With online surveys, as well as in life, first impressions are often all that matters. Whether you’ve received a survey via email, stumbled upon it on social media, or were required to take it on a particular website, you made the decision whether to take it based on the first screen you saw, right?
That first step is often referred to as the survey introduction and it’s your best shot at persuading a potential respondent to set a few minutes aside for completing your survey.
Unlike online quizzes, where a compelling quiz title is your best chance of getting the potential takers to pay attention, with surveys it all depends on your survey introduction.
That’s partly due to the fact that surveys are usually more “serious” in nature and there’s often not much room for playing with alluring titles, especially if you’re questioning people about a sensitive or socially important topic.
That being said, you need to make sure your survey introductions are good enough to make your potential respondents click through to question number one.
In this post, I’ll share some of the best survey introduction examples and explain how you can come up with similar ones. As an introduction to this post, here are some of the most important things you need to include in your survey introduction.
5 key elements of a good survey introduction
So far, we have used our survey builder to create hundreds of surveys for our customers and ourselves and have learned a thing or two in the process. There are 5 vital pieces of information every good survey introduction should contain:
1. Your company/organization name
2. The aim of the survey – why are you collecting their information?
3. How long it will take
4. How will you use their data? People often need reassurance that their data will not be abused so make sure to address any anonymity/privacy related issues
5. Give the necessary instructions for taking the survey
Survey introduction writing tips and tricks
Once you’ve made sure your survey introduction contains most of the basics presented above (not all of them are always absolutely necessary), there are still some things you can do to make your introduction more compelling and get people to actually take it.
Even if you have all the right ingredients, you need to make sure they are present in good proportion and in such a form that your potential respondents will devour your survey!
This is NOT what a good survey introduction looks like:
To learn what it should look like, keep on reading. Here are some tips to keep in mind when writing a survey introduction:
1. Use plain everyday language
In other words, write as if you’re addressing a real human being. Try not to sound robotic, too formal or overly corporate. Avoid jargon.
Your goal is not to confuse people and make them guess what you’re trying to say – it should require little to no effort on their end to understand what you’re trying to say.
So instead of starting with something dull and dry like “Our organization is seeking people who have previously indulged in purchasing products from our assortment to answer a 12-question market survey…” you could simply start with “We have a few questions about your recent shopping experience with us…”
Much friendlier and more human, right?
2. A simple “thank you” can go a long way
Even if you’re offering some kind of a survey incentive, you still probably need your respondents more than they need you.
Remember that you’re getting something from them and remember to say thank you. Our experience has shown that if people feel that their responses are valued, they are more likely to complete the entire survey and provide genuine responses.
3. Write the introduction last
Yes, you read that right. Even though the introduction is the first thing people see when they get a survey, you should write it only after you’ve written all the questions and answers.
Why is that? Well, a quality survey introduction should act as a summary of what follows. And only after you’ve gone through the entire survey creation process will you have a strong grasp of everything that’s in it.
4. Tell them more about the impact they’re making
Ok, you might have shared the aim of your survey, but have you convinced your potential respondents that they should actually care about it?
There are two ways to go about this. You can show and tell how similar surveys have previously made a difference or you can explain what actions you plan to take based on the survey results.
Whether it’s a major policy change or a new coffee maker for your employees, they should know that their answers can and will make a difference.
The survey introduction example below does a great job at this:
If you would like to check out the entire survey, here’s a free Job Satisfaction Survey Template available to all LeadQuizzes users.
How to add an introduction to your survey
First, log in to your LeadQuizzes account.
Click on Create New Content, then click on Create From Scratch, choose Outcome or Scoring logic (depending on whether or not you want your survey questions to be scored), set Content Name, and you’ll be taken to our intuitive Content Builder where you can add all the necessary elements to your survey.
Move the Cover Page element from the left side of the builder to the right – this will serve as an introduction page for your survey.
Here, you’ll have the option to enter your survey title and description, add a CTA button, and add an image or video. The description part of the cover page is where you will write the copy for your survey introduction.
After you’re completely satisfied with your survey introduction, you can proceed with adding all the questions and answer options using our simple and intuitive survey builder.
As already mentioned above, after you’re finished with the survey creation, you should go back to your introduction and make sure it reflects the content of the entire survey and contains most of the 5 elements listed at the beginning of this post.
Survey introduction examples
Product feedback survey
Do you know the easiest way to retain your current customers and acquire new ones?
It’s very simple, actually. All you have to do is find out what they think about your products and services and use that knowledge to improve your offering.
There’s no better way to do it than to conduct a product feedback survey.
Below you can see a survey introduction selected from our survey template list. What makes it good is that it addresses some of the key concerns we listed above – explains the aim of the survey, clearly states what’s expected from the respondent, and relates how the data obtained will be used.
Extra tip – If your survey is anonymous, you should always clearly state that as it may increase your response rates.
If you would like to check out the entire survey, here’s a free Product Satisfaction Survey Template available to all LeadQuizzes users.
Patient satisfaction survey
A patient satisfaction survey can be an extremely valuable asset if you’re in any way involved in the healthcare industry. Getting honest feedback from your patients can help you understand your strengths and weaknesses and learn how you can improve your services.
Below you can see an example of a patient satisfaction survey introduction. This is a good example because it clearly states the name of the organization, gives clear instructions, defines the aim of the survey and what actions will be taken based on the data, reassures the respondents about the privacy issues, and shows gratitude for their help.
If you would like to check out the entire survey, here’s a free Patient Satisfaction Survey Template available to all LeadQuizzes users.
