How to Survey your Audience – 4 Ways to Know What They Want

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by all the decisions that come with running a small business? Maybe, you’ve wished you could know what your audience needs and wants. Well, I’m here to tell you there is a way – survey your audience!

I don’t know about you, but I’ve found that I’m a pretty good observer of things. I love to see what other people are doing, learn their strategies by watching their actions, and then test them out for myself.

Well, one thing I notice successful businesses do time and time again is engage with and survey their audience often. They let people into the behind-the-scenes of how their business operates.

This approach is so clever too because it makes people feel a part of your brand and helps to grow a dedicated tribe of raving fans which is what we all want, isn’t it?

So what exactly do I mean when I say engage with and survey your audience often? Here are 4 ways how:

01 – Create a Survey

So this one is pretty obvious but are you doing this at least once a year in your business? I’ve already been on the receiving end of a few of these this month as the businesses I follow are planning and setting their goals for 2019.

How to Survey Your Audience

First, find a tool that works for you. I’ve personally used Typeform and Survey Monkey but have also seen others use Google surveys or even email marketing tools for this.

I used Typeform recently to survey clients of The Base Coat nail salon. As a brand designer, I loved how easy it was to use Typeform and incorporate on brand details. Plus, the survey itself is beautiful and you can have a lot of fun with the formatting.

But, make it short! About 1 to 5 questions short.

Have you ever been on the receiving end of a survey that went on and on and in the end you just gave up because they were asking too much of your time? I sure have!

Jot down all the things you’d like to ask your audience then look for commonalities or themes. Is there any way of consolidating what you are asking into just a handful of quick questions?

Once you have your 1-5 questions, decide on how you’d like to ask them.

My favourite ways to pose questions are with buttons and rating scales so your customers can provide feedback with 1 click of a button.

Keep in mind, if a question requires your audience to think too much they won’t complete your survey so please avoid free-form responses. They are too complicated and participants won’t bother… people are busy.

Sure, you can add one last free form question at the end for any feedback so if they’d like to provide it they can but make it optional.

I personally think sending out a survey to your email list is the best way to get answers from the people that are most invested in your business. If you don’t have an email list, send it to a client list or post a link to your social.

02 – Ask them a question in a Social Media post

Every post on your social media accounts should prompt your readers to engage with your business so why not ask your followers something you’d like to know? People LOVE to share their opinions!

Here are a few ideas:

Now, it’s your turn! Can you think of small and easy to answer questions that you can prompt in your social media feeds? Make a list and start incorporating them into your posts.

03 – Use Insta Stories to Survey your Audience

Using Instagram Stories, and social media in general, is a great way to meet your audience where they are already hanging out.

It’s much easier to get the answer to a quick question. Your audience is more likely to respond and stories poll people in a fun & interactive way.

Plus it makes them feel like they have a say in your business. By inviting your followers and subscribers into your process, it welcomes them into your world and builds connection. We all love a good behind-the-scenes!

I personally love using Insta Stories to get feedback on my work. Followers get to see what I’m working on and get to chime in on what they think! The benefit here is I get to invite my audience into my design process so they can see what it’s like to work with me.

Tip! Share the results on your feed. Not only is it fun to give feedback, but it’s also neat to see what other’s think so don’t be shy about sharing your audience survey results.

04 – Build it into your Email Sequence

If you have an email list, one great and unexpected way to survey your audience is to build it into your onboarding sequence.

While most businesses think of email as a way to broadcast out to their subscriber list, I personally like to look at it as an opportunity to interact with those that are most interested in what I do!

Don’t be shy about prompting your email subscribers with a question. The nice thing about email is the format serves itself to more free-form responses and you just might end up with some great feedback.

Now a blog post about how to survey your audience just wouldn’t be complete without me asking you a question, right?

So, tell me in the comments below, do you find this blog useful? What are some of your favourite topics to read about? Is there anything you are struggling with right now that I could address in a new post? Or better yet, shoot me an email at hello@vanessabucceri.com because I’d really love to hear from you!