Good Question Ideas for Effective Questionnaires

Questionnaires, surveys, and polls have long been integral to any marketing campaign.

They’re considered an effective way for your customers to share their opinions of your products or services. But the challenge is creating compelling questions to get the information you need. Let us make it easier for you with some ideas for good questionnaire questions that you can use!

We’ve listed sample questions that gather information ranging from product feedback to demographics. These can help you get started on building an effective questionnaire.

What Is a Questionnaire?

Questionnaires are tools used to gather information and feedback from users or consumers. They are an effective means of gathering qualitative and quantitative information that can be used as a basis for market outcomes.

Many confuse questionnaires with surveys. And while they might seem similar, there’s a slight difference between them. For one thing, a survey is a mixture of questions, processes, and methodologies meant to analyze and interpret data about others.

On the other hand, a questionnaire is strictly focused on a set of questions that ask participants for feedback on something.

Surveys can involve questionnaires; however, the questionnaire only forms a small part of a survey.

Why You Need to Ask Good Questions

You must ask questions clearly at the right stage of your buyer’s journey to gain solid data about their needs and drives. If the questions are poorly phrased, you might waste hours solving minor problems while ignoring major ones. Good questions will also allow you to interpret the data you have gathered to make better marketing decisions.

Ideas for Good Questionnaire Questions

For Gathering Demographic Data

Knowing your audience’s demographic makeup can provide a solid foundation for organizing your marketing efforts. The demographic information you gather will shed light on your audience, which can help you make decisions about your messaging and products.

• What’s your age?
• What’s your date of birth?
• Which gender are you?
• What’s your ethnicity?
• Tell us your highest level of education.
• What’s your current employment status?
• Where do you live? (City, State, Country, etc.)
• What’s your marital status?
• Tell us your household income.

To Gather Feedback About a Product or Service.

The best way to improve your products or services is by gathering feedback, which can be done through these questions. This will also help them feel that their opinions are being heard and valued.

• What are your thoughts on our new product? 
• How do you feel about the features and benefits of our new product? 
• What do you think are the pros and cons of this product? 
• What are the things that you would like to see changed in our next release of product/service?
• How would you rate this product on a scale of one to ten? With ten being the highest.
• What are you using [product name] for?
•  How do you think we can further improve our product or service to better suit your needs?
• Would you recommend this product/service to others?
• Do you think the price is worth what you get in return? 
• What would make this feature better?

Customer Service Questions

Customers or clients who feel satisfied with your customer service are likelier to purchase or recommend you. Ask them these questions to further improve your relationship with them.

• How easy was your experience with our company? 
• Did our representatives do everything possible to make the process as easy as possible? 
• On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being “fastest” and ten beings “slowest”), how fast were we able to solve your problem? 
• How much effort did you put forth while working with our company?
• How was your in-store experience?
• Do you agree strongly with the following statement: [company’s] payment process is simple and painless? 

Tips to Make an Effective Questionnaire

Use the Funnel Technique

Try using the funnel technique in writing your questions. This technique entails starting with broad, general interest questions that are easy to answer. Answering these questions warms up the respondent, which helps them engage better with your questions.

The most difficult questions should be placed in the middle – those that take time to think about and those of lesser importance. At the end of the questionnaire, place another set of general questions that are easier to answer and are of broad interest and application. These last questions usually include demographics and other classifications.

Use “Ringer” Questions.

“Do you think of yourself as introverted or more extroverted?”

This is an example of a ringer question that is meant to recapture your attention if you lost focus earlier in this article.

In order to increase interest and willingness to respond to surveys, questionnaires often include “ringer” or “throw-away” questions. These questions are often about hot topics of the day and have little to do with the survey. They can certainly spice up a boring survey. But they require valuable space that could be devoted to the main topic of interest. This is why it’s best to use this type of question occasionally.

Keep Your Questionnaire Short.

It is important to keep questions short and to the point. In many cases, long surveys are not completed. Those that may have been completed are often answered hastily. This can greatly affect the accuracy of your results.

For example, a survey consisting of several pages of boring questions can easily scare respondents away. If a questionnaire is too long, the person must either be particularly interested in the subject, be an employee, or be paid.

It is best to keep the survey short at five minutes. This goes at around 15 questions. A respondent can answer three multiple-choice questions per minute on average.

Watch Your Writing Style.

Survey questions should always be easy to read and understand. As a rule, your survey writing should be readable to those in the 9th to 11th grades. Don’t use big and complex words. Use simple sentences and choices to get the answers you want.

Final Words

Putting in the effort to ask good questionnaire questions will help you understand your customers’ needs. And the quicker you address those needs, the happier your customers will be.

The key to improving your customer service is to collect feedback. And what better to do that than by using these sample questions? Try these out, and feel free to customize them for your questionnaires.