Paper-Based Surveys: Relevant or Relic?

The world is moving away from paper based surveys as the digital culture takes over. Printed newspapers and magazines are largely online, businesses have reduced or eliminated paper files in favor of electronic storage, and consumers use coupons from their smartphones and receive spam instead of junk mail. But does paper still have a place for business surveys?

Surveys are a great tool for any business, whether they’re looking for feedback from customers, prospects, or employees. Of course, online surveys are faster to implement and can be less costly, but paper-based programs still have a place in business.

Paper surveys can offer surprising advantages:

• People tend to absorb more of what they’re reading when it’s on paper instead of a screen, so paper surveys may give you more accurate responses
• Paper surveys may also collect more detailed and informative responses, because people take more time to write out answers than to type or click buttons
• You may get more survey respondents with a paper survey—it’s harder to ignore a physical piece of paper than a link in an email, which can be easily deleted
• Paper survey results can be collected from people who may not be Internet-savvy or have access to a computer

Informatix managed a recent survey for one of our government clients, and regarding whether paper-based surveys were relevant, our client said “Yes.” They received over 30 percent of the total survey responses in paper form, proving that anonymous paper-based surveys still work.

If you’re considering running a survey, contact Informatix to learn more about how we can help you design, launch, and analyze effective surveys for your business.