Online surveys allow companies to collect customer feedback and market research more quickly and at lower cost compared to traditional surveys. They provide real-time results as respondents complete the survey and can be easily distributed to a broad audience via the internet. However, online surveys also face challenges like potential fraud from respondents randomly selecting answers and limited sampling of populations without internet access.

1. - Aarthi. S
RA1952001020093
I MBA “B”

2.  An online survey is a questionnaire that the target audience can complete over the Internet.
Online surveys are usually created as Web forms with a database to store the answers and
statistical software to provide analytics. People are often encouraged to complete online
surveys by an incentive such as being entered to win a prize.
 Companies often use online surveys to gain a deeper understanding of their customers’ tastes
and opinions. Like traditional surveys, online surveys can be used in two basic ways: To
provide more data on customers, including everything from basic demographic information
(age, education level and so on) to social data (causes, clubs or activities the customer
supports) To create a survey about a specific product, service or brand in order to find out how
consumers are reacting to it. In contrast to traditional surveys, online surveys offer companies a
way to sample a broader audience at a lower cost.

3.  Collect Data…In Real-Time
The purpose of doing an online survey is to collect data, as with any traditional survey. If you
stumble across a topic that you want to do research on — whether it’s market research for your
product or survey, or research into industry trends — you’ve found an opportunity to conduct a
survey. The great thing about online surveys is that you can roll them out in almost no time at all.
And once those results start flooding in, you can see real-time answers to your questions the
second respondents hit the submit button.
 Learn from Your Results
Surveys are great for collecting customer input about your product or service. Send one out
every few months to gauge customer satisfaction, inquire into new feature ideas, learn how
customers are using your product or service, and record any general feedback. The key is to take
what you learn and put it into practice. Customers will be happy to see their input being put to
good use.

4.  Become a Thought Leader
If you conduct a survey about industry trends, you’ll find yourself holding a lot of valuable data
in your hands. Chances are, other people in your industry are going to find it valuable too.
Publishing your data with a thorough analysis of its implications will position you as a thought
leader on that topic. For example, the CMO Council conducted a survey about mobile marketing
strategies, which was then published on BtoB so that other marketers could benefit from their
findings.
 Turn Data into Lots (& Lots) of Content
If you do choose to publish your survey results, get creative with the kinds of content you can
produce! Not only can you publish your data in a press release, but you can also turn it into a
blog post (or perhaps a series of posts, depending on how much data you have). People love
visuals, so consider creating graphs, charts, or infographics like the one here:
“The Changing Role of Email Marketing.”

5.  Faster
The time span needed to complete an online survey project is on average two-thirds shorter than
that of traditional research methods. Because information is being gathered automatically, you
don’t have to wait for paper questionnaires to come back to you – response time is almost
instant. Online marketing experts say that more than half of responses are received within the
first three days of the research project.
 Cheaper
Using online questionnaires reduces your research costs. You will save money on postage and
you don't have to allocate time and resources to enter the information into a database. Responses
are processed automatically and the results are accessible at any time.

6.  More accurate
The margin of error is greatly reduced with online surveys because participants enter their
responses directly into the system. Traditional methods rely on the attentiveness of staff to enter
all details correctly, and naturally human error can creep in whenever a person has to perform a
repetitive task.
 Quick to analyse
The results of the online survey are ready to be analysed at any time. View results in real-time so
you can act quickly, create graphs for reporting, export data for further analysis and share your
results with anyone.
 Easy to use for participants
The majority of people that have access to the Internet prefer to answer surveys online instead of
using the telephone. With an online survey, participants can pick a moment that suits them best
and the time needed to complete the survey is much shorter. Questions that are not relevant to a
particular participant can be skipped automatically using SmartSurvey’s Skip logic feature.

7.  Easy to use for researchers
The main benefit of online surveys for researchers is that they increase productivity by saving
time. Data is instantly available and can easily be transferred into specialised statistical software
or spreadsheets when more detailed analysis is needed.
 Easy to style
An online survey is an opportunity to imprint your brand in the user’s mind and remind them of
the benefits you provide. Your survey can be styled to match your business website with
customised backgrounds, images, logo, fonts, final re-direct page and even the URL of your
survey. Ensure that your online survey provider supports mobile responsive surveys, enabling
you to increase your reach, whilst maintaining your brand across all platforms.
 More honest
Market researchers have found that participants overwhelmingly prefer to complete online
surveys rather than take part in written questionnaires or telephone interviews and usually
provide longer and more detailed answers. By designing and sending relevant and targeted
surveys, people are more likely to respond with honest answers.

8.  More selective
With an online survey you can pre-screen participants and allow only those who match your
target profile to complete the survey. SmartSurvey’s Live Audience service can help you reach a
specific target audience with relevant questions that will apply to them.
 More flexible
The order of the questions in an online survey can be changed, or questions can be skipped
altogether, depending on the answer to a previous question. This way, a survey can be tailored to
each participant as he or she proceeds.
 To sum up, online surveys are a great option for people and organisations who would like to
conduct their own research – they are less time consuming, they are cheaper, you get the
results faster, and you can transfer and use the data in various applications to answer important
questions.

9.  Survey Fraud
This is the biggest challenge. If your survey is long and/or confusing you might get fake
answers. Since there is less accountability, the chances for people just hitting buttons to finish are
high. Check the questions you use carefully.
People often take surveys because they’re promised a reward at the end, resulting in them not
accurately contributing to your study.
 Limited Sampling and Respondent Availability
Certain populations are less likely to have internet access and to respond to online
questionnaires. Drawing samples is harder based on email addresses or website visitations.

10.  Possible Cooperation Problems
Online surveys could be deleted and ignored. People hate feeling poked and if they get annoyed,
they just have to click delete.
 No Interviewer
The lack of a trained interviewer to clarify and probe can lead to less reliable data.