This document discusses best practices for conducting successful survey projects. It recommends beginning the survey process by writing conclusions based on hypotheses before creating questions, in order to design targeted surveys and analyze results more efficiently. By starting with hypotheses and intended conclusions, survey creators can develop focused questions to test their hypotheses and more quickly produce insights to inform business decisions. The document also promotes using survey platforms like SurveyMonkey Audience to easily collect respondent data and test concepts.

1. The Secret
to Successful Survey Projects
Better Decision Making Fueled by Data
AMA Iowa
NOV 2013

2. Hi,
I’m Brent
• VP, GM of SurveyMonkey
Audience
• @SurveyMonkey since Apr. ’09
@bchudoba
brentchudoba.com
in/brentchudoba
2

3. Why do marketers LOVE survey data?
It’s fact. You can
make decisions
Often proves a
point or opens
up a new market
Lets us know what the
customer wants, otherwise
we are making decisions
based off of stereotypes,
gut reactions, or the past
To try and
understand the
public's way of
thinking
Narrows down a wide
variety of a group's
opinions, habits, and
preferences to help give you
better direction in making
marketing decisions and
taking action
I love the research
and statistics that
come out of surveys
3
Concrete data to
tell us how our
consumers think/
feel
Able to quickly provide
feedback to industry
decision makers to
demonstrate we stay
informed and keep them
informed
I like statistics and
analytics so when I
see numbers, it
helps me to make,
what I think, are
better informed
decisions

4. SurveyMonkey mission:
Help people make better decisions
4

5. So let’s talk about how we can help
5

6. Question:
What is the most challenging aspect
of running a survey project?
6

7. Let’s see what marketers said…
7

8. The challenges
8

9. The challenges
• Sign off takes much
longer than expected
9

10. The challenges
• Sign off takes much
longer than expected
• Projects can be costly
10

11. The challenges
• Sign off takes much
longer than expected
• Projects can be costly
• Creating questions that
will produce reliable data
is challenging
11

12. The challenges
• Sign off takes much
longer than expected
• Projects can be costly
• Creating questions that
will produce reliable data
is challenging
• Takes weeks (sometimes
months) to get data back
12

13. The Secret
13

14. The Secret:
Write your conclusions BEFORE you
create your survey
14

15. Write your conclusions first?"
• How do you write a
conclusion without any
data?"
15"

16. Write your conclusions first?
• How do you write a
conclusion without any
data?
• Couldn’t writing
conclusions before
questions create bias?
16

17. A survey is a research project
Think back to the the
“scientific method”
17

18. Scientific method
• Make an observation
• Propose a hypothesis
• Design an experiment
• Test hypothesis
• Accept or reject the hypothesis
• Draw conclusions and/or revise hypothesis
• Rinse and repeat…
18

19. What usually happens during a meeting…
1. Business question is
identified"
19

20. What usually happens during a meeting…
1. Business question is
identified"
2. Someone says, “We
should do a survey”"
20

21. What usually happens during a meeting…
1. Business question is
identified"
2. Someone says, “We
should do a survey”"
3. Project owner is
assigned"
21

22. What usually happens during a meeting…
1. Business question is
identified"
2. Someone says, “We
should do a survey”"
3. Project owner is
assigned"
4. People start writing
survey questions"
22

23. Now, what SHOULD happen after a meeting…
Observation
Identified a trend for study
Hypothesis
Outline a draft of the “presentation” (e.g., blog post, research report,
memo, PowerPoint deck) and include hypotheses
Design
Design a survey with questions that ONLY provides the data required to to
prove or disprove they hypotheses
Test
Find respondents and field survey
Accept/
Reject
hypothesis
Review findings, update draft presentation and determine if additional research
is required
Revise/
Accept
hypothesis
Make an informed business decision
23

