In a Net Promoter Score survey, your average survey response rate can be under 1%. Can you confidently say that this 1% response rate truly represents the entire customer base?

Keep in mind that it takes a respondent significant effort to respond to a survey. Practical experience shows that those unhappy with your product or service are more likely to respond to your survey.

When you have a low response rate, the maximum respondents are those who have been unhappy with your products or services. This not only suppresses your true NPS, but also makes you allocate resources for a problem that might not actually exist for most of your customers.

In this blog, we will discuss what is a survey response rate, types of survey response rate and how to improve completion rates. 

What is Survey Response Rate?

A survey response rate is the number of people who respond to your survey out of the total number of people who received the survey. 

Response Rate= (Number of Surveys Sent / Number of Responses​)×100

For example, if you run 100 surveys and collect 50 completed surveys, your survey response rate would be 50%.

Measuring survey response rate gives you an idea of the representativeness of your sample. If you have a low survey response rate, it may mean that your sample does not represent your target audience. This can lead to inaccurate data and poor decision-making.

Why does response rate matter in online surveys? 

• Data Quality: Low response rates can lead to biased insights.
• Customer Engagement: High response rates reflect a strong connection with your audience.
• ROI: Every response adds value to your marketing, product, or CX decision-making.

6 Types of Survey Response Rates

There are several different kinds of survey response rates that are commonly used to measure the success of a survey. These include the following:

1. Overall response rate:

The overall response rate is the number of people who completed the survey divided by the total number of people who were invited to participate in the survey. Overall response rate includes both types of respondents: people who started the survey and stopped midway, and respondents who completed the survey.

2. Survey completion rate:

The completion rate is the number of people who completed the entire survey, divided by the total number of people who started the survey. Survey completion rate is used to assess the quality of the questionnaires, survey logic and design.

3. Partial response rate:

A partial response rate is the proportion of people who started the survey but did not complete it. It is divided by the total number of people who started the survey. Partial response rate numbers can provide insights on why the chosen participants did not complete the survey.

4. Online survey response rate:

The online survey response rate is the proportion of people who completed an online survey, divided by the total number of survey participants. This measure is specifically for surveys that are conducted online.

5. Average response rate:

The average survey response rate is the mean response rate across multiple surveys. This measure can provide a benchmark for comparing the success rate of different surveys.

6. Acceptable response rate:

The acceptable response rate is the minimum response rate that is considered to be acceptable for a particular survey. This will vary depending on the context and purpose of the survey. Generally, response rates below 20% are considered to be very low.

To calculate these survey response rates:

• Track the number of people who were invited to participate in the survey,
• Number of people who started the survey, and 
• The number of people who completed the survey. 

These figures can be used to calculate the different response rates outlined above.

What is A Good Survey Response Rate? 

A good survey response rate depends on a number of factors. It depends on the survey channel, the framing of questions, and the timing of the survey. Any survey response rate above 25% to 30% is a good response rate. For high-intent users or loyal customers, you may see rates above 50%.

However, there are certain benchmarks that may change. Here are some general benchmarks:

Average online survey response rates in the US

Online survey response rates in the United States are based on target audience, survey length, and distribution method. On average, online surveys tend to have response rates ranging from 26% to 40%. 

Specifically, a study analyzed 199 online surveys in the U.S., encompassing over 523,000 invitations. It reported a median response rate of approximately 26.45%. Another source indicates that average online survey response rates are around 40%. 

It’s important to note that these rates can be influenced by various factors. For instance, shorter surveys (ideally under 10 minutes) tend to achieve higher response rates. Additionally, offering incentives, personalizing invitations, and optimizing surveys for mobile devices can positively impact participation. 

Therefore, while the average response rate for online surveys in the U.S. hovers around 26% to 40%. 

7 Proven Ways to Improve Your Survey Response Rate

1. Ask the right questions sooner

If you want a high response rate, get to the point immediately. Customers are busy and lose context of the purchase the moment they are out of the store or a brand’s website. Offer pulse surveys when they are in the middle of their browsing experience. After a purchase or a transaction, run a CSAT survey to capture their browsing and transaction experience. 

• Limit it to 3 questions. If you want more clarity, ask 5 goal-oriented questions.
• Use open ended question to understand their perspective
• Keep the questions clear and jargon free. Simple language is easy to understand

When should you ask longer questions ? Read more about long surveys and short surveys here.

2. The right timing for the right response

Timing affects attention. The best times to send surveys are:

• Immediately after a key interaction: During a purchase or support ticket resolution. This is where a customer effort score survey is important.
  
• Mid-week, mid-morning: Good to send emails that have longer questionnaires. Send dynamic email questions with Merren CX. This avoids the user from going into an external browser.
  
• Within 24 hours of the customer event. Share customer satisfaction or 1 to 5 star rating surveys to capture attendee or customer feedback.
• Periodic relationship gauging surveys: Use Net Promoter Score surveys in a span of 6 months to assess brand loyalty from among your customers.

3. Choose the right survey channel

At Merren, we’ve seen response rates increase by 2x when surveys are sent on WhatsApp or in-app, compared to traditional email alone. The right survey channel depends on the platforms that your customers are currently using. 

