Introduction

In market research, it's crucial to know who your target market is and what their needs and wants are. But how do you actually get that information? By conducting a b2b research survey! Surveys can give you valuable insights into what your target market thinks about your brand or product. While there are lots of different tools out there for creating surveys and sending them out, here we'll focus on how to create a B2B research survey. We'll also explore some tips for making sure it gets the best results.

A breakdown of the 6 steps required to create a successful B2B research survey

To illustrate the concept of a b2b research survey, let's start with an example. We'll then go into explaining the six steps needed to create a successful b2b research survey. Imagine that a consulting company is looking to survey senior-level executives who are responsible for choosing software for their company. The way that this company can go about this is through a b2b research survey. The company can also partner up with a data collection panel that can take care of the research for you. The survey research specialist can find survey respondents, launch the survey itself and then deliver the results. For instance, the panel can find senior-level IT employees or Heads of Technology who are responsible for choosing software. In this manner, the consulting company can get actionable insights for their research project.

1. How to find B2B research survey respondents

You should be able to find the data you need for your research, even if it's not from your own company. You can use the following sources:

• Data from other companies in your industry (e.g., competitors)
• Information from partners or vendors of your business
• Data from customers and prospects who have previously purchased or used products and services similar to yours
• Knowledge from public sources (e.g., government websites)
• Insights from industry analysts and publications
• Data from industry trade shows conferences, and events Data from social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

2. Designing the B2B research survey

The first thing to consider when designing your survey is how it will be used. If you plan on distributing it digitally, make sure you have an email list or other means of reaching out to potential respondents. A well-designed survey can help reduce the amount of time and money that goes into acquiring new leads and customers. Therefore, take some time upfront to think about how people will use it once they get their hands on it.

If you want more information about how best to design a survey for your particular business model, check out our article: How to run a B2B survey for due diligence the right way.

The next thing to consider is the type of survey that you want to create. There are a few different options for surveys, including:-

•Web surveys: These can be hosted on several platforms and shared through an embedded code or link. Web surveys are great for getting feedback from people in different places and time zones. However, they don’t offer the same level of customisation as other options. They also require respondents to have internet access, which may not always be possible depending on location.

•Online surveys: These are similar to web surveys, but they’re hosted on your own server and require people to visit a URL before they can take the survey. This makes it easier for you to customise the content of your survey. It also ensures that only those who want to participate can do so.

3. Survey timing and length

You'll want to strike a balance between keeping your survey short and ensuring that you get all the information you need. The ideal length is between 5 and 10 minutes. However, surveys can also last as long as 30 minutes, depending on the nature of the survey project.

For example, if you have a complex product that has many features, it may be hard for respondents to answer all of your questions in just one survey. In this case, consider breaking it up into multiple pages. This is so the respondent can answer each section separately instead of having to take everything at once.

Even if you do have a long survey, it's important to keep the questions short and concise. The wording of each question should be clear and easy to understand. In addition, there should be no more than one or two questions per page. When you're designing your survey, think about how people will fill it out. Is there a chance they'll get bored? If so, break up long surveys into multiple pages or add pictures or videos as visual aids. For some guidelines on survey length, check out this article by HubSpot.

4. Offering incentives for B2B survey respondents

The second reason for offering incentives is to increase the number of respondents. Incentives can be a gift card, sweepstakes entry, or drawing for a prize. The reward should be something that is desirable to your target audience and will encourage them to participate in the survey.

If you are looking to get more responses from people who are not current customers then you may want to offer an incentive only if they answer certain questions about their interest in your product or service. This way, if someone does not meet your criteria for this incentive then they won't receive it as well. It will save yourself some money by not having all respondents receive an incentive.

This is a great way to get the most out of your budget. You can also offer incentives for specific groups of respondents, such as those who have never purchased from you before or those who have not responded to a survey in the past. This will help you narrow down your audience and focus on only those who will be interested in your product or service.

5. Delivering your B2B research survey results

Now that you have a survey, it's time to deliver it. There are many ways to do this:

• Email surveys are simple and easy, but have their drawbacks. If sending the survey via email, make sure there is no chance for it to be tampered with or deleted before delivery; otherwise, you may end up with inaccurate responses or none at all!
• Online surveys can be accessed quickly on any device and are particularly useful in collecting large amounts of data from a variety of people all over the world very quickly. However, they may not be an option if some participants don't have internet access in their work setting (or lack proficiency with technology).
• Paper-and-pencil surveys are still widely used today because they can be administered by hand directly into a database by the recipient; this allows for more control over how each question is answered as well as greater privacy than electronic devices provide (which might reveal personal information such as age or income level).

Surveys can be used for a variety of purposes, such as collecting data on customers’ opinions about a product or service, learning how to improve products, and measuring employee satisfaction and productivity levels in the workplace.

6. Getting a response from your B2B research survey

Getting a response from your business-to-business (B2B) market research survey is the most important part of the process. You want to make sure that people are responding to your survey so you can get as much information as possible. In addition, timelines for b2b research surveys are vital, so keep in mind project deadlines as you move through the survey. If you don’t have enough respondents, then there is no point in doing the survey at all.

There are several things you can do to increase your response rate:

• Make an incentive for people who fill out the survey
• Ensure that the survey is easy to complete on mobile devices and desktops
• Make it interesting enough for people to want to respond
• Keep it short and sweet (no more than 5 minutes)

Offer a reward for people who fill out the survey. This can be anything from a discount code to free samples of your product or service. You want to make sure that people feel like they are getting something of value for their time and effort. Otherwise, they might not be inclined to fill in your survey. For more tips on b2b market research, check out this post.

Conclusion

That’s it! We hope this article has given you some inspiration on how to create a successful b2b research survey that will get a response. If you have any questions, please drop us a line on our LinkedIn Page.