Introduction to VWO Pulse Surveys

Overview

VWO Pulse Surveys are a powerful tool designed to collect direct feedback from your website visitors, mobile app users, or a specific audience (from an email list or your social media contacts) via a shareable link. By asking targeted questions, you can gather valuable insights to understand the why behind their behavior.

Key Features

Choose when, where, and who will see your survey

VWO allows you to publish surveys on your website, in your mobile app, or through a standalone link. Website surveys (requiring VWO SmartCode) can be shown in real time on specific pages or after user events. They offer options to target audience segments and trigger the survey based on behaviors such as exit intent or scroll depth. Mobile app surveys (requiring the VWO Mobile Insights SDK) can be displayed on selected screens or in-app events and targeted to users based on their interaction patterns. Link surveys generate a standalone URL that can be shared externally and require no code implementation.

Create surveys faster with Templates or VWO Copilot

Build your survey manually with a wide range of question types (including Emoji Rating and Opinion Scales), use pre-built templates for common use cases, or use VWO Copilot to generate relevant questions automatically.

Customize your survey

Tailor the look and feel of your survey to match your brand. Make them engaging to invite maximum participation from your users. You can customize the layout position, choose from multiple themes, show or hide VWO branding, and even upload your own logo.

Reach a global audience

Easily create surveys in multiple languages. You can add translations manually or use the built-in Sync from English feature to auto-translate your entire survey.

Control survey delivery

Use advanced frequency options to manage how often users see a survey, such as displaying it only once, until they respond, or on a recurring basis.

VWO Surveys help you move beyond quantitative data (like clicks and bounce rates) to understand the qualitative reasons, motivations, and opinions that drive user actions.

From Clicks to Context using Surveys: An E-commerce Example

Imagine you run an e-commerce store and notice a high number of visitors abandoning their carts. You can configure VWO Surveys to help you discover the precise reason.

Instead of showing a generic survey to all visitors, you can:

1. Target with precision
   Show the survey only on your checkout or cart page.
    
2. Segment your audience
   Target a specific standard segment, such as Referral Traffic, to see if visitors from a particular marketing campaign have different objections. Or, create a custom segment for users who have a high cart value but are not completing the purchase.
    
3. Use advanced triggers
   Configure a custom trigger to display the survey only when a visitor indicates an intention to leave the page.
    
4. Ask a targeted question
   Use a Multi-Line Text Box question to ask, "We noticed you didn't complete your purchase. Could you tell us what stopped you today?"
    
5. Capture global feedback
   If your store serves an international audience, you can add multiple languages to your survey. Using the Sync from English feature, you can instantly translate your questions into Dutch, French, or other supported languages, ensuring you get clear feedback from all your users.

This specific feedback, that shipping costs were unclear for users in the Netherlands, is a direct, actionable insight that click data alone cannot provide.

Real-World Survey Applications

SaaS: Measuring New Feature Satisfaction

Problem: A B2B SaaS company just launched a new Reporting feature and wants to know if it is valuable to users.

Solution:

1. Create a Custom Segment targeting users who have used the new feature more than three times.
2. Display the survey on the user's main dashboard page.
3. Use an Emoji Rating question (How do you feel about the new Reporting feature?) followed by a text question (What can we do to make it better?).

Insight: The company can quickly gauge overall sentiment (for example, 75% of users like the feature) and collect qualitative feedback to guide the next development sprint.

Publishing: Discovering Subscription Objections

Problem: A media website wants to understand why visitors read multiple articles but do not convert to a premium subscription.

Solution:

1. Create a survey targeting a Custom Segment of non-subscribers who have viewed more than three articles in a single session.
2. Trigger the survey to appear after the user finishes reading their third article.
3. Use a Radio Button question (What is the main reason you haven't subscribed yet?) with options like Price is too high, Not enough content on my topics of interest, or Other.

Insight: The website discovers that a significant portion of users are seeking more content on a specific niche, prompting a shift in editorial strategy.

To start building surveys, see how to Access, Set Up, and Manage Surveys.