Survey

In keeping with the theme of response rates, it’s fitting to discuss the technology that makes all of our previously discussed best practices and tips possible. If you recall, we’ve reviewed several strategies for increasing response to email marketing messages and survey invitations:

• Using relevant subject lines

• Using a recognizable email sender name

• Writing pertinent message content

• Asking only questions that apply to the respondent

• Custom-fit personalization of survey content to retain interest/attention

• Segmentation of respondents or customers into target groups

Those are just a few of the high-level objectives that come to mind. The technology behind these methods, however, opens up doors for many other strategic and tactical plays that go beyond simply increasing response rates.

Properly leveraging this tool can turn those high response figures into bigger bottom line figures. So, what is this secret tool? Leading companies across every industry are instrumentally using sophisticated database technology to streamline and enhance personalized communication like never before. Access to a robust database of customer knowledge is an extremely powerful resource for marketers; it allows automation of the aforementioned personalization best practices, facilitating communication to a massive audience without sacrificing quality.

An Aberdeen Group study this past year revealed that successful (best-in-class) companies overwhelmingly revealed that they actively used a centralized repository of customer knowledge across multiple departments.

"Personalization starts with a robust customer database. Organizations can only begin to truly understand customers when they can anticipate behavior across multiple channels...only possible with the support from a centralized robust customer database"

This knowledge base consists of customer information, sales and marketing data, and insights that are gleaned from customer information using defined processes to mine the database for valuable elements. When these elements are in place, all it takes is a little bit of pointing and clicking to be able to create message content that would make a hand-written Hallmark card blush.

Accordingly, survey content can be personalized to a similar caliber—one that will elicit more responses and better quality feedback than ever before. We’ve developed our survey software to specifically leverage this central data repository, whether it’s assigning criteria for a question to be displayed, or to change the actual text in the question diction. Advanced logic, as we have coined this technology, lets you access any number of data points you might have in your knowledge base and effectively use it to create relevant lines of communication between your organization and your respondent.

Since advanced logic looks to a knowledge base that integrates with most CRMs and databases, organizations can now bridge the gap between survey programs and other customer service processes that are already in place. The survey no longer needs to be separate from the rest of organizational strategy and tactics—it now is part of an integral approach to create real business value.