Who doesn’t love a good sample? Whether you’re testing out a new ice cream flavor or taking a car for a test drive, gathering information about what you like and what you don’t helps you make a more informed decision before making a purchase.

The same logic applies to making business decisions. When we collect information on consumer preferences, feelings, and overall sentiments, we better understand what they want and need from us.

That’s why market research has become such an important part of any good business strategy. Instead of making blind guesses about what people want, we can make informed decisions by testing the waters before jumping in.

One of the most effective tools in your market research kit is the online survey. When used correctly, surveys can provide actionable insights that can inform nearly every aspect of your business.

So which online survey tools should we be paying attention to?

1. SurveyMonkey

Chances are you’ve already heard of this platform. With over 40 million registered customers, SurveyMonkey is one of the most popular survey solutions out there.

While you can set up a survey for free, you won’t be able to access the data collected in CSV or Excel XLS until you’ve signed up for a paid option. The price goes up more for users expecting more than 1,000 responses per month or those that want to use any of the sophisticated branching and pipeline features.

SurveyMonkey provides a great option for teams without extensive coding skills. The platform helps you create complex question sets and makes the process of analyzing responses simple.

2. Formstack

Formstack provides a good range of functionality. The online form allows you to set up complicated surveys ripe for data harvesting or simple customer feedback panels.

The survey tool can be integrated with other sales management solutions which makes it a good option for companies looking to process leads and conversion rates. With the help of a MailChimp integration you can enable targeted information gathering and feedback from existing customer databases.

3. Google Forms

If you’re looking for a simple and free survey tool option then Google Forms could be your solution. For smaller scale questionnaires without any fluff, this free option works just fine.

It requires minimal experience to use and gathers your data into a Google Sheet, which can easily be analyzed there or transferred elsewhere.

Google Forms is a great way to dip your toes into survey use. By exploring with this free tool you can begin to understand what you’re looking for in a more complex platform.

4. LimeSurvey

If you have a team with a strong grasp on coding, LimeSurvey offers the majority of functionality you’d find from a high-end tool for a much smaller price tag.

LimeSurvey is highly collaborative. In fact, you can ask your survey questions in over 80 languages. However, you are limited to 25 responses per month across your surveys before payment begins.

LimeSurvey is a straightforward option that offers add-ons allowing additional templates and question types.

5. r/SampleSize

This is a bit of a leftfield choice, and not technically a survey tool, but it can get you results very quickly.

r/SampleSize is a Reddit subreddit where you can post surveys, likely built with the tools above, and get people to fill them out. You clarify what kind of people should take survey, and then leave them to it.

Obviously this isn’t very scientific and it might not be appropriate for anything too serious, but for more easygoing or fun surveys where you need lots of responses fast, it can be perfect.

The subreddit boasts 115k subscribers, while a survey we posted there got 1,200 response in a single day. Not too shabby, but use at your own risk.

[Results] Do you cross your 7s?
byu/purple-door- inSampleSize