SMS surveys have emerged as a powerful tool for gathering information, providing training, and conducting research. Their ability to reach a wide audience quickly and effectively makes them ideal for various sectors, including education, market research, and employee training. This article will guide you through the process of running a research or training programme using SMS surveys on the Mteja platform.
Why Use SMS Surveys?
SMS surveys are particularly effective for the following reasons:
High Reach: SMS has a 98% open rate, ensuring your survey reaches most of your audience.
Real-Time Responses: Participants can respond instantly, allowing for quick data collection.
Cost-Effective: Compared to other data collection methods, SMS surveys are relatively inexpensive.
Accessibility: SMS is available on all mobile devices, making it accessible to a broad demographic.
Setting Up an SMS Survey on Mteja
Mteja offers a user-friendly platform for setting up both outbound and inbound SMS surveys. Here’s how you can get started:
Define Your Survey Objectives: Before setting up your survey, clearly define what you aim to achieve. Are you conducting market research, gathering feedback on a training session, or assessing learning outcomes? Your objectives will guide the design and flow of your survey.
Choose Between Outbound and Inbound Surveys:
Outbound Surveys: These are initiated by sending a survey question directly to participants. It's ideal for targeted research where you need to gather specific data from a selected group.
Inbound Surveys: Participants initiate these surveys by texting a specific keyword to a shortcode. This type of survey is useful for training purposes where participants need to engage voluntarily.
Create Your Survey Questions
Keep questions concise and focused.
Use closed-ended questions (e.g., Yes/No, multiple-choice) to make it easier for participants to respond quickly.
For training programmes, consider including questions that assess understanding or reinforce learning points.
Set Up Your Survey on Mteja
Utilise Chatbots for Survey Automation: Mteja's chatbot feature automates your survey by guiding respondents through questions and applying skip logic based on their answers. This dynamic flow allows the chatbot to adjust questions according to previous responses. For example, if a respondent selects "No" to a question about prior training, the question will move to the next relevant set. Additionally, validation ensures that respondents provide accurate data, such as ensuring numerical answers are within a specific range or that dates are correctly formatted.
Create a New Survey: Choose whether you want an outbound or inbound survey. If outbound, select your contact list. For inbound, set up the keyword and shortcode that participants will use.
Add Survey Questions: Input your questions and set the response options. You can also customise the flow based on responses (e.g., send follow-up questions based on the answer to a previous question).
Preview and Test: Before launching your survey, preview it to ensure everything is set up correctly. Send a test survey to a small group to check for any issues.
Running Your Survey
Once your survey is set up, you can start collecting responses.
Launch the Survey
For outbound surveys, schedule the time and date when the survey will be sent out.
For inbound surveys, promote the keyword and shortcode to your target audience.
Monitor Responses in Real-Time: Mteja allows you to monitor survey responses as they come in using Team Inbox. This real-time tracking helps you gauge the effectiveness of your survey and make adjustments if necessary.
Analyse Survey Data
Mteja provides detailed reporting tools that allow you to analyse the collected data in various ways. Here are some common analysis methods:
Demographic Analysis: Filter and analyse responses by demographic factors such as age and gender. This is useful for understanding trends within specific groups.
Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) Scores: Calculate and analyse CSAT scores to measure customer satisfaction levels. For example, if you conducted training, you can assess how satisfied participants were with the session.
Net Promoter Score (NPS): NPS is a widely used metric that measures customer loyalty. Mteja can help you calculate NPS by analysing responses to questions like, "How likely are you to recommend this training to a colleague?"
Sentiment Analysis: Mteja's reporting tools can also perform sentiment analysis on open-ended responses, categorising them as positive, negative, or neutral. This is particularly useful for gaining insights into the overall mood and opinions of respondents.
Best Practices for SMS Surveys
Keep It Short: Long surveys can lead to low response rates. Aim for 3-5 questions per survey.
Timing Matters: Send surveys at a time when your audience is likely to respond (e.g., early evening).
Incentivise Participation: Offering a small reward, like a discount or entry into a prize draw, can boost response rates.
Follow-Up: After the survey, send a thank you message or share the results with participants to close the feedback loop.
Conclusion
Running a research or training programme through SMS surveys on Mteja is an efficient way to collect data and engage with your audience. With clear objectives, well-crafted questions, and effective use of Mteja’s features, you can gather valuable insights and enhance your training or research outcomes.