Surveys have always been an important way to reach and acquire information for market research. Over the years they have taken on many forms (no pun intended) and utilized various methods including paper surveys, telephone calls, and more recently – online surveys.

Nowadays online surveys are extremely popular and are often the preferred method of conducting surveys. That is for good reason, as there are many key benefits that come with using them:

  • Saves on costs

Comparatively online survey forms are a much cheaper method of conducting surveys. The cost of producing the form, distributing and managing the data collection is less than any other type of survey.

  • Can be conducted more quickly

The time that it takes to conduct a survey using an online form is much less. Not only can the form itself be created more quickly, but it can be distributed faster as well – and the data that is collected will be digital, making it easier to process.

  • Potential integration with other media

Unlike traditional methods of survey, online survey forms can be integrated with a wide range of other media. Within your form, you can link out to external resources, or add audio, images, and video directly.

On top of that, it is possible to allow survey responders to add in other media as well, and upload images, videos, or audio of their own. That provides for some exciting possibilities that weren’t an option in the past.

  • Versatile design options

Online surveys can be far more versatile than any other type of survey – mainly because they are able to use conditional logic. With conditional logic, it is possible to designate compulsory or optional fields, verify information, and even create designs where follow-up questions only appear based on the previous answers.

  • Real-time collection of results

Typically there was a delay between when people answered surveys to the results actually being available to the person administrating the survey. That was because the survey needed to be delivered and processed before its results were available.

As you can imagine online surveys don’t have that delay, and instead results can be obtained more or less in real time. Simply put as soon as someone responds to a survey, you’ll be able to see the data.

By this point, you should have a much better idea of the benefits of online surveys and why they are so popular. At first glance, it may seem challenging to create them, but all you really need is a user-friendly online survey creator. For example, you could try the AidaForm Online Form Builder.

Although there is a lot of debate regarding the accuracy of online surveys, at the end of the day that will also be based on numerous other factors including the survey methodology, target market, subject matter, and so on. All said and done, however, the benefits listed above make it more than worthwhile – and with the right approach, you may even find that online surveys are more accurate as well.