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Make your email surveys work
[email anatomy & tips inside]
An email has become one of the key strategies every company uses to boost revenue, raise brand awareness, or offer discounts to their customers. You might think that email marketing is about sharing information with the subscriber, but it might be valuable data about your customer.
  • What information about your product are they interested in?
  • What subject lines do they prefer?
  • Is the design of your email user-friendly?
  • How likely are they to attend your event next year?
  • Do they enjoy using your product?

The questions above are just the tip of the iceberg. You can ask anything, use different types of survey email, and experiment with design or content. Today, we present the best practices in crafting the email survey.

Say “Hello” and “Thank you”

The first step is to make contact with your customer before asking for a favor. Be polite and friendly! Show the recipients you appreciate them.

Examples:

  • Hello Jeremy! We are happy you have joined us…
  • Hey Jeremy! Thank you for staying with us!
  • Dear Jeremy! We are glad to have you on board!
Explain why they receive the email

The survey email might be sent to all users after a specific time, or a particular action taken on your platform. For instance, if your service offers some paid features, you might send the survey after the purchase.

Examples:

  • It’s been 30 days since you joined our community
  • We’ve noticed you stopped using our service…
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Describe the purpose of the survey

The purpose of any survey email is to get feedback from people who are using your product. With the help of the email, you want to know if your service/event/product satisfies their needs. Their opinion is valuable as it will help improve their experience.

Examples:

  • We’d like to hear your opinion about our product
  • We’d like to make your experience better
  • We’d like to add some advanced features and improve the product for you
Tell them how much time it will take

The most important part! People don’t like long surveys. Warn the recipient how long it will take. It will prevent them from feeling negative emotions, as they will be in charge of their time.

Examples:

  • Please, take a 10-minute survey…
  • Would you like to answer 7 short questions?
  • We’d appreciate it if you could answer a 5-minute survey and share your feedback with us
Use a compelling CTA

A call-to-action button prompts the recipients where to click and what to do next. There is a chance that the readers might open the email, scan it, and … either leave or get interested and click on it! We bet you want them to choose the latter option.

Examples:

  • Take a short survey
  • Send feedback now
  • Answer 5 short questions
Offer a reward

Not everybody loves taking surveys, but we all love rewards and prizes. The long-term value is good, but most customers prefer to get a reward right after the survey. This is an additional encouragement for the reader to answer your questions.

Examples:

  • As a gift, you’ll get our exclusive e-book “How to increase sales up to 70%”
  • We appreciate your time, that’s why we offer you a 25% discount on all products
  • We’d like to say “thank you” and give you a checklist of “85 content ideas for newsletters that work”
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Craft an engaging subject line

The subject line is like the first impression! If it’s written well, people will open the email, read it, and participate in the survey. Add some urgency, keep it brief but make it compelling.

Examples:

  • We need your help
  • Your opinion matters!
  • Are you satisfied with our service?
  • Take a survey and get 25% off
Let’s see how it works in practice! Below, we show you how to implement the tips and make your survey email appealing.
Step 1. Are we friends?

We start by greeting the reader and showing that we value them as our customers.

Step 2. Who receives the email?

We notice that the email is sent to the customers who stayed with us for the last 30 days.

Step 3. Why do they receive it?

We want to make their experience better and improve the product for them.

Step 4. How long will it take?

We mention that the survey will take 10 minutes, so the reader stays in charge of their time.

Step 5. Where to click?

The CTA is crucial here, as it prompts what step the customer should take to complete the survey.

Step 6. What will they get now?

We show how much we appreciate their time and effort and offer them a reward—a free guide.

Step 7. Will they open the email?

Last but not least. The subject line plays the most significant role here. Nobody will find out what’s inside if your subject is lame. We chose “Your opinion matter to us!” It shows that the customers have the power to make changes and improve the product for themselves.

Crafting a survey invitation is an art in the digital era. You should learn your customers’ behavior and preferences, but also be ready to take risks and experiment with subject lines, content, or templates. Use these seven tips to design an effective email survey and encourage your users to share their opinion!
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