Why Feedback & Survey Data is so Valuable
@timlb#superweek2014
Optimisation insight =
Let your visitors tell you what to fix
Why feedback surveys are so good
How to do it
• How to ask
• What to ask
• How to work with the data
What kind of insights you’ll get
Why feedback surveys are so good
Very fastNo need to wait for data to reach scale
Very direct insightsPeople tell you their intention and expectations
People tell you exactly what caused their problem (or what specifically what they liked)
Words are from real visitorsValuable understanding of visitor language and terminology
Everywhere
(before conversion)
For
• Widest range of insight
• Open to non-converters
Against
• Pop-up invitations can harm conversion
• Visitor-initiated systems have lower response rate
• Probably skew towards complaints
How to work with feedback surveys
Where and how to ask
How to work with feedback surveys
Where and how to ask
After conversion
For
• No risk to conversion
• Simple embedded form
• Can ask more questions
• Less skewed to complaints = learn what people like
• Surprise: will include comments about previous non-conversion visits
Against
• Skewed towards converters
How to work with feedback surveys
Where and how to ask
Response ratesActive invitation 2% - 5%
Visitor-initiated 0.1%[source iPerceptions]
Embedded post-conversion
15% - 35% start survey
5% - 10% include text comment
How to work with feedback surveys
What to ask
Pre-conversionAvinash’s questionsWhat is the purpose of your visit to our
website today?Were you able to complete your task today?If you were not able to complete your task
today, why not?http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/4q-the-best-
online-survey-for-a-website-yours-free/
And, maybe“Any other comments?”
Email address if a reply is needed
How to work with feedback surveys
What to ask
After conversion
Net Promoter Question
Were you able to do everything you wanted to do today?
Any other comments?
(If you’re not storing email address with survey: email address if a reply is needed)
Net Promoter or NPS®Net Promoter, Net Promoter Score, and NPS are trademarks of
Satmetrix Systems, Inc., Bain & Company, Inc., and Fred Reichheld
“How likely is it that you would recommend this site to a friend or colleague?”
Scale 0-10 where 0 is “very unlikely” and 10 is “very likely”
0-6 are ‘detractors’
7-8 are ‘passives’
9-10 are ‘promoters’
Score = % of ‘promoters’ - % of detractors
How to work with feedback surveys
Storing other data
• Browser details
• Email in case reply is needed
• Visitor id or order number(to use as key)
Warning:Think about privacy issues before storing
extra hidden information
How to work with feedback surveys
Integrating with GA
• Many systems have features for sending data to GAo Custom variableso Custom dimensionso Events (Values in standard reports)
• Warning: never send Personally Identifiable Information to GA
• Can be very useful for segmentation
• Likely to be even more valuable with latest ‘user’ segments
Could even store an anonymous survey-id for session-level analysis...
How to work with feedback surveys
Systems (just some of them)
Pre-conversionUsual suspects:
4Q - www.iperceptions.com/en/plans-and-pricing/free
qualaroo.com
www.kampyle.com
Some others:
fluidsurveys.com
webengage.com
Enterprise level
www.iperceptions.com
www.servicetick.com
Post-conversionUsual suspects:
www.surveygizmo.com
www.surveymonkey.com
Some others:
fluidsurveys.com
webengage.com
General form builders:
http://www.wufoo.com
http://www.formstack.com
Enterprise level
www.iperceptions.com
www.servicetick.com
How to work with feedback surveys
Process
Must be systematic business process
No good just browsing through data
Report on trends
Slice & dice with segments
Often best to work outside survey system reports
• Enforces business process
• Probably needed for NPS score
• Vital with free text comments
How to work with feedback surveys
The Key Process: free text comments
No good just browsing through data!
• ‘Tag’ according to theme
• Ideally tagging done by one person
• ‘Tagger’ writes a regular report
• Report on trends
• Include ‘verbatim’ sample comments for each point in report
No process = no insights
How to work with feedback surveys
Key Process: check with GA
Prioritise using GA data (if possible)
Quantify how many visits might have been exposed to the issue
Example
• Problem with checkout login page = lots
• Problem with email account ‘html or text’ option page = few
What kind of insights you’ll get
Top level - instant information• Problems
Often include visitor’s suggestions for fix!
• Understanding of visitor intent and expectationsInformation Architecture and Usability
• Understanding of visitor product languageInformation Architecture is often based on industry terminology
What kind of insights you’ll get
Deeper insights - develop over time
• Deeper Understanding visitor language & expectationsMatt Lacey from PRWD in an Econsultancy blog on a/b testing:“In one example we saw a lift of 4% in sales across the site for a large European retailer, simply by changing the messages in the USP bar. The key to this test was that the messages that won had come directly from the mouths of customers, from user research prior to developing the hypotheses for the test.” http://bit.ly/Superweek2014USB
• Product SuggestionsPeople will ask for new products they expected you to stock
• Competitor IntelligencePeople will compare you to your rivals
What kind of insights you’ll get
Unexpected bonus = praise!
What real people see as your main benefitsUse these ideas in your marketing on and off-site
Sanity check on what not to change on siteMorale-booster at busy times - share positive comments with colleagues
Summary
Feedback and survey systems are
• Quick
• DirectGreat source of specific insight for optimisation & marketing
• Cheap
And they don’t stop producing ideas
Resources
• Bundle of all my Superweek2014 Links:http://bitly.com/Superweek2014TLB
• Avinash’s original post with ‘THE” questions:http://bit.ly/Superweek2014Avinash
• Great post about Customer Experience & Conversion Optimisation from Conversion XL: http://bit.ly/Superweek2014UX
• Short article: “Is Anecdotal Evidence Worthless?” from Christopher Penn:http://bit.ly/Superweek2014Anecdotal
• Interesting point about how using visitor’s own language increased conversion by 4%http://bit.ly/Superweek2014USB
• My blog post about feedback surveys (with links to more resources):http://bit.ly/Superweek2014Surveys