Survey School 2: How to maximize survey response rates

Only 1 in 3 people who start a survey actually finish it—but don't let that deter you. Surveys can be one of the most influential tools in your marketing toolbox, giving you a direct line of communication with your audience and valuable zero-party data.

But a survey is only as powerful as the responses it collects. Even the most well-intentioned survey can fall flat if it doesn’t keep people engaged from start to finish.

The good news? With the right approach—and the right survey tool—you can boost survey response rates and collect richer, more actionable insights. To uncover what works, our team dug into the data to understand what drives people to complete surveys or drop off.

In this guide, we’re breaking down what impacts survey response rates, how to create surveys people want to complete, and small changes that can lead to big results.

What's a survey response rate?

A survey response rate is the percentage of people who completed your survey compared to how many received it. It can indicate whether you're surveying the right amount or type of people and providing an engaging survey.

When it comes to maximizing your survey response rate, sample size matters—but it’s not just about getting your survey in front of large groups of people. It’s about optimizing your survey and providing a brand experience that makes people want to fill them out.

The result? More data and higher quality responses.

To calculate your survey response rate, divide the total number of people who completed your survey by the number of people who received it.

For example, imagine you share a survey with 100 people and only 45 people complete it. Your survey response rate would be 45% (or 45/100).

What's a good survey response rate?

A "good" survey response rate heavily depends on the audience and context of the survey. But, on average, anything over 30% is typically considered good.

With Typeform, that number is even higher—Typeform surveys have an average response rate of 47%.

Average response rate by survey type

*Sources: Skeepers and CustomInsight

Factors impacting survey response rates

When it comes to building effective surveys, experience is everything. People are more likely to complete surveys that feel relevant, intuitive, and engaging.

87% of users get higher survey response rates with Typeform compared to their previous survey platform.

Many factors can impact your survey response rate, including:

• Sample size. We typically recommend gathering at least 400 responses, but it depends on the type of survey.

• Survey topic. Niche survey topics may limit your sample size or response rate when compared to broader topics. For example, you might receive fewer responses on a survey about how solopreneurs use AI assistants than one on how people use AI assistants in general.

• Survey design. Design can impact user experience and help (or hurt) your ability to gather more data. 

• Survey length. Our research shows that surveys with more than six questions have less than a 50% completion rate. If your survey is too long, people may start to drop off—lowering your response rate and the amount of data you gather.

• Seasonality. Survey-takers might be less engaged depending on the time of year. Surveys sent during summer months or the holiday season might not receive the response rates they typically would—no matter how engaging your survey is.

• Mobile responsiveness. How responsive your survey design is can impact its response rate. People frequently access surveys from mobile devices or tablets, so it’s crucial to optimize for the formats your target audience is likely to use.

• Data privacy. Some survey-takers might be reluctant to share their data. Be transparent about how you plan to use their data to build trust and boost response rates.

Get higher-value insights with zero-party data

An effective survey helps you to collect coveted zero-party data (ZPD). ZPD is the data someone gives you directly and voluntarily—instead of data you collect from website cookies or purchase from a third-party source.

Zero-party data has always been immensely useful to marketers—it's your direct route to understanding your customers' wants, needs, and pain points. And today, it's more essential than ever because:

• Third-party cookies are on their way out

• Growing privacy concerns and regulatory shifts, like GDPR and CCPA, require businesses to prioritize user consent and transparency in data collection

• There’s never been a greater demand for authentic engagement and personalization—drawn from direct insights rather than assumptions from interactions

The zero-party data you gather from survey responses can be invaluable for your marketing strategy, delivering better customer experiences, and more. It's a powerful tool for helping you build a competitive edge and:

• Creating more detailed and nuanced buyer personas
• Increasing trust and building a connection with leads and customers
• Improving your messaging and positioning
• Increasing your product-market fit

11 ways to optimize your survey response rate

There's an art and a science to asking questions that people are willing—even eager—to answer. Here's what we've found boosts survey response rates.

1. Lead with a welcome screen

Make a great first impression with a well-designed welcome screen—a tactic proven to maximize survey response rates.

The welcome screen should entice your audience enough that they open the survey and get started. Incentivizing responses is usually a safe bet, but you can also follow these tips to get survey-takers to complete your survey:

• Start with a question—just like you would in a real-life conversation
• Be clear about what you're asking for, like customer feedback
• Brand your form so it's instantly recognizable to your audience

2. Highlight survey progress and purpose

An easy way to boost completions is to keep survey-takers informed of their progress by adding a progress bar. This lets them see how many questions are left, reducing survey fatigue while improving your response rates.

You can also encourage them by highlighting the purpose of the survey and sharing an estimate of how long the survey should take to complete on the welcome screen. Written cues throughout, like, "Just a few more questions!" are also helpful.

3. Provide an incentive

No surprise—people are more likely to complete surveys that offer an incentive in exchange for filling them out. You can get more survey responses by offering something of value—like a coupon, freebie, or chance to win a prize.

Or you can offer something less tangible, like exclusivity, by using language such as:

• Be the first to know
• Exclusive
• Never-before-seen
• Members-only/Subscribers-only  

4. Be transparent with data

Today’s consumers are increasingly wary about handing over their data. Being transparent about what you plan to do with the information you collect puts survey-takers at ease and can increase response rates. 

