mSurvey provides a platform for conducting mobile surveys through SMS. Key features include: - Creating surveys of up to 10 questions and targeting specific audiences or using mSurvey's audience network. - Collecting responses and downloading raw data or integrating with other systems through APIs. - Incentivizing survey participation through airtime credits. - Audience networks can be recruited and surveys scheduled in advance or run immediately on launch. - Data is anonymized for privacy and mSurvey connects directly with mobile operators like Safaricom in Kenya.

1. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Contents
Creating surveys page 2
Audience Networks page 4
Active Surveys page 6
Mobile Network Operators page 8
Net Promoter Score page 8
Mobile survey research page 9
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2. Creating surveys
What are the different ways I can target a mobile audience?
There are 2 different ways you can target a mobile audience.
1. Targeting your own audience. This can be a phone number contact base in a spreadsheet
which can be bulk uploaded into mSurvey, OR you can distribute a survey join-code which
people can text to the mSurvey country number to opt into your survey.
2. Conduct research upon mSurvey’s audience network. Scroll to the Audience Network section
to discover more.
How many questions should a mobile survey have?
We would recommend to limit your survey to 10 questions. If there are more questions you would
like to ask, we would recommend staggering your surveys, whereby each survey has 10 questions and
are scheduled one after the other. It is very important to pace question loads - this will encourage
better data.
How complex can questions be?
The text message character limit is 160 characters. This encourages best practice as the questions will
be short and direct which will reduce the risk of misinterpretation and survey fatigue.
When setting an airtime incentive: how much should I give?
We would recommend that your incentive balances the length of the survey:
1-10 questions 30-40 KES
10-15 questions (2 surveys) 50-60 KES
15-20 questions (2 surveys) 70-100 KES
Is the platform cost the same for 5, 10 & 15 question surveys?
The cost is the same for up to 10 questions surveys.
As a customer, do I receive assistance in creating the surveys?
This is a self service platform, so surveys are designed and launched by you. However, our customer
success team offer support on survey strategy: question phrasing, targeting, timing, incentive advice
etc.
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3. Can I create a multiple choice answer option, where participants can ‘select all that apply’?
The technology will not support this. Having initially had this functionality, it has since been removed
to optimise the user experience; participants previously needed to enter numbers with commas and
correct spacing which was frequently confused.
Can I schedule surveys?
Once you create the survey, you can decide if it will be activated straight away, or scheduled for a
later time.
Are you able to collect data in the form of other media e.g., images or videos?
We have used MMS to do this in the past, but it is not commonly used in the regions we work in
because of data issues. We plan to build some additional native features to support this, since we
connect directly to the mobile network operators. This is planned for 12-18 months time.
What is a join-code?
In order to actively opt into a survey, the participant should text a unique survey code to the mSurvey
country number: this is a ‘join-code’. A survey join-code can be distributed to participants as you
wish.
It is also possible to have unique ​user​join-codes. Once the user has opted into the survey, the
join-code will expire. This enables you to create specific survey audiences, as only relevant people can
opt into your survey.
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4. Audience Networks
What is an audience network?
A group of people collected together who have opted into receiving and completing mobile surveys.
Your network may be a random group of people or a group defined along a specific variable.
Does mSurvey have an audience network already built?
mSurvey has an engagement team who are actively growing the mSurvey audience network, to
include people from varied locations and socio-economic backgrounds. This means that mSurvey can
access representational information from some of the most inaccessible urban and rural locations
across the world.
Can I send surveys to mSurvey’s audience network?
Yes, you can conduct research on mSurvey’s network. The fee for each complete survey is $1.50.
Is it possible to recruit my own audience network?
There are several ways in which you can recruit your own audience network:
1. Building an unlimited network​: ​Distribute a survey join-code which people should text to
the mSurvey country number. Once people text this code, they will be registered to your
network and a survey will be triggered to their phone. As people share this join-code amongst
their family and friends, your network will grow organically. You can promote this join-code
any way you like: Facebook campaigns, posters, letters, flyers etc.
2. Building a controlled network​: ​Distribute unique user join-codes to a specific group of
people / demographic. Each join-code will expire once it is used, which will enable you to
prevent the code being passed to people who do not fit your audience criteria. You can
therefore control the size of your network.
NB: you can control your network to a certain extent through a Facebook campaign; you will be able
to target your campaign to specific demographics (interest, location, gender, age…)
How do I incentivise people to register to my network?
mSurvey has an in-built incentive tool which enables you to automatically incentivise your survey
participants with free airtime.
EG: you could offer 50 Ksh to register to the network and 40 Ksh for each survey completed.
It is also possible to create custom incentives. Please ask the mSurvey team to find out more.
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5. How do you ensure high quality audience networks?
It is possible to detect ‘dormant’ and ‘straight-lining’ survey participants on the back-end of mSurvey.
If network members ignore survey opt-ins or fail to read the questions properly, it’s possible to
remove these people from your network. It will be important to analyse ‘straight-liners’ closely:
choosing the same answer number does not necessarily equate to an unengaged participant.
