Working in an e-commerce marketing agency with clients from all over the world and in different niches has helped me get a wider understanding of the latest trends when it comes to email marketing. One of the growing use cases for email we’ve been seeing in 2022 is email surveys for collecting user data. It’s known that email has been the channel of choice for marketers due to its convenience and effective way to reach people and deliver a message. Any question asked that requires an answer or click of preference counts as part of a survey, and respondents can answer the surveys directly in embedded questions or respond via email. This method is a great source to gather Zero-Party Data and personalize your email marketing strategy. In this article, we will cover best practices, tips, and examples of email surveys that help you maximize response rates.

1. Choose the method of sending

1.1 Hyperlink Text: the easiest way to distribute a survey via email is by hyperlinking text to your survey URL. Usually, the call to action invites the receiver to answer it and the link launches a survey in the web browser.

1.2 Hyperlink an image: as the method mentioned above, this hyperlink will be placed in an image, photo, or design block instead of a text.

1.3 Embedded questions: If you’re using HTML to send your emails, you can embed the survey question directly into the email body, giving recipients the option to answer straight from their inboxes. It is not only more eye-appealing, but it also increases survey response rates significantly.

2. Types of Surveys & Examples

• Customer Satisfaction and Net Promoter Score Surveys: These are a staple when it comes to measuring customer satisfaction.

• Post-purchase Survey: These are a great way to collect feedback about the purchase process and an be sent after a certain time since the purchase. (quality of the service from ordering to shipping, packaging, and the product itself). 

• Footer Survey: This is a great way to know if your subscribers like the content of your emails by adding a question at the end of the template.

3. Tips & Best Practices When Creating a Survey Strategy

• Simple and clear subject lines: audiences are more likely to open emails when the subject line is easy to read and understand. This should convey the purpose of the email survey in a few words. An example could be “Help us to help you better”. 

• Explain the survey objective: this shows the purpose of gathering the survey information and how the responses will help make better decisions in order to provide a better service for them. 

• Create a sense of urgency: in the body of the email, you can use calls to action or sentences like “take the survey now” to create urgency and avoid delays to complete the survey. It is wise to also mention the time taken to complete this, as time is valuable, do not waste it and ask the right questions. 

• Provide incentives: when a task takes extra time from the usual invested it’s clever to mention what’s in it for the respondent. This is part of a motivation to respond and will help to increase response rates. For example, you can track the email addresses of the people that actually answered the survey and create a segment to send an extra 10%off for their next purchase. 

• Choose the right survey tool: part of sending a survey is also the analysis when the data is collected. Choosing the right tool will conduct effective email surveys by asking relevant questions and also the insights after. 

• CAN-SPAM compliance: this is the first step when it comes to creating email surveys, making sure to avoid being tagged as spam and losing your good deliverability. 

• Thank the respondent: this is a must when it comes to surveys, the reassurance it’s also needed in terms of mentioning the feedback provided is valuable and will make a difference. 

If you’re still unsure about how to start, book a call with us and let us help you upgrade your marketing strategy through personalized surveys.