Beware: Surveys and Free Downloads

We should say…Entrepreneurs beware: surveys and free downloads. We’re not talking about customers…or shoppers.

You had an idea and started a business.

You created a website and declared that you are open for business, and you are ready to get your message out to the world.

All good.

But before you embark on an ad campaign, or an email marketing plan or development of your social media strategy beware of things that can throw cold water on your idea…and your reputation.

We aren’t saying that you shouldn’t conduct surveys or take advantage of offering free downloads and promotional pricing. 

We’re saying that you shouldn’t subject your customers and site visitors to practices that they might find annoying, or worse.

Conducting a survey is a reasonable way of getting information. Lots of companies, bloggers and influencers do it, among others.

Free downloads are usually a good way to interest people who are seeking the kind of product or service you sell.

Both are widely used in business on the internet, and off.

Many, many companies rely on these methods to get them sales, information, new contacts, new subscribers, lots of things. But they don’t all do it the same way.

They do not.

We don’t want you to fall for the enticements out there and then subject your customers or site visitors to things that will make them go ‘wow, that’s lousy’.

That’s why we’re pointing them out here.

How will you know? And what should you do? How will you know when you need to beware of surveys and free downloads?

Number One: Avoid offering something in return for a survey response unless you really are going to provide that ‘something’ without tricks or misleading tactics.

A national grocery store chain that is big on savings and ‘lite’ on service and other perks invites customers to do a survey online following their shopping experience. The cashier usually tells you about it and circles the details at the bottom of your receipt to make it easy for you to find the information you’ll need.

If the customer does the survey, they will have a chance to win something significant. Maybe $1,000 in free groceries or something along those lines.

Some people do go online and complete the survey because the prize sounds pretty good, especially in these times of inflation.

But there is a catch.

And you cannot know about the catch until you spend about 15 minutes answering all of the questions.

At that point, just when you think you are finished, they thank you for participating in the survey and appreciate your willingness to take the time to help them. Thank you, thank you.

Then they advise you that if you want to be entered into the draw for the prize – the draw that you thought you had already qualified for with the answers you’ve already provided – you will need to answer a much lengthier survey.

It’s bogus, it’s lousy treatment of a customer. It’s disrespectful of their time and worst of all…the customer may feel taken advantage of. Scandalous! And the company goes down a notch or two in the customers’ estimation.

And, he may feel like a complete idiot for falling for the ‘enter to win’ thing. Should have known better!

Number Two: If you offer a free download make sure you clearly state what the customer has to do to get access to it.

A website had a pop-up that said, “Download Your Free Report on …”. Enter your email address for access.

There was no other information.

When the customer enters their email address, they have an expectation that they will be granted access to the report, or that it will be sent to the email address they have provided.

But, in this case, they were simply taken to another screen where a lot more personal information was required.

First and last name, address, company, position, the name of your favorite pet and more.

Ok, just kidding. They didn’t ask for the name of the pet. Anyway…

That is not what was expected, so the customer is let down.

Lying, tricking, leaving out critical requirements, and misleading people are not good practices.

You would be wise to disregard those who say ‘Well, if the person wasn’t willing to enter more personal data or go the extra mile completing a survey, they aren’t our customer anyway.’ Or ‘Those customers are a dime a dozen… at least we got some of the information we wanted. They’ll still shop with us.’

There may, indeed, be some people who won’t give up on those companies.

Fact: Most people do not like being abused or taken advantage of.

Smart marketers and business owners who respect people and their time and privacy know this fact, and they proceed accordingly.