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<\/a><\/p>\nToday, I\u2019m going to share everything I learned about how to create the ideal survey length while talking to experts in the field.<\/p>\n
Here are the questions I\u2019ll dive into in this article:<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n I\u2019m pretty fanatical about customer centricity, and I wanted to know how survey designers create an experience that meets both the needs of the business but also serves the participant \u2014 and avoids survey fatigue<\/a>. So, I had lots of questions that I posed to experts, which you\u2019ll find below.<\/p>\n A quick reminder: <\/strong>Whether you\u2019re getting ready to build your first survey or you\u2019re looking for ways to make longer surveys more user-friendly, you\u2019ll want to start with the foundation: your survey structure and design<\/a>.<\/p>\n The structure of your survey will directly impact its rate of success, from the number of questions included to their level of complexity, each question contributes to the length of time it takes to complete the survey.<\/p>\n Use the tips below \u2013 and helpful templates<\/a> like these \u2014 to get started.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s dig in.<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n The fewer questions, the better, in most cases. In general, shorter surveys<\/a> have higher completion rates and better quality data.<\/p>\n If your survey has too many questions, you may run into survey \u201csatisficing<\/a>,\u201d where respondents begin answering the questions without putting much effort or thought into them. Satisficing can happen for a number of reasons, like the respondent running out of effort or the task being too difficult.<\/p>\n One study<\/a> showed that for every additional 10 questions added to a survey, the completion rate continued to drop. This makes it important for your team to really consider what needs<\/em> to be asked versus what may just be a \u201cnice to know\u201d question.<\/p>\n I asked Ting Lai<\/a>, voice of the customer program manager at AuditBoard<\/a>, for his opinion on the ideal number of survey questions.<\/p>\n His answer? \u201cIt depends.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Lai added some more insight for me, saying, \u201cYou have to consider your audience and where they\u2019re at in the journey, as well as the type of customer interaction taking place.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTransactional surveys, like NPS or support surveys, tend to be two to three questions. We try to make this sort of experience as quick and painless as possible. For surveys sent at the end of a customer journey milestone \u2026 those tend to be a little bit longer, and a general best practice for those types of surveys is 7-10 questions.\u201d<\/p>\n Pro tip:<\/strong> Place your top priority questions earlier on in the survey so that if you do see drop-off, you\u2019re at least obtaining key information early on.<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n So, what\u2019s the magic number? Is<\/em> there a magic number? While it depends on your industry and your desired outcome, the general consensus is that the ideal number of survey questions is between 1 and 10<\/strong>, especially if you\u2019re looking to get a high completion rate.<\/p>\n But the number of questions is only one half of the equation, as you also have to consider how much time it takes to actually answer those questions (which I\u2019ll discuss in the next section).<\/p>\n You could potentially include more questions in your survey if they\u2019re easy to answer and can still be completed within a short timeframe (or if you\u2019re incentivizing customers to participate.)<\/p>\n Important point:<\/strong> Lai also pointed out to me that thinking about survey length in terms of number of questions can be a bit misleading, because modern survey tools allow you to create differentiated experiences based on the previous answer.<\/p>\n For example, if you\u2019re running a post-onboarding survey and your customer expresses dissatisfaction or frustration, you can send them down a path that offers follow-up questions for them to provide more context on their experience (or even create an escalation path).<\/p>\n So, while your overall survey may have 20 questions, each survey path might only be 7 to 10 since it\u2019s a differentiated experience.<\/p>\n Pro tip:<\/strong> In my line of work, I run a three-question post-event survey. Only the first question is required (the rating for the session), and I clearly label the second and third questions as optional so that I don\u2019t scare participants off from at least completing the first question. Not everyone loves answering open-ended questions, and that\u2019s okay!<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n While the number of questions on your survey is important, you also need to consider how long it will take for participants to answer those questions. People are busy, attention spans are shorter than ever, and survey fatigue<\/a> is real.<\/p>\n So, is there an ideal survey time?<\/p>\n I asked Amy Maret<\/a>, who used to lead the Research and Thought Leadership team here at HubSpot, what she thinks about the ideal survey.<\/p>\n “The shorter the survey, the better,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2018re always looking to be more selective about the questions we ask. A shorter survey pretty much always means better data quality. Fifteen minutes is about the maximum I would want for a market survey \u2026 If you\u2019re surveying your own customers, you\u2018d want to go even shorter to make the best use of the time they\u2019re willing to give you.”<\/p>\n The key point?<\/strong> People will take the time to complete your survey, but it’s best to keep it under 15 minutes.