Collecting feedback from employees, customers, and other trusted sources is a good way to monitor your company’s performance. However, encouraging people to fill out questionnaires can occasionally be difficult. Survey takers may not feel like writing out longer answers, or may be concerned that they can’t get their sentiments across through the written word. Video surveys are a great way to encourage feedback and get unedited, candid thoughts from respondents.
Read on to learn more about video surveys, when they should be used, and how to create your own.
What are video surveys?
When answering a question, the response medium can affect what you say and how you say it. Video responses encourage real-time, candid answers from respondents. The respondent can record a video response through the survey platform, on their own time. Unlike live, in-person surveys and feedback sessions, there’s no human moderator to influence how the survey taker responds.
Video surveys are particularly good for qualitative analysis and open-ended questions. Not only will you get a substantive response to your survey questions, but you can also analyze the participants’ facial expressions and body language for more insight.
Many companies use video surveys to encourage customers to tell their stories. The resulting feedback tends to generate more content than asking for text or photo feedback. Plus, the additional visual feedback makes it easier to retain the information—and it’s typically more memorable than reading written testimonials.
When to use video surveys
Using video survey platforms allows companies to observe a participant’s emotional response, and they’re more likely to get honest, spontaneous feedback. However, it’s not always the right choice for every demographic and survey type. Some respondents may not be comfortable in front of the camera, lack the technological savviness to complete the survey, or may not have the time to complete it. Use this feature judiciously for best results.
Because video surveys encourage longer, more thoughtful responses, they’re a good substitute for in-person qualitative feedback survey sessions. Because you won’t need to have a moderator present, and since video surveys can be completed on the respondent’s own time, you’ll encourage more participation while saving money.
It’s also important to choose video questions carefully. There’s little point to asking someone to complete quantitative questions with video, such as rating an experience on a scale from 1 to 5. Instead, use video features for open-ended requests, such as, “Describe your experience with this product.”
Video responses harness the power of showing, rather than telling. Instead of asking someone to list what they have in their refrigerator, they can simply take a video. Alternatively, you can ask participants to record themselves using your product to find out how easy it is to navigate, whether the user gets frustrated at any point, their reactions to different features, and more. Getting to witness their experience can provide significantly richer feedback than text or qualitative responses alone.
How to create your own video survey
Creating a video survey can help you understand your respondents better—and for best results, you’ll want to plan the survey carefully. Here’s a quick guide to creating your own video survey:
- Set the parameters of your survey: First, you’ll need to decide why you’re creating a survey in the first place and what kind of information you want to get out of the respondents. For example, perhaps you’d like to find out how beta testers are responding to your new household product. Are you looking for quantitative feedback, qualitative feedback, or a mixture of both? Video surveys are best for qualitative feedback sessions, but most platforms will also allow you to include quantitative questions, like rating scales. If you’re only looking for quantitative feedback, video surveys are unnecessary.
- Choose your target demographic: Next, determine your target demographic. Who will respond to your survey? Are they likely to be comfortable in front of the camera, or would you have better luck with voice or text-based feedback?
- Choose the right platform: The right survey platform can significantly impact your video survey’s success. Voiceform, for example, allows respondents to offer multimedia feedback, including video. Audio and video responses are automatically transcribed and parsed for key words and phrases, making it easy to see macro and micro trends. Look for survey software that can efficiently collect and sort data, is easy to use, and supports the type of distribution (email, embedded in a website, mobile, or other forms) you prefer.
- Write your questions: After you’ve set your survey parameters and have identified your ideal respondents, write questions that will get consumers talking. Open-ended questions generate longer and natural responses. Avoid questions that would prompt very short or yes/no answers.
- Decide which questions get video responses: Choose which questions require a video response. For instance, there’s usually no need for a participant to record a video of them stating their name, age, location, income bracket, and education levels, or rating their experience on a scale of 1 to 10.
These steps will ensure that you use the video features in an efficient way, encouraging customers to open up and share their honest responses with you. Refining your methodology and targeting the right respondents makes it far more likely that you’ll receive actionable feedback when you distribute the survey.
Create video surveys with Voiceform
Video surveys empower companies to collect better feedback from participants. Seeing and hearing your respondents’ candid thoughts provides a richer experience than you get from text-based responses alone. Many people feel more comfortable talking than writing out responses, and your internal teams can benefit from listening to vocal inflections and watching body language, facial expressions, and more.
If you’re looking for a video survey platform, try Voiceform. Our multimedia, feature-rich survey tools use AI technology to provide data insights. When you use voice or video response options, they’re automatically transcribed and analyzed. Encouraging feedback from survey participants has never been easier. Reach out to learn more about the platform or book a demo today.
