Quick Survey-Making: Google Forms vs. Microsoft Word

Introduction

With the technological advancements taking place, the economy is undergoing paradigmatic shifts. Today organizational decisions are way more informed and structured, all given to the upsurge in big data.

However, it is not just sufficient to engage big data in the decision-making process; it is crucial to structure and customizes the data depending on resources and the desired end goal. One way to ensure immaculate data is surveying.

Neatly drawn surveys will not only allow you a sneak peek inside the thought process of your audience but will also lay down the road map for fulfilling their demands. The market is flooded with survey ideas and tools to draft them. However, not all of them are efficient.

A coherent survey should be in-depth without being prolix and should be able to deliver comprehendible results. But how to draw such a survey? Which tools should we use? Well, let's find the right way to draft an excellent survey!

1. 10 Tips to create a survey for your business

Though the economy has always been customer-centric, in recent times, the shift towards a more personalized experience for customers has soared. Elevating the customer experience is crucial for the success and stability of a business.

And to deliver the same, organizations rely upon data. As such data is collected mainly from market surveys, let us understand how to draft a compelling survey:

1. State your purpose

Stating the purpose of the survey will assist your team in building a questionnaire around it. Though human responses cannot be predicted with complete accuracy, asking them the right questions can rick their brains to answer in a certain way.

A focused questionnaire will increase your chances of getting a clear picture of your thoughts and wants.

2. Research your audience

The outcome of a survey will depend on the responses of the participants. So, it is pivotal to study your audience first. Several factors about the target audience, like their age bracket, spending habit, income, preferences, interests, and behaviors, should be thoroughly studied.

Understanding their communication style and drafting the survey accordingly is also crucial.

3. Find the right survey tool

Several survey tools are on the market today, both paid and unpaid. And different tools offer different features and functionalities.

And the right survey tool will help you create, distribute, and analyze your survey effectively, saving you time and resources. So choose a survey tool that fits your business needs and budget.

4. Make questions easy to understand

A survey requires different drafting skills than a write-up. The language and placement of the questions should be such that they can be understood by the targeted audience quickly, without any assistance. The questions should be straightforward, direct and free of any technical jargon.

5. Keep questions limited

Instead of adding many questions to a survey, endeavor to draft questions to collect maximum data with few questions. A study conducted by NLM showed that data produced by short surveys are more reliable, while the probability of participants complicating a brief survey is also higher.

The reasoning is that participants can grow impatient with answering several questions and doing long surveys. However, this should not result in a reckless shredding of crucial questions. 

6. Ask the right type of questions

The quality of questions will determine the quality of answers. To ensure that you get the desired result from the survey, it is essential to ask the correct type of questions.

A well-drafted survey will grab the participant's attention and keep them hooked and excited about the study while challenging them to answer logically.

7. Use conditional logic to keep surveys focused

A complete survey may have several questions, but the surveyor must use conditional logic to keep the survey focused. It means, based on the previous responses of the participant, surveyors should be able to eliminate questions that will not add any value.

This way, the survey will wrap up in shorten span while remaining relevant.

8. Offer incentives for filling out surveys

Incentivizing survey respondents will exponentially increase the response rate and improve data quality. Research by PeoplePulse concluded that offering incentives typically lift response rates by 10-15%. 

Incentives can be in any form, discounts, coupons, or gift cards, luring the customers to participate in the survey.

9. Use a CRM or email marketing tool to send and handle responses

We will efficiently process a massive pile of data from surveys to ensure quality. However, it is also equally essential to ensure that collecting, sorting and storing data is efficient and effortless. Using a CRM or email marketing tool to send and handle responses will prove to be an efficient way of doing so.

It will reduce the processing time significantly, store the data logically, and allow you to track respondent data when required.

10. Collect data and act on it

Collect data Collecting data, analyzing it, and then applying it is the final stage and a crucial part of conducting a survey. Conducting surveys to make big data decisions makes it pivotal to act on them at the earliest.

Sitting on information collected during a survey will render the data useless. It is, therefore, crucial to work on the data at the earliest.

2. Google forms step-by-step guide

Here are the steps to create a crisp and compelling survey using Google Forms:

Step 1: To create a Google Form, sign in to your Google account and navigate to Google Forms.

Step 2: Click on the "+" icon to create a new form.

Step 3: Choose a template or start with a blank form depending on your needs and preferences.

Step 4: Enter the title and a brief description of your form clearly and concisely.

Step 5: Click the "Add question" button to add your questions to the form.

Step 6: Select the type of question you wish to ask (multiple-choice, short answer, etc.), and enter the text clearly and grammatically correctly.

Step 7: Enter each question's answer choices or options, ensuring they are relevant and appropriate.