How are often are the mSurvey audience networks updated?
mSurvey regularly checks the engagement of the network on the back-end of the technology to
remove unengaged members. New users are also constantly recruited to the network every day.
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6. Active Surveys
Is it possible to edit the number of people who participate in the survey, once the survey is
active?
Yes, this is possible. Go to the ​Survey Overview ​| Click on the ​edit​icon. You will be taken to the
survey details page, in which you can change the number of survey respondents.
EG: if your campaign is targeting 150 people and you would like to target another 100 people, you
would need to change the target survey number to 250.
Please note that you will not be able to edit the survey questions or the incentive value, since these
survey details have already been sent to survey participants.
Am I able to download the raw data from my user login?
Yes, you can download this data into CSV, SPSS and PDF files from the survey dashboard. Click on
Download Data​.
Can I channel the data from mSurvey into a different system?
Yes, mSurvey has API calls which allow you to integrate the data flow into your own system.
Am I able to download the phone number of the respondent?
Not automatically. Each respondent’s phone number is replaced with a unique identifier, to
anonymise the data on the dashboard and in the data download.
If the survey audience is your own, mSurvey will be able to provide the phone numbers in the data
download upon request.
How do you analyse open-ended questions?
We have a keyword and number frequency chart for open-ended questions. You will be able to see a
bar chart on the right, as well as each individual entry on the left. The number frequency provides the
range of numbers, as well as the mean.
Can I save draft surveys to activate later?
As you move through the stages of the survey creation, ensure you click ‘save’ or ‘save and continue’.
When you exit the survey creation, whether or not you have activated it, the survey will be saved,
either as online or offline.
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7. Do you have additional costs for further report analysis, separate from the existing mSurvey
dashboards?
Costs for analysis is dependent on scale and depth. These customisation costs are not mapped out
and are discussed upon request. Please contact mSurvey if you would like further report analysis.
If I have not used up my survey quota for the month, am I able to carry over surveys over to
the next month?
Yes, with our annual plan users can roll over surveys to the next month.
How long should the survey be active for before we can assume that we have received all
possible participation?
Within the first hour, you will typically receive feedback from 90% of all the people who will complete
the survey. Any time after this will decrease the likelihood of completion. It's therefore fair to say
that a 24 hour window will retrieve most or all potential feedback.
How secure is the data collected by mSurvey?
Data security is a key focus. mSurvey’s processes and cloud technology were developed under
COUHES (IRB) Protocol#: 1105004501 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and patented
under US20120278242A1.
How can you prove that the data collected from mobile phones hold integrity?
mSurvey data is collected directly from the targeted respondent. Research conducted by the
University of Michigan proves that the probability of a truthful response via text messaging vs. face to
face is significantly higher. Mobile surveys therefore reduce social desirability bias, as well as recall
bias through real-time data collection.
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8. Mobile Network Operators
In Kenya, how do you work with mobile network operators?
In Kenya, mSurvey connects directly to the telco. This means we manage the entire value chain, from
the telco to the airtime incentive.
Am I able to survey both Safaricom and Airtel users in Kenya?
Our connection is automatically connected to Safaricom, since this network operates 80% of the
market. While we have a connection to Airtel, this is not automatically activated. Please contact us if
an Airtel connection is something you would like to discuss further.
Net Promoter Score
What is a Net Promoter Score (NPS)?
NPS is calculated by asking customers or employees a single question:
On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend X to your friends and family? (10 = very likely to 0
= very unlikely)
● Promoters = scores of 9-10. Loyal customers - will fuel growth through repeat custom and
referrals to others.
● Passives = scores of score 7-8. Satisfied customers but not enthusiastic and are vulnerable to
your competitors.
● Detractors = scores of 0-6. Classified as unhappy customers - have the potential to damage
your brand and slow growth through negative word of mouth.
How is NPS calculated?
The NPS is calculated by subtracting the % of detractors from the % of promoters. The NPS score
ranges from -100 to 100.
Can I correlate NPS to other customer service scores?
This will depend on the weighting of your customer service score. With NPS, promoters constitute
9-10 scores, passives of 7-8 and detractors of 0-6, so it is a metric which is heavily weighted towards
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9. detractors. It is important to note that one promoter will not cancel out a detractor and passives are
not included in the score.
Mobile survey research
Not all Africans have mobile phones, doesn’t this create a huge data gap?
● Research has shown that the mean mobile penetration of Africa is 65%.
● Kenya’s mobile penetration is 72%, with 95% of adults owning a mobile.
● Within Nairobi, it is statistically highly probable that a husband, wife and several of their
children have mobiles. Within rural areas, at least one person will have a phone in a family.
● 90 million people are registered to mPesa, out of a population of 44 million.
Do people regularly text in Africa?
Among mobile phone users in Africa, the most popular activity is sending text messages. A median of
80% of mobile phone owners across the seven sub-Saharan countries surveyed say they text on their
phones.
The breakdown is as follows: 88% in Kenya, 92% in Tanzania, 80% in Nigeria and 60% in Uganda.
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