Tips for writing effective survey invitation emails

Successful survey invitation emails can be written with these suggestions

To get a better response rate to your survey, use the following guidelines when creating a survey invitation email: 

Use a Clear Email Subject Line

Contacts will be more likely to open your survey invitation if the email header (subject line, From Name, etc.) includes your organization's most recognizable name and the email's purpose is identified.

Examples:

• From Name: Fiona's Flowers
  Subject line: We value your input!
• From Name: Timeless Watches
  Subject line: We need your feedback.
• From Name: Carlton Gifts 
  Subject line: Please participate in our Customer Satisfaction Survey.

Say Who Has Been Asked to Participate  

Let contacts know if and why they have been selected to take the survey. If they previously agreed to, or expressed interest in taking your surveys, gently remind them.

Examples:

• "As a visitor to our booth at the Concord Tradeshow last month, you have been selected to participate in our Tradeshow Satisfaction Survey." 
• "Thank you for signing up to participate in our monthly surveys, Lisa!"
• "We would like to invite you, as a tenured employee, to participate in this employee benefits satisfaction survey."

Explain the Survey's Purpose

Tell them how you will use the results (such as to make a decision or provide better service in the future). 

Examples:

• "Your anonymous answers will help me to become a more effective teacher." 
• "Your responses will help us to improve our website."
• "I will use your feedback to plan events that more closely fit your interests."

By keeping the description general, however, a wider audience will be interested in participating. For example, if you're trying to make decisions about item A and item B, it may be beneficial not to mention this in the invitation. Otherwise, contacts who don't have a strong opinion about either product might not participate at all. When everyone participates, you can find out which contacts, or what percentage of participants, aren't interested in those particular items.

Create Urgency With a Deadline 

Encourage contacts to "Take the survey now." If they don't have time to take it immediately, they can decide to "take it later." An urgent headline prevents anyone from procrastinating for too long.

Mention Time Needed to Participate  

Let contacts know how long the survey takes to complete so they can set aside enough time to take it. Don't just say it's "brief" or "short" because these terms are relative. Instead, test how long (e.g. 3 min., 8 min., 25 minutes) it takes to complete your survey. Learn about ideal survey lengths. If you're going to send surveys on a regular basis, mention this in the survey invitation email. Your contacts will always have the option to opt-out by clicking the "Update Profile" or "Unsubscribe" links at the bottom of the email. 

Explain Incentives

Announce any incentives for taking the survey. The survey's invitation email is one of the places where you should explain how eligible participants can redeem their prize.

Questions?