So without any further ado, here are the most recent tips: 

1. Go Mobile – It’s now even quicker and easier to do with SurveyGizmo’s new mobile interface 

2. When explaining the survey’s purpose be sure to reveal no more than is needed to avoid influencing responses 

3. Set time zones and change the way your dates and times are formatted with the Localization feature  

4. When using numeric rating scales higher numbers should mean a more positive or more agreeing answer 

5. For a statistical model that estimates market potential, create a TURF Report  

If you can’t wait for the weekly update be sure to follow SurveyGizmo on twitter to get the new tip each day. You can find the compiled lists of the Survey Tip of the Day and additional online survey tips and suggestions here at the SurveyGizmo blog as well as links to helpful SurveyGizmo tutorials. If you have any survey tips you would like to share leave us a comment or send us an email, SurveyGizmo is all about feedback.

This week we’ve added a brand-new reporting feature that I’m sure any small business will undoubtedly find extremely helpful — the TURF Report.

What is a TURF report, you say?

Well, TURF stands for Total Unduplicated Reach and Frequency. What does that really mean?

Let me give you an example!

Let’s say you own an ice cream shop and are trying to decide on which 3 new flavors to add to your menu. You want to know which flavors will make the most customers happy which will in turn result in higher profits.

You send out a survey and tell your customers to pick from a list of 20 new flavors their top 3.

You get the results back and according to your summary report people voted like the following:

Chocolate Chocolate Chip – 20 votes
Strawberry Short Cake – 12 votes
Vanilla Milkshake – 11 votes
Rocky Road – 9 votes
Purple Paradise – 8 votes
Wisconsin Cheese – 6 votes
Caramel Surprise – 5 votes

From the list above you would assume that the 3 flavors you should pick in order to make the most people happy would be Chocolate Chocolate Chip, Strawberry Short Cake, and Vanilla Milkshake — they got the most votes after all.

This is where the TURF report comes into play. It measures not only how many times people voted but which combination of results will give you the furthest reach (make the most people happy).

Back to our little example, it turns out that the combination of:
Chocolate Chocolate Chip
Vanilla Milkshake
Rocky Road

will make the most people happy. Why is that?

Because the people who voted for Chocolate Chocolate Chip also voted for Strawberry Short Cake. But the people who voted for Rocky Road didn’t vote for Chocolate Chocolate Chip or Vanilla Milkshake. By adding Rocky Road to your menu, you’re making new people happy, while still making the Chocolate Chocolate Chip/Strawberry Short Cake lovers happy too.

That was just a quick example of what a TURF report can do for you. To check out a real-life example of how SurveyGizmo used the TURF as well as step-by-step instructions, you’ll want to head over to the new TURF Report Tutorial.

As always, if you have any questions or want to let us know how you use the TURF, leave some comment love!