Whether online or offline, it is very important to collect feedback from participants. However, online events tend to have a lower response rate than offline events. Feedback is very important data that can be used to improve content and is also useful as a reference when following up with participants. We will introduce some ways to improve the response rate for online event feedback. For more information on the importance of follow-up and related metrics, please refer to **[this article](https://www.brightcove.com/ja/resources/blog/thorough_understanding_of_virtual_events_4)**.
__Table of Contents__
– [1. It’s difficult to collect survey responses for online events](#1-)
– [2. How to increase the response rate for surveys](#2-)
– [3. What incentives can be offered for survey responses at online events](#3-)
– [4. How to collect survey responses from the perspective of the participants](#4-)
## 1. It’s difficult to collect survey responses for online events
It is very important to obtain feedback from participants at events. Everyone will agree that it is beneficial to obtain direct feedback from participants on the quality of the session and the reasons for this. In addition to setting up links to the survey responses on the website where the online event is being held or within the video player, you could also send out an email after the event to encourage people to respond. As you can see, it is important to make the survey easy to understand and to guide people to respond, but this alone will not increase the response rate.
At offline events, it was common for the organizer to hand out the questionnaire to participants when they entered the venue, and then collect them in exchange for a novelty item when they left. If the staff collect the questionnaires themselves when people leave, it is somehow difficult to just walk past without filling in the questionnaire. On the other hand, at online events, it is easy to leave (leave the venue) by simply pressing the close button on the browser. There is also no incentive for participants, such as an exchange for a novelty item. With these premises in mind, let’s think about how we can get more people to fill out the survey.
## 2. How to increase the survey response rate
The first thing to do is to encourage people to answer the survey as many times as possible, and to create an environment where it is easy to answer the survey on the spot. It is essential to at least have the speaker call for survey responses at the beginning or end of the talk, and to announce how to answer the survey to the participants in the video. In online events, there are many participants who leave the session as soon as it finishes. It is also important to make repeated announcements for each session.
One measure that is unique to online events is to insert a video explaining how to answer the questionnaire before or during the session. Another unique online event feature is to display a QR code on the website where the online event is being held that takes you to the questionnaire page.
At offline events, it is possible to answer questionnaires during the event. However, at online events, it can be difficult to answer questionnaires while watching videos on a limited display. At business-related online events, many people participate using a PC, but one way to make it easier to access questionnaires is to announce “Please scan the QR code with your smartphone”. However, in this case, it is better to make the answers multiple choice rather than open-ended.
## 3. Incentives for answering questionnaires at online events
As mentioned above, at offline events, it was possible to hand out novelties in exchange for filling in the questionnaire. At online events, one way to provide an incentive is to distribute the presentation materials used at the event as a bonus.
There are many participants who want to take the time to check the speaker’s materials later. If you set up a system where only participants who have filled in the questionnaire can download the materials, this can be an effective measure. In addition, you may also need to follow up with a reminder email for those who still haven’t responded. However, sending too many emails can have the opposite effect by making people feel bad, so please be careful and only send one email, for example, along with a thank you for attending. In any case, participants are unlikely to respond to a survey if you just wait for them to do so. To get better results, please be aware of making announcements proactively and creating a system that makes it easy to respond to the survey.
## 4. How to collect the questionnaires from the participants’ perspective
In this article, we have introduced methods for increasing the response rate for questionnaires in online events. When you actually try them out, you will probably encounter specific issues, such as the timing of announcements and how to place QR codes. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, so please try to find the best solution for your event and the tendencies of your participants.
