Mobile surveys are designed to be easily taken on your phone. Efficiently gathering key data around a topic, mobile surveys can also be taken on tablets or similar devices.
The point is to ensure the person taking the survey can complete it effortlessly on their device, all while saving time.
If there's one thing an audience values when taking a survey, it's convenience. Mobile surveys achieve this in a multitude of ways.
Below, our mobile survey company discusses the reason behind conducting these handy surveys and how we create them.
What Are Mobile Surveys Exactly?
Mobile surveys are a modern tool that allows companies to gather data through surveys that are optimized for mobile devices. These surveys automatically adjust their layout based on the device's screen size, which makes them easily readable and navigable whether viewed on a desktop or a mobile device.
In today's tech-drive ecosystem, mobile surveys have become a standard practice due to the widespread use of smartphones. Companies often use mobile surveys for a variety of purposes, for almost any type of survey you can think of. These surveys are particularly valuable because they can be deployed quickly and reach participants wherever they are, leading to higher response rates and more timely data collection.
Mobile surveys should have a fast load time and an easy to use user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design. Don't make them too long since users on their phone won’t want to scroll forever. Since mobile devices are so touch based, surveys should include mobile-friendly features such as larger radio buttons for answer selection and ample surface area for scrolling.
Similarly, large images that consume significant screen space should be avoided to keep the survey concise and user-friendly.
The Reason Behind the Rise of Mobile Surveys
With mobile usage only increasing as time goes on (the average user will spend over three hours a day on their phone), it only makes sense that mobile surveys would become the preferred way to provide feedback.
Mobile surveys enable users to respond at their own pace, anytime and anywhere, contributing to higher response rates and more diverse participant demographics, making them a popular and effective tool for gathering insights in today's mobile-centric world.
Additionally, compared to other market research methodologies such as focus groups and in-depth interviews, mobile surveys collect real-time data, enhancing time efficiency, as respondents can participate instantly.
Advantages of Mobile Surveys
his shift towards mobile-based research brings forth several advantages that contribute to their popularity and effectiveness in the ever-evolving field of data collection.
Below are key benefits that highlight the advantages of utilizing mobile surveys in market research.
- Convenience. This can increase the amount of responses simply because people are more likely to take a quick and easy survey. Additionally, mobile surveys can be taken from anywhere, increasing the chance for higher responses.
- Real-time feedback. Respondents can answer mobile surveys instantly, providing researchers with real-time data and reducing the time lag associated with traditional survey methods.
- Cost-effective. Mobile surveys are perhaps the most cost-effective market research methodology because of the automation and efficiency of data collection compared to the resource-intensive nature of organizing and facilitating more traditional qualitative research methods.
- Location flexibility. Mobile surveys allow participants to respond from anywhere, making it easier to gather insights from various geographical locations and reducing the need for physical presence.
Key Components of Successful Mobile Surveys
When it comes to mobile surveys, there are many best practices to keep in mind to ensure the data you collect is accurate and high quality. From our experience, it is important to have a mobile-friendly survey design, responsive testing across different devices, and clear, simple questions.
Let's dive deeper into the best tips and tricks for running successful mobile surveys.
Mobile-friendly survey design
Creating a mobile-friendly design for your survey involves optimizing the survey layout, structure, and functionality to cater specifically to the constraints and capabilities of mobile devices.
Here are some factors our mobile survey company recommends paying closer attention to:
- Responsive layout. Design the survey with a responsive layout that adapts to different screen sizes, ensuring that participants can easily navigate and interact with the survey on devices ranging from smartphones to tablets.
- Touch-friendly elements. Consider the touch-centric nature of mobile devices by using touch-friendly elements such as appropriately sized buttons and checkboxes. This minimizes the chances of participants accidentally selecting the wrong options and enhances the overall usability of the survey.
- Optimized question formats. Tailor your survey questions to suit mobile screens, avoiding overly complex or lengthy formats. Use concise and clear wording, and opt for simple question types to facilitate easy interaction without overwhelming participants.
Importance of simplicity and clarity
Finally, ensuring that the tone and word choice in the mobile survey will also aid in response rates.
Similar to our last point, survey directions, and related copy need to be clear and simple to follow.
