We’ve been talking a lot lately about survey fatigue. It’s making it really hard for brands to collect user-generated content.
Survey fatigue is, well, what it sounds like – people are sick of companies bugging them all the time to fill out surveys and review their experiences.
We’ve just put out an ebook all about avoiding survey fatigue.
You don’t have to stop asking for reviews, or stories, or photos – you just have to ask in a more natural, less annoying way.
One thing that we need to keep in mind is WHY we’re so fixated on collecting this stuff.
Why have we, as marketers and business people, gone in so hard on surveys that they had to create a whole new TERM for how annoying they get.
Why do brands want feedback?
Well, it’s different for different industries or businesses.
But here’s the thing – once you know exactly what you’re trying to achieve, you can start working out how to collect the data and content in a nice natural way.
Having an end goal in mind before you start asking for feedback is great for a few reasons:
- It keeps your eye on the prize (the prize being your main business objectives)
- It stops you being annoying and bugging your customers for the sake of it
- It helps you take actions later
The businesses we help generally fall into one – or all – of these camps.
Let’s have a quick look at each.
Example 1 – data
I want quantifiable, reliable data that I can use to improve the way my business works and serves customers.
Ok, great! Here’s what you probably want to be collecting:
- NPS score (how likely customers are to recommend you)
- Service data on your individual stores or branches (if you have them)
- Scores on all your products, plus their individual facets (like battery life or value for money for example)
- Customer opinions that provide insight into everything from product development to customer service
The benefits:
Collecting and displaying opinions of your brand, product scores or customer photos actually lead to huge uplifts in engagement and conversion.
Example 2 – conversion
I want a constant stream of reviews to display at the point of purchase.
This is the most common scenario we see, and unfortunately it’s also the one we see messed up the most.
That’s a real shame, because when it’s handled right, the voice of the customer is one of the most powerful voices in commerce.
The benefits:
A great reviews system is well worth what it costs to set up. For instance, 72 hours after going live with Reevoo, Ebuyer collected 60,000 reviews overtaking the 40,000 reviews collected by the company’s in-house solution over 4 years.
Example 3 – inspiration
I want inspiring content I can inject along the customer journey to strengthen my brand.
This is the fun stuff.
You’ve probably tried to do this through an Instagram hashtag or offering people prizes to take photos or videos with your products.
But here’s a bombshell: it’s not worth it. Not that way, at least.
The real ‘influencers’ are right under your nose. All they need is a little push. Oh – and they work for free. Actually, they pay you for the privilege.
They’re your customers.
By reaching out to them at the right time and in the right context, you can collect some incredible content.
The benefits:
Aside from the obvious (this content is super impressive), inspiring content collected from real customers does wonders for conversion and loyalty.
Titan Travel saw a 34% uplift in time on site on pages that contained engaging user-generated content.
The data you collect from your customers – whether it’s satisfaction scores or stories and photos – delivers huge business benefits if used in the right way. Now, all that’s left to do is collect it!
You can find more analysis like this, and our top tips to collect amazing content, in our latest ebook. It’s called How to collect more content with less surveys and right at the back, there are six golden rules you can start following NOW to collect more content and get friendlier with your customers.
