Content assets are critical in today’s ecommerce landscape. You need to know what’s making your business successful--or holding it back. You also need to have assets you can use in your email automations and campaigns that can help you build trust. The survey automation is a great way to do that and get more sales. Ezra Firestone of Smart Marketer claims survey responses as one of the most important content assets for two reasons:

• You can fix any potential mistakes that may have been made, turning a poor experience into a positive review. This can be used in future automations and on your website to build trust.
• You can get an idea of what your customers want. Ask them what product you should develop next, and start listening when a ton of people are saying the same thing.

A survey automation can add a ton of value to your brand, and can get more sales and develop better products.  Then you can deliver a wicked product launch when the time comes. But surveys also offer a great opportunity to close sales.

Start With Getting Survey Responses

Some of the automations we use, like our giveaway automations, are designed just to build brand and make sales. Others, such as a post-purchase, include an email asking for survey responses. We like to think of these responses as content assets, which is why we’re willing to pay for them. We offer a small incentive in the survey automation to every customer who is willing to fill out a survey response. This can be something as simple as a $5 credit. This incentive is important for a few reasons:

• Without an incentive, customers are more willing to leave a negative review or survey response.
• With the incentive, the survey responses will be from people who enjoyed your product, as they are want whatever incentive you’re offering to use in your store again.

With this in mind, take a look at the results of our initial email campaign for one of our clients:

These are wicked open and click rates. This single email got over 900 people to click through and take the survey. It even earned 7 sales, which it wasn’t designed to do. People opened this email and clicked through because of the incentive. Without the $5 credit we offered, there’s no way this many people would have taken the survey. Another thing to consider is the timing for this survey. We make sure to send it to only people who have placed an order. They receive the email after an appropriate amount of time has passed for them to receive their item. This way, we know the survey responses are more likely to be honest. We like to send at least two emails per survey. One email with a time limit to let the customer know that they can fill out a survey and earn a reward. The time limit helps create a sense of urgency. Then the customer won’t forget about the survey. The second email is a reminder, right before the time expires. This helps remind customers that they can still earn their incentive by filling out a quick survey.

Delivering on Your Promise With a Survey Automation

It goes without saying that you need to make sure you deliver your incentive. Otherwise, you’ll lose your customer’s trust. To deliver the incentive, we send a simple 2-email automation sequence:

The list grows as people fill out the survey. Only people belonging to that list receive this automation, and they receive it as soon as they fill out the survey. The second email reminds them to use their $5 credit, and they only get it if they haven't ordered yet. The cool part about this automation is that it helps generate more sales. By setting a time limit on the $5 credit provided and sending a reminder email, you can again create a sense of urgency that encourages your customers to place another order. This simple, 2-email automation made nearly as much as the new customer thank you automation did in the same amount of time. Take a look:

The survey automation is one of our best converting automations, especially when you look at dollar per recipient. Knowing how to set up a proper survey sequence, add it to your automations. Then you can deliver incentives can allow you to increase your sales. These seemingly small changes can compound and grow your revenues when done properly. Sometimes, it's the unexpected that can help grow your bottom line. If you’re thinking about adding a survey automation to your email list but don’t have the time on your hands, never fear. You can book a quick 15 minute discovery call with us and let us figure it out for you.

‍Heads Up: Discovery sessions aren’t useful for everyone… we specialize in helping 6, 7 and 8 figure ecommerce businesses build a community of adoring fans, while making bank with their email marketing. If you don’t care about your customers, or if you don’t like testing new things, you can keep on moving. If you want to elevate your email marketing game, but your brand brings in less than $50k/month get in touch - I’m working on something special for you.