24. If you start with a hypothesis…
• Your survey projects
will be significantly
faster
24

25. If you start with a hypothesis…
• You will have powerful
data in your hands to
answer business
questions sooner
25

26. If you start with a hypothesis…
• You will have more
time to iterate and
refine your projects
26

27. If you start with a hypothesis…
• Your data analysis stage
will be simpler
- Succinct surveys = fewer
data points
- Questions designed with
analysis and presentation
in mind provide
immediate insights and
inherently more effective
question structures
27

28. If you start with a hypothesis…
• The post survey
presentation creation
stage will be lightning
fast since you’ve
already built your
framework
28

29. If you start with a hypothesis…
• You may be sought out by
colleagues and superiors who
want your assistance solving
challenging business problems
- Promotions, increased social
standing, fame and fortune have
been observed
- Disclaimer: Results may vary,
and SurveyMonkey does not
guarantee any of the above
results
29

30. Let’s give it a try…
30

31. Netflix
• In early 2013, Netflix debuted ‘House of Cards”
as a blockbuster original series
• How would subscribers react? Would it start a
new chapter in content creation and distribution?
• Our customer found out way before everyone
else
31

32. Observation & Hypothesis
• Observation
- House of Cards, and original content may be a big deal and no
one knows the impact yet
- An analysis of House of Cards viewer opinions could provide
very interesting, publishable research content
• Hypothesis
- People are consuming House of cards differently (binge
watching)
- Viewers appreciate this content and it will impact how they
value their Netflix subscription
32

33. Drafting our blog post/memo/research report
Netflix launched ‘House of Cards’. Netflix will provide metrics on viewership in
several months. In anticipation, we talked to [XXX] Netflix subscribers last week
to predict ‘House of Cards’ viewership and how important original content will
be to Netflix subscribers.
We found that [XXX] of Netflix customers surveyed had watched ‘House of
Cards’. Of those who had watched the show, viewers reported watching [XXX]
episodes on average.
How will this impact Netflix? [XXX] of the ‘House of Cards” viewers indicated
that original programming was [XXX] important as a subscription retention
driver for Netflix.
33

34. The questions
1
2
3
34

35. Hi,
we can help
with that…
Collecting respondents
35

36. SurveyMonkey Audience
• Millions of people ready to share
their opinions
• Recruited from SurveyMonkey
• Rewarded with charitable
donations
• Trustworthy opinions
• Dozens of targeting options
• Global respondents
36

37. Example Audience project summary
37

38. 1
38

39. 2
39

40. 3
40

41. Let’s revisit our draft…
41

42. Filling in the blanks
Netflix launched ‘House of Cards’. Netflix will provide
metrics on viewership in several months. In anticipation,
we talked to over 150 Netflix subscribers last week to
predict ‘House of Cards’ viewership and how important
original content will be to Netflix subscribers.
We found that 20% of Netflix customers surveyed had
watched ‘House of Cards’. Of those who had watched
the show, viewers reported watching nine episodes on
average.
How will this impact Netflix? 26% of the ‘House of Cards”
viewers indicated that original programming was
extremely or very important as a subscription retention
driver for Netflix.
42

43. Making better decisions
• Does this replace the need for a research
department? Or your research agency?
- No, but this process empowers everyone
• Test out concepts, campaigns, and use data to
make more decisions be great decisions
• At today’s speed of business, you can’t afford not
to incorporate data into your decision making
43

44. Top use cases for marketers
• Message testing
• Creative testing
• Product research
• Brand research
• Segmentation studies
• Persona development
• Competitive research
• Content generation
44

45. Give it a try
• Pay only for the survey respondents
• We do the rest
- We’ll help you create an amazing survey for free ($999
value)
Email: AMA@surveymonkey.com
Visit: audience.surveymonkey.com
*Conditions: Offer expires on December 31, 2013. Offer available to customers who reference the AMA Iowa presentation.
Limit of 1 discount per customer. Survey respondent purchase minimum of $1,500 to qualify for the discount. You must apply
for the offer by emailing ama@surveymonkey.com and mentioning this offer.
45

46. Thank
you!