<\/p>\n Recent data even suggests that you might want to go shorter than that. According to Qualtrics data<\/a>, \u201cSurveys longer than 12 minutes (and 9 minutes on mobile) start to see substantial levels of respondent break-off.\u201d<\/p>\n That being said, it\u2019s worth noting that the length of your survey may vary based on the type of information you’re looking for.<\/p>\n For example, when I run NPS surveys, they only consist of one question and takes less than a minute to complete. In contrast, a research survey is likely going to be longer and take more time to complete.<\/p>\n As Mike Christopher<\/a>, customer experience manager at AuditBoard<\/a> pointed out to me recently, if your participants are engaged with your brand or have opted into the experience, you can likely get away with a slightly longer survey.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I\u2019m building out a survey,\u201d Mike says, \u201cthe length will depend on what the goal of the survey is.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re engaging a specific curated panel, or running a research survey, I think you have a bit more leeway to make it longer because these people have opted into it. They\u2019re more likely to accept a longer survey because they\u2019re engaged and interested.\u201d<\/p>\n Pro tip:<\/strong> Be transparent with participants about how long the survey will take. You can do this by including the approximate time to completion when you send out your survey. Software like Hubspot\u2019s Customer Feedback Software<\/a> provides an easy way to send surveys and collate customer insights.<\/p>\n Source<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n When building your survey, start with the needs of the team you\u2019re working with. Be thoughtful about what questions really need to be asked and remember that more complex questions take more time to complete.<\/p>\n Additionally, different question types<\/a> may require more time to complete than others. For example, multiple choice questions might take less time to complete than having a matrix or open-ended questions.<\/p>\n I asked Lai how he and his team go about prioritizing the customer with their surveys, and here\u2019s what he said:<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I came into this industry, I always felt like surveys were kind of lacking, because while you\u2019re providing your opinion as a participant, it’s not necessarily helping you with your current experience. It felt very one-sided.\u201d<\/p>\n Lai said that adding contextual questions led to better responses.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the customer has a negative response to a question, we can send them down a path that asks follow-up questions for us to better understand (and then later respond) to their issue. I believe surveys can be a way of building trust with your customers.\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, research shows that personalization in surveys<\/a> can result in higher engagement and more granular insights. You can do this by creating micro-segmentation or creating different branches and paths for customers based on their responses.<\/p>\n Lai also told me that he and his team will test out their surveys to get a feel for the participant experience. This includes testing it out at the point of interaction. For example, Lai might complete an in-app experience or create a support ticket, then take the resulting survey that follows.<\/p>\n I personally really like this approach to testing as it feels really customer-centric and allows you to ask yourself, \u201cWould I fill this survey out if it were offered to me?\u201d<\/p>\n Pro tips<\/strong>:<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n I asked Maxwell Iskiev<\/a>, a senior market research analyst for the HubSpot blog, how he finds the ideal survey length.<\/p>\n “The ideal length of a survey depends on the purpose behind it,\u201d he shares. \u201cFor example, my surveys on broad topics like Marketing Trends will be longer, covering many aspects of the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFrom there, I might notice interesting themes to follow up on, like data privacy, or the impact of the recession on marketers. I’ll then write shorter, more focused surveys around 5-10 questions diving deeper into a specific topic of interest.\u201d<\/p>\n Maret seconds the idea of shorter, deep-dive surveys:<\/p>\n “[Keeping surveys short] might mean breaking up what could be a longer survey into multiple, smaller, sequential surveys with the same audience.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAn added benefit to this approach is that it allows you to tailor your follow-up surveys based on what you learn from the previous ones, and pivot more quickly if priorities change \u2014 which they often do.”<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what this means for you:<\/strong><\/p>\n Pro tip: <\/strong>Don\u2019t forget to measure and improve. Track the survey completion rate and make adjustments if it’s lower than what you want it to be.<\/p>\n\n
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I went to the experts for insight on ideal survey length, survey question count, and more.<\/strong><\/h2>\n
How many questions should a survey have?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
How long should a survey be?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
How long should it take to complete a survey?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nHow do you create surveys that feel customer-centric?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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How do you find the right survey length?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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