The average person spends 2 hours a day (!) on social media. One of the reasons Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook are so much fun is that they offer a break from our text-heavy lives; Dominated by vibrant pictures and visual content, these platforms harvest the brain's outstanding ability to process visual information quickly and effortlessly.
Why is this relevant to your survey?
just like every other content piece out there, your survey is competing for attention, and should therefore be no different in this regard – it should be communicative and fun to look at. Ideally, it feels like a natural continuation of the respondents' experiences on social media and other visually attractive sites.
An engaging survey might even get shared over and over again, just like a post on social media.
How can you get there?
Create a stunning theme
You may have prepared an awesome survey but if it's not eye-catching, the response rate will likely be low. Adding the right color, font and background image can make the difference between a successful survey and one left unanswered.
An inviting theme can help leave a positive first impression – style is an effective means of communication: not only does it give context and sets expectations, it brings the target audience on board.
This theme is an excellent example:
Notice the simplicity of the theme, it only consists of 3 components – the color scheme, background illustration, and an image of the brand logo and product. These act as strong signals to nail polish consumers, and are likely to encourage them to participate.
You don't have to be a graphic designer to produce a beautiful theme. Convey the main topic utilizing brand colors, images at your disposal, or alternatively use royalty free images from sites such as Unsplash and Pixabay. As long as it's possible to infer the general idea from a quick glimpse, you're good to go.
Pair text with images as much as possible
We could go on and on about the importance of images, but we'll just demonstrate it instead:
Example no. 1:
Example no. 2:
While example no. 2 automatically reminds respondents of the relevant moments, example no. 1 forces them to actively search their memory for them.
In other instances, images should be integrated into answers choices:
Always make sure the images look good on mobile, as most people will be seeing them on their phones.
Pictures and illustrations are an important component of an aesthetically satisfying experience, so season your survey generously with them.
In the next post, we'll take a closer look at the characteristics of an easy-to-answer survey.