Survey incentives are rewards offered to people in exchange for taking the time to fill out a survey. The most common type of incentive is simply offering coupons, discounts, a chance to win a prize, or even cash. Whatever the promised incentive, the goal is the same: to convince people to complete the survey.

Whenever you see a sign that says "Win a free iPad! If not implemented well, incentives might come across as desperate. In some cases, it might even look like some kind of scam.

And it applies to microsurveys as well as custom made well-developed research surveys. Survey incentives are beneficial near the end of data collection periods when boosting average survey response rates is necessary.

Survey incentives may draw people who are not well suited to fill out the questions or those who would only answer if rewarded. Identifying and tracking participants and their rewards is crucial when offering survey incentives.

For even more tracking, you can integrate Survicate with Google Analytics. Survicate automates the entire process of gathering customer data via email or built-in surveys. It also offers expert-designed survey templates that you can implement in a flash.

However, a lot of businesses still use them as a way to increase response rates. And when you think about it, it makes sense. Who wouldn't be tempted by the chance to get something for free? So, how can you design the best survey incentives to minimize these flaws as much as possible?

Survey rewards aren't always necessary. In some cases, you may find that the average survey response rate is already quite high, and there's no tangible benefit to providing incentives. The best incentive depends on your survey demographic and goals.

For example, if you're targeting a younger audience, a reward like digital downloads or gift cards might be more effective than handing out cash. On the other hand, if your survey focuses on a corporate target audience, it might be better to offer incentives such as discounts or free consultations.

You should introduce the incentive offer within the survey and explain how to redeem the reward in plain and precise language. The best survey incentives are those that tie into your survey topic.

For example, if you're surveying customers about a new product launch, offering discounts on that product as an incentive might be a great way to get more detailed feedback. Offering rewards too soon can lead to respondents giving quick, unconsidered answers.

On the other hand, giving out perks too late can make users feel like it's not worth the effort. Weigh other options, such as offering free shipping or a rewards program to gain new customers.

With the right survey incentive ideas, you'll be able to gain a great deal more insight and encourage more survey takers. Provide a percentage coupon or discount in exchange for survey completion. People who redeem these offers are more likely to become repeat customers, increasing brand loyalty and revenue.

This monetary incentive works particularly well for retailers and e-commerce sites. As every dollar counts these days, you can be sure that many respondents will take part. The great thing about loyalty programs is that they give customers something to keep coming back for. The more surveys they complete and the more purchases they make, the bigger the rewards and loyalty points they will gain.

Millennials are 14 times more likely to use their smartphone than their computer to access loyalty programs. This approach offers valuable rewards for both sides: users get more time to test your product while you receive their invaluable feedback. And you may end up converting the testers into actual users.

A gift card is a great way to reward people for taking your survey. You can offer Amazon, Starbucks, or other gift cards for the respondents' time and effort. Make it more unique by providing digital gift cards and codes. They are stored online, which makes them easier to keep track of and manage.

For example, if you run a SaaS company, you could grant them exclusive access to your newly released features. Or, if you're an e-commerce business, you could offer some of your limited-edition products.

As a result of these non-monetary survey incentives, you will gain valuable insight into your business as well as feedback about the new products you have just launched. You can also increase the perceived value of your product by letting your users see what features they can enjoy even before they buy them.

Sweepstake entries can also help create a buzz in the market as people share the news and encourage their friends to take part. However, you need to be aware of the local sweepstake laws, so be sure to check them before you design a program. Sample product packs, digital downloads, and other types of freebies are great incentives for survey respondents.

A reward of this type is especially useful for businesses that target tech-savvy customers, i. people such as gamers or software developers. Survey participants will feel valued and appreciated for their input if you provide incentives tailored to their preferences. It might also encourage them to provide more detailed and thought-out responses.

You can also offer referral rewards that can be used instead of discounts and other perks when respondents complete surveys. As a bonus, it helps to spread the word about your surveys and gives you access to a broader audience. Giving your users an early access to your product or service is a particularly good idea when the survey you run is about the product or service in question.

Offering early access in return for survey completion will encourage participation and provide you with valuable feedback before the product or service is released. Help your survey respondents feel like insiders.

Make them feel as if they were taking part in a test phase. There are people who don't respond well to cash incentives. They associate it with negative connotations and find it suspicious.

You can include an onboarding experience for new users that guide them to the activation events. Days and debit card requirements are not the only factors that define a free trial.

You can also be creative with other factors like your design and incentives for your user. Here are some common types of a free trial period:. Then you have different standards for free trials depending on your business model.

Generally, requiring payment details and having a high-touch onboarding process is more common in B2B. If you are B2C, most companies leave their users to explore everything in only 7 days with no sales involved. You should take several factors into account when deciding how long your free trial needs to be.

Short free trials 7 days are great for adding urgency to the buying process but are more likely to be used by B2C companies. If you have a complex product you may need longer trial periods but if your service is easy to use, your trial length should be shorter.

Some might have the funding to support a day trial, so they know everything about their ideal users. It makes sense to define a short free trial as no more than 7 days. So, companies opt for the short free trial period because it adds a sense of urgency to the buying process.

Users will take the time more seriously , so companies have their full attention. These short trials work more for the B2C space of SaaS because the job people are trying to get done is much simpler.

Trials that are too long or include product walkthroughs in this space bore users, and they are more likely to become inactive. Your customer acquisition costs CAC are also reduced when people convert faster.

The longer the trial, the longer the sales cycle, which means a higher CAC. With a shorter trial and shorter sales cycle, your sales and customer success teams will have fewer prospects they need to manage and can be more supportive.

As soon you enter the product, you are met with a checklist that leads straight to their activation point. Since there are only a couple of core features of the software, users realize the value within the first two minutes of signing up and setting up the product.

Seven days is more than enough time for the user to come to a buying decision. A free trial is considered long if it extends beyond 14 days. It might be the best option when selling a product with several use cases and secondary features.

Many companies hesitate to implement a long free trial because they think their product will be overrun by people who have no intention of buying.

Usually, this depends on who you are targeting, your messaging, and your product positioning. Dropbox realized that a short free trial might scare away potential users looking for a complete solution.

They also found that more time given to users made it harder to stop using their product. As your free trial users move along their user journey , your job is the engage them from the moment they sign in.

They will cancel after day 1. So we have broken down the ideal onboarding experience for converting trial users into paying customers for any product, into the moments that matter most: the first 2 mins, the first 2 hours, and the first 2 days. The key to increasing day 1 retention is creating the right first impression.

It is common for many users to make up their minds about a product in the first few seconds , so here is what you can do to help them decide in your favor. The perfect introduction is personalized to a use case.

While many might be tempted to give a one-off hello or start a long product tour, it is more productive to use a welcome modal and ask the user what job they want to do with your product. Now that you have collected customer data from your welcome screens, you can use it to personalize the user journey according to user JTBDs.

Effective personalization is possible through customer segmentation. Userpilot allows you to segment users using different filters and trigger a personalized onboarding flow specific to different user personas. Onboarding checklists are a great way to show your users the main features of your product without boring them.

Email confirmations are necessary for security reasons. You need to make sure your users are real. Moreover, it creates friction and delays the moment when users start engaging with the product.

If you make it compulsory at the beginning of the free trial, the moment may never come. The users will simply not bother. To avoid it, first, let the users inside the product and get them to start engaging.

Only then, use a small banner to give them a gentle nudge to confirm their email.