You can give them the transparency they crave by:

• Telling your audience exactly how you plan to use their data when distributing the survey

• Adding some information and context to your survey's welcome screen

• Including a legal question field within your survey, which allows you to outline the terms under which you’ll use data, so survey-takers can accept or refuse them

5. Consider readability

Nobody will bother filling out a survey they can barely read. Start by making sure your surveys are accessible to everyone.

Typeform’s templates are WCAG 2.1-compliant by default, and you can always check if your custom surveys meet accessibility guidelines before publishing.

Here are a few accessibility principles to keep in mind when creating your surveys:

• Use alt text to describe all the images in your survey

• Explain where your hyperlinks go in the main body of the text

• Add closed captions to any videos you include

• Make sure your questions, answers, buttons, and background have a color contrast of at least 4.5:1

6. Capture emails upfront

Wondering what survey question to ask first? Our team found that surveys that asked for survey-takers' email first had 9% higher response rates than those that asked for it later. 

Why? Well, once someone shares their email address, they're more invested in the conversation. They've given up their personal data and may feel more reluctant to drop off before completing the survey.

7. Ask one question at a time

To create a truly conversational experience, avoid bombarding survey-takers with a bunch of questions all at once. By asking your questions one at a time, you create a more engaging and less overwhelming user experience, which boosts survey response rates.

Unsure of how many questions to ask? Surveys with fewer than six questions had a significantly higher response rate. Your survey should ideally take less than two minutes to complete.

8. Ask intentional questions

How you ask your questions matters just as much as which questions you ask. Asking better questions can do more than maximize your response rate—it can help you minimize bias, gather valuable audience insights, and create a positive experience.

When writing survey questions, make sure you:

• Use direct and transparent language
• Are empathetic and reassuring
• Ask unbiased and easy-to-understand questions

You should also vary the types of questions you use throughout your survey. Mix it up with multiple-choice, picture choice, and Likert scale questions to keep respondents engaged.

9. Personalize the individual survey experience

Today’s customers don’t just enjoy personalized brand experiences—they expect them. 71% of customers expect brands to deliver personalized interactions, and 76% get frustrated when this doesn't happen.

Dynamic surveys help you deliver on those expectations by tailoring your survey to each individual—all while getting the most data from survey-takers and reducing dropoff rates.

96% of customers say they have a better experience with Typeform.

Typeform offers numerous personalization features:

• Conditional and skip logic that can automatically adapt survey questions based on each individual's prior responses and improve survey-takers' experiences. For example, if your first question asks someone for their age, you can route them to a series of questions based on their age group.

• Clarify with AI to capture more detailed responses and richer insights from each response. When survey-takers answer open-ended questions with vague responses like “bad,” AI automatically follows up with a probing response like, “Why bad? What didn’t you like?”

• URL parameters so you can track information about survey-takers, segment your audience, and make your forms even more personal and engaging. You can use information you’ve already captured about a person, like their name or traffic source, to personalize specific fields within your form.

• Recall lets you set up your forms to recall information someone provided earlier in the survey, like their first name, and auto-populate the information later in the form.

• Logic jumps help create natural two-way conversations by leading survey-takers through a custom path based on their answers to each question.

10. Prioritize design

In an era of fleeting attention spans, it’s essential to make your user experience as engaging as possible to collect quality data and maximize survey responses. Focus on designing a survey that's beautiful, unique, and genuinely enjoyable to fill out.

With Typeform, you can easily create refreshingly different surveys and gather richer data without sacrificing design or learning how to code. It's the ideal survey tool for those who value design.

Our drag-and-drop builder lets you effortlessly add and rearrange questions while customizing nearly every aspect of your surveys with:

• Editable background images, layouts, and links
• Customizable thank you pages and welcome screens
• Mobile-friendly forms
• A library full of integrated photos, videos, and icons
• 3,000+ customizable form templates
• Brand kits that let you fully brand every detail

11. Make it unique with custom branding

If you want to build a strong brand—the kind that’s instantly recognizable and memorable—consistency is key. Consistent branding fosters trust, shapes brand perceptions, and reassures your audience that they’re engaging with a familiar brand.

You should use consistent brand colors, fonts, logos, and style across all of your marketing touchpoints—including your surveys.

With Typeform, staying on-brand is ridiculously easy. You can create your own brand kits to seamlessly apply your branding to everything you create. Add your custom fonts, colors, images, and logos, and brand every survey in just a few clicks.

Want more survey optimization strategies and inspiration? Subscribe to Informed—a monthly newsletter where our team shares expert tips, industry trends, and practical advice to help you boost engagement and make smarter marketing decisions.

From better surveys to better answers with Typeform

You can use multiple different tactics to improve your survey response rate—from your welcome screen to the way you ask questions—but ultimately, it all comes down to creating surveys worth filling out.

By tailoring your survey to each individual, prioritizing its design and flow, and incentivizing survey-takers to complete it, you’ll do more than maximize your survey rate. You’ll collect better data and spark conversations with your audience.

Typeform has everything you need to build better surveys—from eye-catching designs and customization options to advanced features and robust analytics.

With better surveys, you’ll get better answers—so you can make better decisions. Ready to see the difference Typeform can make in your business? Try Typeform for free.