5 Types of Surveys That You Can Use for Market Research

Any time you want to peek into the minds of your target audience in order to learn more about their perception and thoughts, a survey is the way to go.

Different types of surveys serve different purposes and help researchers reach decisions, find solutions, and create discussions.

How satisfied are your employees working in your company? Conduct a survey.

How do your customers or clients feel about your new product? Conduct a survey.

So, in this infographic blog, we’re going to talk about the different types of surveys you can use in order to collect valuable insights from your audience!

Summary

Too much information to process at once? Here’s a quick summary of everything that we discussed in the infographic.

What Is a Survey?

To put it simply, a survey is a tool that can be used for collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data from multiple individuals at once.

It aims to gather information about the needs and preferences of a group of people.

You would find different types of survey questions depending on your research context and the information you are looking for.

Why are Surveys Important?

Surveys allow businesses to efficiently collect real-time feedback from customers. They can gather the responses and understand the opinions and use the information to improve various areas of their businesses.

In other words, using a survey, you can understand why your customers act the way they do and what is important to them. They help you gather information about the shifts in customer perceptions and opinions.

Moreover, creating a survey is an extremely simple task. It involves very low costs and is also easy to analyze.

Types of Surveys

1. Online Surveys

An online survey is one of the most popular types of survey. In this survey, the respondents can easily access the questions online if they have an internet connection.

These surveys are extremely simple to design and easy to deploy. Moreover, online surveys are comparatively less expensive and help in collecting data quickly.

The responses to these surveys are also unbiased as respondents have ample time and space to answer them.

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2. Paper Surveys

A paper survey is a classic survey method of conducting market research. This survey uses the traditional paper and pencil approach.

Using paper surveys is an effective method for obtaining feedback from participants without access to a phone, online services, or mobile.

For example, you receive a feedback form at a restaurant along with your bill. Hence, field research and data collection can be quite convenient for them.

These survey forms can also be customized and branded.

3. Telephonic Surveys

Telephonic surveys are conducted by researchers over the telephone. The researchers and phone agents contact the respondents and ask them certain questions.

Respondents need to answer the questions asked by the researcher. These surveys are time-consuming and sometimes non-conclusive.

The success of telephonic surveys depends on how many people answer the phone and want to invest their time answering questions over the telephone.

However, this type of survey provides a personal touch and allows researchers to gather information quickly.

4. Mail Surveys

A mail survey is defined as the method of collecting data using survey materials or questionnaires that are sent to targeted respondents via email or other mail delivery methods to sampled survey addresses.

In general, mail surveys tend to be straightforward, easily understood, and include a few open-ended questions.

Mail surveys are less expensive than other forms of survey but have a lower response rate. This limits its usage.

5. Face-to-Face Surveys

A face-to-face survey is a means of collecting data in which the targeted audience is directly connected to the researcher and interviews are conducted in person.

In such surveys, apart from the responses, the behavior and body language of the participants is also recorded in order to understand them better.

A face-to-face survey is a common method of doing research.

However, its success depends on the knowledge and experience of a researcher in collecting meaningful insights. These interviews can be time-consuming at times.