How you send a survey, highly impacts the number of responses you receive.
While it can be argued there are several factors that go into an optimized response rate, the channel type ultimately determines if your customer sees the message in the first place.
This makes it critical to understand the varying channel types and which ones resonate with your customer.
In this article, we’re focusing on email, a foundational channel that almost every business has access to. As we explore and define the email channel, we’ll also touch on some of the best practices when using the channel, and share templates that you can use to kick start your feedback program.
Let’s get started.
Why You Should Leverage The Email Channel
An email has been around for decades; connecting customers and businesses in a simple and efficient way.
Easy to use and available on both mobile and desktop devices, it’s far-reaching with an estimated 3.9 billion active email users (equating to almost half the world’s population!).
Commonly labelled as a “traditional” channel, emails are used in virtually every non-traditional online interaction. Whether signing up for a social network or requesting a digital receipt, today, almost all online functions require an email address.
So, while new channels emerge over the coming years and your channel strategy may pivot, email remains a foundational channel, essential for customer communication.
Best Practices for Sending Feedback Emails
Now that we’ve explored what email communication is and its potential, let’s explore how you can use it with best practices for collecting customer feedback.
For those new to a feedback program, collecting customer insights is intrinsic to improving the experience as a whole. Whether a good or bad response from your customer, it informs you of opportunities for improvement or celebrates a job well done.
Send Timely Emails
Emails always do better when the experience is top of mind. To improve response rates, send your email immediately after the experience. This could be after service, purchasing a product or simply interacting with an employee. The sooner you send the message, the more information they’ll have to help you improve your experience.
Make It Personal
Email platforms are much more advanced than they used to be. Today, businesses can customize their messages easily and intuitively. Through the use of tags and automated configurations, you can ensure each message is tailored to an individual customer. Personalization could be as simple as including a relevant emoji to the conversation, or as complex as referencing a past experience and making a recommendation. The more personal, the more it resonates.
Keep The Length “Just Right”
There’s no definitive length to crafting the perfect email for your ideal customer.
However, there are standards you can leverage and tweak as you go along.
For instance, a rule of thumb is to utilize a header, 3-4 concise paragraphs, and one CTA. This could look like a few sentences to introduce the survey, why you’re requesting their feedback, and a final thank you.
Depending on your audience’s attention span, you can increase or reduce this. The key is to find a happy medium of what will work for your customers.
Stick To a Simple Design
When creating your email, keep in mind that customers want fast and easy, so your design should reflect that. Consider legible text, an on-brand colour scheme, simple formatting, and a clear call-to-action (CTA). The goal is for the customer to know exactly what they need to do, as soon as they open the email.
Inspire Action
While the look and feel of your email may be enticing, you also want to inspire the customer to take action. This means using engaging vocabulary and having clear CTA’s in your email.
If you’re a seasoned marketing professional, you’ll know that testing CTAs is also a great way to see what drives conversions. As an example “Take The Survey” might entice the customer more than a phrase like “Learn More”.
Incentivize
If your budget allows, incentivization is a great way to up your survey responses – who doesn’t love free stuff!
You likely already have a customer profile or “persona” that you can use to tailor your incentive. If you are a hotel, maybe the on-the-move traveller likes a five-dollar Starbucks gift card. Or if you’re a restaurant, 10% off a meal might intrigue a guest to fill out the survey and return.
The key is to know who you’re talking to and leverage what appeals to them.
Easy-To-Use Email Templates
Keeping these best practices top of mind, here we share some inspiration for effective emails that drive response rates.
Hotel Feedback Email Template
Restaurant Feedback Email Template
Retail Feedback Email Template
The Loop Experience Platform Advantage
As a robust and insightful measurement solution, the Loop Experience Platform provides a whole host of capabilities for those looking to capture insight via email. The platform contains an easy-to-use, intuitive email builder. Featuring a simple drag and drop option, you can create an engaging email with a variety of question types unique to your business need.
Similarly, the Loop Experience Platform, not only enables your business to collect feedback from the email channel, but it also collects feedback from the array of channels you already have. Whether you’re active on Facebook Messenger or SMS, Loop aggregates all incoming messages into a single inbox so your team never misses a message.
Lastly, the Loop Experience Platform provides analytics on email performance for constant improvement. Rather than sending and hoping for the best, you can see how many customers respond, what the average sentiment is and any trending topics.
