Understanding multi-question surveys: a quick guide
Multi-question surveys are a powerful consumer research tool used to gather in-depth insights about your product, service, brand, or market from a specific audience.
You can now run your own surveys in PickFu using the Poll Builder. Just click "Build a survey" on the New Poll page to get started.
What's the difference between a poll and a survey?
In short, polls let you ask your audience one question at a time. Surveys let you ask multiple questions to the same audience.
Single polls offer a quick snapshot of audience opinions on one specific topic, while surveys allow you to collect data on several elements at a time, providing a more holistic view of consumer opinions and preferences.
Since surveys enable in-depth exploration of multiple aspects of your product, you can uncover nuances and patterns that might be missed in a single-question format. And since the respondents are the same from question to question, it's a more controlled testing environment.
When to use surveys over polls
Whenever you need to ask more than one question or touch on more than one topic in your test. If you wish to ask a controlled panel a list of questions about your product or solution, we suggest using a survey. By presenting multiple questions in a sequence, surveys provide respondents with context, allowing them to consider their answers in relation to the previous questions. In contrast, single-question polls are best for testing one specific aspect and getting clear, focused answers.
When exploring complex topics that require subtle understanding. For instance, when researching consumer behavior towards a new product, multiple questions can help uncover perceptions, preferences, usage patterns, and purchase intentions based on that individual’s own buying behavior.
When doing comparative analysis. If you need to compare different aspects or features of a product/service, surveys are ideal. You can design questions to assess satisfaction levels, price sensitivity, brand perception, and more, allowing for comprehensive comparative analysis.
More resources
You can use different question types and formats within the same survey, allowing for flexible and comprehensive testing. For example, a survey about a new product launch on Amazon might look something like this:
Open-ended question: ask your audience what features they find most important when shopping for your product type.
Ranked choice: ask your audience to rank multiple product design options to help you narrow down the ones consumers are most likely to buy.
Click Test: show a mock search results page featuring your product alongside your top competitors, and ask your audience to click on the one they're most drawn to.
Our hope is that with PickFu surveys, researchers can make better-informed decisions and develop strategies that resonate with their target audience.
The same general best practices we suggest following for polls also apply to surveys. Check out our guides to building out your tests below:
FAQs
Question | Answer |
How much do surveys cost? | The current pricing structure is the same as if you were to build out the questions as individual polls. |
How many questions can I ask at once? | We allow up to 8 questions per survey. |
Are there any limitations on surveys or features I can only use with polls? | Currently you can only run surveys with our U.S. panel, but we are working to release the rest of our international (non-U.S.) panels in the near future. |
How long will my survey take? | The time it takes for your survey to complete depends on its complexity (i.e. question formats and audience targeting/size) and the questions and requests you submit to our respondents. Most of our polls finish within 24 hours, but surveys, especially with larger sample sizes, may take longer. |