Second failure, once I allowed images to be shown for the third-party email address that Adobe was using, the image was basically just text in image form.  On top of that, none of the links worked.  This is due to the use of an image map, which isn’t supported across all email applications.

In our many years of doing online satisfaction surveys we know that the email survey invitation is critical to gaining a good response rate from your clients and customers.  This email from Adobe provides a good example of common mistakes that lead to low response rates.  These two main failures will drop the response rate significantly for Adobe.

A few easy changes would make this campaign much more successful:

1. Take all of the text out of the image and include it in the email as actual text, so email recipients with blocked images actually see something in the email when they open it.
2. Take the Adobe logo and make a single image of just that, and include it in the email.  Making sure to set the alt text so the email recipient knows what it is even if images are being blocked.
3. Personalize it!  They know who I am, so include my name in there somewhere.  We find this improves response rate as well.

Many things were done right, including:

1. Company name was in the subject line.  We find this improves open rates on the emails.
2. Plain text version of the email was included as well, which helps avoiding spam filters.
3. All of the proper CAN-SPAM stuff is in there, like unsubscribe instructions and such.

“The survey research and marketing industries need to recognize that the Internet and cellphones, not landlines, are likely to be the wave of the future for contacting” 18- to 29-year-olds, the Rochester, N.Y., public-opinion company said in a news release. Humphrey Taylor, chairman of the Harris Poll, cited the results in an email to me as “further evidence of the reliabilty of our online data — validated by an impeccable source.” He added, “Quite soon landline penetration will surely be lower than Internet penetration.” And people without landlines can still potentially be reached online. I often get the question……phone versus email for client or employee survey?

The answer in a professional service environment obviously depends on what types of questions you are looking to answer, but for most general client loyalty and satisfaction surveys, in my opinion, it is online. There are certainly those who would prefer to give their feedback but Inavero’s experience is that number is dropping every year.  When doing a mixed mode survey, our phone calls are twice as likely to yield requests for another email than a completed survey.

Clients want to respond when it is convenient for them; not when it is convenient for us. I am sometimes amazed at the market research industry. In marketing overall, the consumer has clearly begun to dictate the when, who and how of marketing communication – why would research be any different? While marketers scramble to find ways to better engage their target audience, market researchers resort to paying more for less reliable data than ever. Now, more than ever, you must engage your audience with concise, focused surveys about topics and relationships they care about. Remember, if your clients and employees don’t think anything will happen based on their feedback, they won’t take the time. Would you?