How Do I Request Survey Participation in an Email? (Free template)

So, you've been given a list of customers to email and it's up to you to ask them to fill out an online survey.

You might be using Google Forms, Survey Monkey or another online survey tool.

Regardless, you've been asked to write an email that asks the customer if they can participate in a survey about the most recent new product release (or whatever the topic).

But, how do you request survey participation in an email?

You can request survey participation in an email by: 1. Having a clear email subject line, 2. A welcoming introduction to the survey, 3. Provide a brief overview with clear expectations and 4. A simple call to action. 

Your job is to create the email to be clear, professional and compelling, in order to get the most valuable customer feedback possible. 

To accomplish this successfully, follow these six simple steps:

1. Be clear about the topic of your survey in the email

Explain the topic of your survey in as much detail as possible, including:

• The purpose or goal of this survey (what you hope to learn)
• A brief overview of what it's about and how long it will take (the length of a typical survey is typically between 10 minutes and one hour)
• Give an overview of what the upcoming questions will be covering, including:
• Your involvement in this topic (Have you ever done something? If so, how often?)
• What specific topics are being covered by each question

2. Write a clear and compelling email subject line

As the recipient's first words, your email subject line needs to be clear, concise, and relevant.

• Relevant: Your subject line should communicate the purpose of the survey. If you're asking about satisfaction with your product, for example, "Survey: How satisfied are you?" will resonate more than "Survey: Please take this survey!"
• Concise: Keep it short and straightforward—to the point at most (one or two sentences max). If you have too many words in your subject line, recipients may be put off by an overwhelming request and skip over it.
• Personalized: Use language that relates directly to the recipient—their name, interests, or goals—to get them excited about participating.

If you are new to email marketing, go here for a plan for getting started with your email marketing strategy.

Here is a snapshot of the formatted text for your use:

For your convenience, here is the text for you to copy and paste, and make it your own:

Your email template:

Subject: About your [PRODUCT NAME] order

Prehead: Why did you choose [PRODUCT NAME]?

Hi Bob,

We are sending you this email today to learn more about your reasons for choosing [PRODUCT NAME]. That's because it's our top goal to deliver you the highest quality product, supported by a great experience.

We would be grateful to you if you would let us know in this short survey why you chose [PRODUCT NAME]. This survey has one question and should take you about 20 seconds to complete:

Answer the 1-Question Survey about Why You Chose [PRODUCT NAME]

Thank you so much Bob.

As always, if you need anything, please ask. We are happy to help!

Your XYZ Widget Team

###

3. Provide context for your research in your email with a believable reason “why”

• Provide context for your research project.
• If you have an excellent reason for needing the survey, you are more likely to get people to respond and fill it out.
• Explain why you need the information from them (what will it be used for? Who will see it? How long do they have to fill it out?)
• One of the benefits of participating is that they can help make an essential difference in their community or organization. This will help entice them into wanting to fill out the survey!
• Finally, let them know how long this survey will take so they can plan accordingly (and also so you don't end up with too many responses).

4. Promise they won't have to spend too much time on it

It's also important to let people know that they won't have to spend too much time on the survey. If you expect it will take them more than 15 minutes, offer a $5 gift card for their participation.

You should also explain what value they will get from participating in the study. This could be anything from helping you understand the market better or experimenting with new products and services.

You can also promise them that their information will remain private and confidential; however, do not promise anything about confidentiality before you know whether your data will be protected by law!

5. Assure confidentiality and anonymity

Confidentiality means that the survey answers will not be shared with anyone outside the research team, including the study's sponsor. Anonymity means that your name will not be associated with any data collected in a survey (i.e., no one can connect your responses to you).

It's essential to keep confidentiality and anonymity in mind when designing a study to ensure that respondents feel comfortable sharing honest opinions or personal information.

You can help maintain confidentiality by:

• Use an email address separate from your own; this way, only people working on the project will have access to it
• Using a secure website for collecting responses, people who take surveys online might worry about their answers being tracked or stolen online, so it's essential to ensure privacy throughout your entire process.

6. Thank the participant in advance

Thank the participant for their time, and mention that you appreciate their help. You can also explain what the survey results will be used for and how you'll be using them in your research.

If a participant asks why they are being sent the survey, it's best to explain that this is part of your research project and that their answers will help them understand more about the topic. If they still have questions about what type of information you're gathering from their response or how it'll be used, direct them back to the email attachment so they can see for themselves!

To get people to answer your survey, you need to write a compelling request email

When writing an email survey request, you must convince people to take the survey. You want them to want to answer your questions so severely that they can't imagine not doing so.

So how do you do this? Keep in mind that people are busy and overwhelmed and often don't have time for things that feel like a burden or waste of their time—even if those things might be good for them in some way (like taking a survey).

So, what keeps someone from saying no? Trust! A person must know and trust that the question being asked is going towards something useful or helpful before deciding whether or not they will participate.

After you get some feedback to your survey, you can study the results and use this first survey as your benchmark for improving.

Conclusion

If you follow these steps, it's much more likely that your email will get a positive response. 

Not only will this help you recruit participants, but it will also make them more willing to answer your questions honestly. 

And if you want people to answer your survey on time, don't forget to give them an incentive like a gift card or money!