Do you have low participation rates in your Surveys or Exchanges? Below are a few tips and tricks to increase engagement with your target audience.
Engagement Tips for Exchanges & Surveys
- Share the Survey or Exchange on Multiple Channels
- Promote your Exchange through email, newsletters, social media, and school apps.
- Consistently remind participants—research shows at least 3 reminders are best practice.
- Example: “We’ve had great participation so far in this survey. However, we’d love to see 100% participation. Your voice matters please join the survey HERE”
- Include clear instructions:
- Example: “Your voice matters! Share your thoughts on [topic] in this quick activity. This should only take 10 minutes. Click the link to submit a thought, then try to rate at least 10 others.”
- Example: “Your voice matters! Share your thoughts on [topic] in this quick activity. This should only take 10 minutes. Click the link to submit a thought, then try to rate at least 10 others.”
- Emphasize the Importance of Participation
- Highlight how their thoughts will directly influence changes or decisions.
- Example: “These will results help us determine which programs continue to funding”
- Save time by using Advisor to write reminder emails sharing top results so far and encouraging further contributions.
- Example: “In the results, section click “Advisor”. Use the prompt “Write an email to participants reminding them to take the survey and share the top 3 results so far”.
- Example: “In the results, section click “Advisor”. Use the prompt “Write an email to participants reminding them to take the survey and share the top 3 results so far”.
- Highlight how their thoughts will directly influence changes or decisions.
- Make Participation Convenient
- Set a clear timeline, such as 2 weeks. Put a start and end date in the instructions.
- Send countdown reminders to create urgency (e.g., “This will close in 5 days. Please contribute!” or “Tomorrow is your last chance to share your thoughts!”).
- Carve Out Time During Meetings
- Dedicate time in a meeting for participants to complete the Exchange or Survey.
- End the meeting early and say, “We’re giving you this time to complete the survey because your feedback truly matters.”
- End the meeting early and say, “We’re giving you this time to complete the survey because your feedback truly matters.”
- Dedicate time in a meeting for participants to complete the Exchange or Survey.
- Use QR Codes
- Print out and display QR codes in high-traffic areas, such as the staff room, hallways, or common spaces.
- Highlight that the Exchange is a productive way to fill downtime.
- Incentivize Engagement
- Offer small prizes (e.g., coffee, donuts, or a school t-shirt) to a certain number of random participants. Example: “To show our appreciation for the time you’ve taken to share feedback 5 participants will be selected at random and be given a school T-Shirt)
- Offer small prizes (e.g., coffee, donuts, or a school t-shirt) to a certain number of random participants. Example: “To show our appreciation for the time you’ve taken to share feedback 5 participants will be selected at random and be given a school T-Shirt)
- Leverage Leadership
- Ask school leaders to send out reminders and share that they’ve participated to model engagement.