To avoid the respondent from getting confused, keeping an eye on this ensures they'll be able to easily follow directions.
Another benefit of this is that proper wording will allow the respondent to avoid snags and take the survey within a normal amount of time. Again, this prevents respondent dropoff, getting you the right amount of responses!
Add progress indicators
Incorporating progress indicators into your mobile survey is crucial for enhancing the respondent experience and mitigating potential survey dropouts.
Progress indicators visually communicate to participants how far they've advanced within the survey, providing a sense of accomplishment and managing expectations regarding the remaining questions.
This transparency reduces uncertainty about the survey's duration, contributing to increased participant engagement.
Testing Across Devices
Testing your mobile survey across a diverse range of devices is a critical step to guarantee a seamless and inclusive user experience.
By conducting thorough testing, researchers can identify and rectify potential issues related to varying screen sizes, resolutions, and operating systems.
This process helps ensure that the survey's layout remains consistent and visually appealing across different devices, preventing any unintended distortions or usability challenges.
How to Conduct Mobile Surveys
Conducting mobile surveys involves strategic planning and execution to ensure accurate data collection while delivering a positive respondent experience.
With the increasing prevalence of mobile devices, leveraging this method offers researchers and companies a powerful tool for gathering insights.
Here are key steps to effectively conduct mobile surveys followed by our market research company:
Step 1. Set a Goal For Your Survey: To start things off, you’ll want to decide on a goal for your survey. With our clients, the first step is always deciding on objectives - it helps make the survey a success at the end. Using these objectives, it becomes a lot easier to create the ideal mobile survey. At the beginning stages, you'll want to include things main goals, questions, timelines, and concerns.
Step 2. Mobile survey design and programming: Next, the survey will be designed and then programmed. Questions will reflect what was discussed in the kickoff meeting. Again, it's important that the survey questions are concise, getting the point across quickly.
Step 4. Survey programming: After that, the survey will be programmed into an online survey platform and sent out to respondents to take. Our team of researchers will test the survey repeatedly to ensure things are running smoothly.
Step 5. Data Collection: This refers to the amount of time the mobile survey is actively being taken by respondents. This is usually a few weeks but depends on the needs of the client. During this time the client is given a live report dashboard to view the data in real-time. Use our interactive link to see how the client portal works.
Step 6. Survey data cleaning: Once the data has been successfully gathered, it's carefully reviewed by the research team, or "cleaned." Cleaning the data typically takes a few days and includes several quality checks to ensure the data is 100% accurate. See our data
Step 7. Reporting: A market research report includes all the key findings from the mobile survey. This will include trends, common pain points, and other necessary data for the client. The report is designed and then reviewed in a debriefing meeting.
Why A Third Party Is Best For Your Mobile Surveys
When it comes to conducting mobile surveys, partnering with a third-party service is the optimal choice for several compelling reasons.
Firstly, working with a third-party company like Drive Research ensures a fast turnaround time. With our specialized expertise and efficient processes, we can deploy, collect, and analyze survey data quickly.
We are also experts in survey writing and survey programming. That means that all of the research and creation of your survey is handled by us and we can ensure you get the highest quality data from it. We know from experience that easy to answer questions and surveys are one of the biggest reasons for both more responses and high quality responses, which leads to better data and better survey results.
Expert-level analysis is another key benefit. We always provide in-depth analysis and comprehensive reports for our projects. We help identify key trends, highlight critical areas for improvement, and offer actionable recommendations.
Don’t forget we’re with you every step of the way. So any technical fixes or concerns, we can handle it with you.
Interested in how we can help you create the best mobile survey for your business? Contact us today.
Contact Our Mobile Survey Company
Drive Research is a full-service market research company specializing in mobile surveys. Our team manages the entire research process from writing, designing, and programming your mobile survey to cleaning, analyzing, and reporting the results.
Ready to conduct a mobile survey? Reach out through any of the four ways below.
- Message us on our website
- Email us at [email protected]
- Call us at 888-725-DATA
- Text us at 315-303-2040
Lark Allen
As a Content Marketing Specialist, Lark has a strong background and passion for creative, professional, and journalistic writing. She is also a self-proclaimed music freak and 90s enthusiast.
Learn more about Lark, here.
