Survey Software

What is survey software?

With survey software, also known as online survey software, businesses create, distribute, and analyze online surveys or questionnaires. Surveys can be customized with different question formats such as multiple-choice, open-ended, rating scale, and more. Businesses can use the tool to collect feedback from customers, employees, or any target audience in an organized manner.

The software analyzes data once the responses are collected by providing detailed reports, including charts and graphs. These reports simplify the gathered information to guide business objectives based on market research and customer satisfaction insights.

What are the core features of survey software?

• Multi-channel distribution: Distribute surveys across various platforms, such as email, social media, and websites. The feature allows connecting with their target audience wherever they are most active or responsive.

• Survey builder: Create customizable surveys with a variety of question types, such as multiple choice, rating scales, and open-ended questions. This capability enables design customization to maintain brand consistency across surveys.

• Reporting and analytics: Generate insights from survey data by creating detailed reports and analytics. The feature allows for visualization of response trends, comparing answers across demographic groups, or tracking responses over time.

What are the benefits of using survey software?

• Simplifies data collection process: Online survey software streamlines the data collection by automating questionnaire delivery and response recording. The process eliminates the manual work of distributing surveys, collecting responses, and compiling results. Simplifying data collection through automation increases efficiency and reduces errors that might occur in a traditional paper-based survey method, making research more reliable. 

• Enhances survey distribution: Using survey software enables users to distribute surveys through various channels like email, social media, or embed on websites. The process provides broad reach and convenience for respondents, leading to increased response rates. Additionally, multiple distribution options with enhanced reach enable tracking responses in real-time to ensure quick data collection and analysis.

• Increases respondent engagement: Software features, including personalized questions, interactive designs, and multimedia options, allow tailoring survey forms according to the target audience based on prior responses and their name, age, demographics, and other classification criteria.Respondents can engage with the survey at their own pace from any device, which makes them more likely to complete it. Some platforms even offer incentives or gamification techniques that boost participation rates.

What are the potential issues with survey software?

• Limited customization options: Limited customization options in survey software can restrict tailoring surveys to specific business needs. Such restrictions reduce the effectiveness of data collection, potentially leading to inaccurate or incomplete insights. Customizing questions and design enhances engagement levels, which is key for successful responses.

• Insufficient data analysis: If the tool lacks robust analytic capabilities, businesses may not be able to gain valuable insights from their surveys. This can lead to missed improvement opportunities or understanding customer sentiments and preferences, reducing overall effectiveness in decision-making based on collected survey data.

• Response validation: Response validation issues can occur when the tool doesn't accurately verify and validate respondents' inputs, leading to incorrect or misleading data collection. Such inaccuracies may skew results, reduce the reliability of collected information, and ultimately impact decision-making based on flawed data.

How much does survey software cost?

Most survey software products are priced "per month," and their entry-level pricing plan ranges from $6 to $83+*. An enterprise product priced higher may include additional features such as custom-coded survey templates, predictive segmentation, custom branding, and A/B testing.

*The pricing included is for the entry-level/lowest-priced offerings found on vendor websites as of November 15, 2023.

What is survey software used for?

An online survey platform creates survey forms and analyzes responses. However, the software can have multiple use cases based on the data fed into the system and the tool's features leveraged. Some of them are:

• Survey results analysis: Survey results provide valuable insights into customer demands, employee feedback, and market research, aiding in informed decision-making. Businesses can design and distribute surveys across multiple channels to gather and analyze responses using visualization tools such as tables, graphs, and charts. The visualization helps understand survey responses and tailor business services for varied needs of the target audiences.

• Question sequencing: The ability to sequence questions in a survey allows for greater customization and effectiveness in information gathering. This function, often referred to as 'conditional' or 'branching' logic, enables a personalized survey flow based on respondents' answers. The question sequencing feature increases the relevance and accuracy of the survey, leading to more insightful feedback.

• Form creation: With survey software, businesses can create and customize forms using logos and skip logic for a personalized experience. This flexibility extends to various form types, such as surveys, quizzes, and contact forms. The tool offers a drag-and-drop form editor and a variety of survey templates to simplify designing. Additionally, businesses can embed forms on websites or share them on social media to enhance reach and engagement.

Which software tools integrate with survey software?

Survey software integrates with various solutions for data export and import. We looked across thousands of reviews from survey software users to identify the products users frequently mentioned they integrated with their tools:

• Google Sheets spreadsheet tool integrates with a survey platform to provide a structured and organized way to store survey data. Each survey response is captured in a separate row, with columns representing different questions and variables. Structured data in a Google sheet facilitates speedy and error-free sorting, filtering, and data searching.

• Salesforce Sales Cloud is a CRM tool that integrates with a survey platform to gather comprehensive customer data and tailor surveys for a personalized approach. CRM systems store historical customer interactions, while survey software collects direct feedback. The two solutions help businesses get a holistic view of customer preferences, behaviors, and sentiments. 

• Slack team communication tool integration with survey software allows team members to collaborate and discuss survey design, share actionable insights, and address response-related issues. This process fosters a more dynamic and responsive survey creation process.

• WordPress website builder tool integrates with a survey tool to enable embedding survey forms into the business website. The website visitors can engage with surveys without being redirected to external platforms, contributing to a cohesive and seamless survey experience. 

• Zapier integration tool enables seamless data flow between systems. When integrated with a survey platform, the tool ensures that survey responses, participant information, and related data are automatically transferred to other platforms (analytics, CRM, and other business tools) for a set duration.

*We identified these integrations mentioned most often in verified reviews of survey software published on GetApp within the past two years.

Key considerations when purchasing survey software

• Assess the availability of data analytics tools: Data analytics allow for interpreting complex data into valuable insights. The tools help visualize responses, identify patterns and trends, make predictions based on user feedback, and ultimately drive decision-making processes. Look for online survey tools that analyze data points and prepare customizable reports for improved decision-making. 

• Examine survey distribution and sharing: The ease of distribution and sharing is critical in survey software to reach the target audience effectively. It determines how the surveys are shared on various platforms, such as social media or email. The feature also impacts response rates and overall data collection efficiency. Assess the survey distribution and sharing capabilities that match the business requirements or target audience preferences.

• Evaluate the customization options for survey design: Customization in survey design is crucial to meet specific research needs. It allows for unique branding, varied question types and logic conditions, personalized language settings, etc., which can enhance the response rate by making the survey more engaging. Hence, evaluating customization options becomes necessary while purchasing survey software tools.

Sources

Products evaluated for the pricing calculation were taken from GetApp's survey software directory. The pricing ranges exclude freemium versions of the products. The features highlighted were identified based on their relevance and the percentage of products in GetApp's directory that offer them. 

Disclaimer

This survey software buyers guide was authored by GetApp's content team. We develop our guides using the author's expertise, insights from 2M+ unique user reviews, and our proprietary data science algorithms to identify trends in user sentiment, preferences, and priorities. Some text was generated with assistance from artificial intelligence tools.