Step 8: Indicate whether each question is required or optional, depending on the type of information you are collecting.

Step 9: Repeat steps 5-8 to add more questions to your form, ensuring they are organized and presented logically and easily.

Step 10: Customize the settings and options for your form, such as the theme, response destination, and confirmation message, to suit your needs.

Step 11: Preview your form to ensure it appears and works correctly before sharing it with others.

Step 12: Click on the "Send" button to share your form with others via email or a link.

3. Microsoft forms a step-by-step guide for Mac and PC

Here are the steps to a professional-looking and effective survey using Microsoft Forms on a MAC:

Step 1: Open the web browser and go to the Microsoft Forms website.

Step 2: Sign in to your Microsoft account.

Step 3: Click on the "New Form" button and create a new form

Step 4: Name your form, provide the requite description, and hit the "Create" button.

Step 5: Add questions using the "Add Question" button.

Step 6: Select the form of the question and answer you want, e.g., multiple choice, text, etc.

Step 7: You can customize the question settings while adding the questions.

Step 8: Repeat steps 5-7 for all the questions you want to add.

Step 9: Once you add the questions, customize the general form settings such as theme, background image, and sharing options.

Step 10: Share the form using the "Share" option vide email, link, or QR code.

Here, you are all done!

And even if you are using your PC instead of a MAC, there is no need to worry, as the steps for creating an efficient survey on a PC are similar to those on a MAC. Again, it is because the process is browser-based, therefore, is not affected by the operating system.

4. Microsoft forms vs google forms - a detailed comparison

FACTORS	MICROSOFT FORMS	GOOGLE FORMS
PRICING & PLANS	The Microsoft forms come under Office 365 suite and will cost a business $6 per monthly user (approx).	However, unlike Microsoft Forms, Google Forms are entirely free. Therefore, you can access Google Forms forever, just like any other Google Suite product.
DESIGNING PROCESS	The Microsoft forms are a dream to work with. They are fluid, simple and efficient, with features like logic branching, shuffle options, points for quizzes, etc.	Google Forms are well built with options like essential question types, file upload, etc. However, though they are very efficient and easy to use, they need to game up to match with Microsoft Forms.
TEMPLATES	Templates are the category where Microsoft Forms need to put in more effort, as they currently have only three active templates.	Google Forms has its users covered with over 20 templates, a decent upgrade from three.
THEMES	Regarding themes, Microsoft Forms makes up for the lack of templates. You can apply several visually appealing themes to the entire form.	However, unlike its extensive range of templates, Google Forms do not have a great collection of themes. Instead, they stick to very basic pastels, with an option to attach an image at the top.
TEAM COLLABORATION	Though Microsoft Forms does have collaboration options, they are sub-par. They only allow editing access. Crucial options like view-only and commenting are unavailable, restricting the collaboration level required to conduct a survey.	The collaboration options of google forms are similar to those of Microsoft Forms. Users can onboard collaborators but cannot extend view-only or allow them to add comments. In addition, all collaborators will have edit permits, which could be better for surveying.
ANALYTICS	The analysis is the ultimate stage of surveying, and it has been made easy with Microsoft Forms. You can directly import the collected data into Excel and analyze it using formula-based tools and charts.	While you cannot analyze the data collected using Google Forms directly, you can share it in Google Docs, which provides several tools for in-depth data analysis.
MOBILE APP	The mobile app functionality is something Microsoft Forms has to work on. Currently, you can only access it through its web interface.	The same is the case with Google Forms. You cannot access them through mobile applications either.
VIDEO & IMAGES	Although forms made using Microsoft Forms are efficient, they might not be visually appealing. It is because users can only add images or videos to the questions and not in between them.	Google Forms is the perfect tool to create a custom personalized survey. You can add videos and images to the questions, and anywhere else you deem fit.
SUPPORT TEAM	Microsoft has a very clever way of handling customer queries. Users can browse their FaQs with detailed solutions for the most frequently faced problems. And if that doesn't work, users can raise a ticket.	Google Forms does provide customer support but is less reliable and fast than Microsoft. First of all, there is no on-call support. Secondly, even the replies to the query emails can take considerable time.

Summary

Surveying is indispensable for businesses to gather essential data and make informed decisions. Surveys provide a unique opportunity to understand the audience's thought processes and help you meet their demands.

However, creating a well-structured survey is critical for obtaining accurate and reliable results. Businesses must keep up with the latest trends in surveying and utilize the most effective methods to ensure their surveys yield optimal results.

Using the right tools and techniques, businesses can design in-depth yet concise surveys that provide valuable insights into customer needs and preferences. And with the myriad of survey tools available in the market, choosing the right one that fits your needs is essential.