Create a survey

Surveys are digital questionnaires you share with your contacts to collect feedback, measure satisfaction, gather preferences, or research any topic relevant to your business. All responses are collected in Flexmail and available in detailed reports.

Anonymous vs. identified surveys

Surveys are anonymous by default: you see aggregate results but not which contact gave which answer. If you disable anonymity, responses are linked to individual contacts, which enables personalisation and comparative reporting. Decide before creating which mode suits your use case, because changing this setting later affects how existing data is stored.

What surveys can do

• 9 question types: text fields, multiple choice, rating scales, matrix, image choice, and more
• Multiple pages: divide long surveys into focused sections
• Survey scenarios: redirect respondents to different pages based on their answers
• Personalisation: pre-fill fields with contact data (non-anonymous surveys only)
• Custom styling: colours, fonts, and a header banner
• Detailed reports: percentage breakdowns, charts, answer sheets, and comparative views

Create a survey

Step 1: Name and save

1. Go to Forms, then Surveys.
2. Click Create new survey.
3. Enter a name, select a category, and click Save. The survey editor opens.

Step 2: Add an intro text

At the top of the editor, add an intro text that appears before your questions. Explain the purpose of the survey, how long it takes to complete, and what you'll do with the results. Contacts are more likely to complete a survey when they understand why they're being asked.

Step 3: Anonymous or identified

Set whether responses are linked to individual contacts

Step 4: Add questions

1. Click Add a question.
2. Choose a question type. See 'Survey question types reference' for a description of each option.
3. Enter the question text.
4. Mark the question as required or optional.
5. Add help text if the question needs extra clarification.
6. For multiple choice questions, add the answer options.

Step 5: Add pages (optional)

Long surveys work better when divided into pages, each page focuses on one topic, which makes the survey feel less overwhelming. Click Add page to insert a new section. Pages are also required if you want to use survey scenarios.

Step 6: Add a closing text

After the last question, add a closing text with a thank-you message and any relevant next steps, for example, when respondents can expect to hear from you or where they can find the results.

Step 7 : Configure settings

After you have finished designing your survey, configure it's setting using the gear icon > Edit survey settings.

Here you'll find:

• Colours and fonts: to match your brand
• Language: for button labels and default texts
• Header banner: an image at the top of the survey
• Close: choose an end date for your survey and show a custom message
• Notification: Send an email to a specified address each time someone has completed the survey

Share your survey

Click the gear icon > Open web version survey to get a standalone Flexmail-hosted page.

To use personalisation and link responses to contact records, share the survey as a link inside a Flexmail campaign. See 'Link to forms, surveys, and landing pages' in the Messages section.

Pro tips

• Keep surveys short. Eight focused questions outperform twenty broad ones. Define what decision you want to make from the results before writing any questions, and cut everything that doesn't serve that decision.
• Send surveys close to the experience they're measuring. For post-event or post-purchase surveys, aim for within 24-48 hours. Response rates and answer quality both drop significantly as time passes.
• Use scenarios to skip irrelevant questions automatically. A shorter, relevant survey has higher completion rates and more thoughtful answers than a long generic one.
• Use scales consistently. If you use 1-5 for one question, don't switch to 1-10 for the next. Mixed scales produce data that's hard to compare.

GDPR considerations

Next steps

• See 'Survey question types reference' for a description of all 9 question types.
• See 'Survey scenarios' to set up branching logic based on answers.
• See 'Personalise a survey' to pre-fill fields with contact data.