. Consider what a good survey can offer:
- Solid market research. If the questions are asked intelligently (you might need a professional survey writer to draft yours), and deployed to exactly the audience you need to understand, the results can have a big impact on your thinking about what makes this market tick, what they need, what and how they will buy. Many marketers are simply amazed when they receive survey response from key executives within their precise, target accounts.
- Surveys can do double duty as a branding mechanism. If you identify the company asking the questions – and the questions use industry-specific nomenclature, demonstrate insight into the needs of that market, suggest that you’re knowledgeable and prescient about solutions needed – the surveys can impress upon an audience your credibility and expertise.
- Honesty projects trust! If the sponsor of the survey is identified, where the company “behind” the survey is identified and not “blind,” professionals appreciate knowing who’s asking. It eliminates the creepiness of a bait-and-switch.
- Incentives work… if used properly. Who wants to enter a contest for a gift, and that chance itself is the reward for taking a survey? This writer took a survey recently, offered by the company Act-On. Do these people ever think about the poor sales rep that has to do the call follow-up to responders? The gal started with an apology – not only had I not won, she said, “No, this wasn’t a trick.” Yes – contests have a high sleaze factor. It creates a whole lot of losers, and what sales person wants to start a call with, “Sorry… “? Give everyone who completes a survey something to compensate them for their time.
- Surveys create and qualify leads. If you target your survey properly, and you’re confident that the web survey participants are exactly who you’ve been trying to reach, you get both valid research and an opportunity to reach out to the exact right person, armed with their thoughts and answers about your qualifying criteria.
A web survey is a great tool that helps you learn insights, generate leads, and establish your company as a trusted thought-leader.
To learn more, download our free report on Target Account Penetration Strategies.