• WhatsApp and messenger surveys are to get instant customer feedback. WhatsApp’s high open rate alone gives a high response rate. 
• Use dynamic email surveys to collect long format questionnaires.
• In-app surveys commonly capture feedback on 1 to 5 star rating scales. It collects responses on product use and service experiences. 
• Chatbots are a commonly used feature across websites. It creates conversational questions that encourage people to respond. This engaging exchange alone brings you a high response rate. 
• SMS surveys are useful when there is no internet connection. SMS surveys are helpful to gather on-the-go feedback from people even in remote locations.  

4. Offer a survey incentive

Research states that an incentive as low as $10 encourages people to respond to a survey. Incentives can encourage people to give candid opinions. However, incentives can come in various formats. Example: discount codes, a free product along with a certain amount of purchase, loyalty points or early access to features. Keep in mind that the survey incentive needs to be appropriate to the audience. A customer who purchased a car may not value a $10 coupon to reply to a post-purchase survey. 

5. Personalize survey invitation for customers 

Collect touchpoint data on your customers and create personalized surveys based on their previous activities.

• Address customers by their name and reference a recent activity. Amazon does this well. Example: Please rate the product (based on your recent purchase of product name). 
• Use branded email addresses to reinforce trust and authenticity.

6. Send a gentle reminder 

Sending one well-timed reminder can boost your response rate by 15–20%. Space it out by 24 to 48 hours. You can create and share automatic nudges with Merren to encourage people back into the survey.

7. Test survey among sample participants 

Before you run a feedback campaign, share the questions among a sample of participants. This can detect glitches, errors and typos before you run it publicly. A smooth running survey gets a very high response rate, merely from the seamless interface and responsive nature of the campaign.   

Tips to Create Questions That Encourage High Response Rate

Conversational questions are better than static tone

People are drawn to conversation. This is the main reason why AI-driven chatbots see a massive influx of users. Keep the survey questions conversational and responsive. This alone will bring a higher engagement rate. 

Choose survey templates instead

Survey templates by Merren are pre-designed and pre-tested to avoid glitches and errors. Using this will reduce the cognitive load so that you can focus on important metrics like customer data. Survey templates have an objective yet a conversational tone. You can customize these templates for your industry. Click here to access Merren’s survey templates for free. 

Build multilingual survey questions

Offering surveys in multiple languages can enhance response rates by:

Increasing accessibility: Non-native speakers can respond in their preferred language, encouraging participation.

Reducing language barriers: Makes it easier for respondents to provide accurate and meaningful answers.

Being inclusive: Demonstrates value for diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, fostering trust and goodwill.

Reaching a wider audience: Expands reach in multilingual regions, leading to more diverse and representative data.

Keep questions simple and objective

Simple words and sentences help to put the message across. Avoid jargon that people do not use. In case you need to use an abbreviation, mention the details of the word in the question itself (most useful for employee feedback surveys). For customer feedback surveys, avoid complex words at all costs.

Prepare questions one at a time

Avoid double-baralled questions that ask two questions at the same frame. The person might only answer the question they understand. Break the questions into two parts but make sure that they are related to each other. Prevent asking the same questions twice in different formats. People will lose interest and will drop off. 

Case Study: How Merren Increased Survey Response Rates by 2.5x

A leading D2C brand used Merren’s multichannel survey engine to send personalized, WhatsApp-based surveys within 2 hours of order delivery.

Results:

• WhatsApp survey response rate: 56%

   

• Compared to email: 21%

   

• Average completion time: Under 1 minute

Choose the Best Channel for Online Surveys

Let’s take a look at some of the most popular survey channels that reduce the friction in survey response process:

Native WhatsApp surveys

• WhatsApp has over 2.5 billion users worldwide with 100 million users in the USA. This makes it a popular platform for survey distribution.
• Surveys can be completed directly within WhatsApp as conversations. Users do not need to switch to another platform.
• High open rates and user familiarity (average usage of 38 minutes per day) lead to better response and completion rates.
• In countries with high WhatsApp penetration, response rates can be up to 10x higher than email surveys.
• Ideal for capturing metrics of Net Promoter Score, customer satisfaction score and customer effort score.

Native Facebook messenger survey

• Facebook Messenger has over 1.3 billion monthly active users, offering a large audience for surveys.
• Supports personalized messages and reminders, enhancing engagement.
• High open rates and user familiarity contribute to better response and completion rates.

Dynamic emails for interactive surveys

• Dynamic emails provide an interactive experience of responding to customer feedback questionnaires. 
• Respondents can complete surveys within the email itself without switching to a browser.
• Avoids disturbances in a respondent’s workflow so that you can achieve a high completion rate.

Conversational chatbots surveys

• Chatbots enable conversational surveys, which are more engaging than traditional forms.
• Collect feedback while users are actively on your website.
• Ideal for checking customer satisfaction with website content or services.

In-app surveys

• In-app surveys are integrated directly into mobile apps, capturing feedback during usage.
• Effective for understanding the user experience and satisfaction with the app.
• Best suited for mobile app users.

Conclusion

Merren CX is an AI-powered customer experience platform that works across multiple channels seamlessly.  Get a free 14 day trial before any commitment. No credit card required during sign up. Our features are compatible with businesses of any size.