What can I learn from this page? | How to customize your survey communications |
Who is this guide for? | Account Admins, Survey Admins, Survey Creators |
Customizing your survey invites and reminders is a great way to drive participation and action with your survey. In this article, we will discuss how you can customize your survey invites and reminders, what can be customized, and provide tips for designing your survey communications.
What Can Be Customized?
Currently, you can customize most email and Slack messages. This includes invites and reminders, but not report notifications or Reporting Rules. These describe how survey results will be displayed and cannot be edited.
For a quick overview of what triggers our Attributed (Snapshot) survey notifications, who they are sent to, and what channels of communication they can be sent through (such as Slack or email), refer to the table below:
Trigger | Who | Trigger | Editable | Slack | MS Teams | |
Welcome screen | All Participants | In survey | Yes - platform | - | - | - |
Survey Invitation | All Participants | On launch | Yes - Email & Slack | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
First & repeat reminder(s) | Participants not yet completed | Per date scheduled | Yes - Email & Slack | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Final reminder | Participants not yet completed | Per date scheduled | Yes - Email & Slack | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Report Access | Report Owners & Viewers | Report access | No | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Reminder to complete action | Report Owners | + 2 weeks | No | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Action check-in | Report Owners | Date set by report owner in Action | No | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
🚫 Note: As indicated in the table, MS Teams notifications cannot be customized at this time.
Editing Email Messages
You can customize both your email invites and reminders to make them more engaging and effective. To edit your email messages:
Go to your Surveys page.
Click Edit Survey on the survey you want to update.
Open the Communications page.
Select the communication you want to edit (e.g., invite, reminder).
You will now see our default message for your chosen communication. Select Edit Email to customize the message.
Click Save Changes.
Click Return back to preview to see your saved updates.
☝️ Editing an email option on the Survey Communications page
Inserting Variables
Our survey communications designer allows you to personalize your emails with variables. Place your cursor where you want to include the variable, then select Insert Variable and choose from the list of options. You can add the following to your email's Subject or Message fields:
Respond by
Respond by time
Respond by timezone
Account name
Recipient name
Recipient preferred name
Survey name
Support contact
Support email
Check out our Communication Email Variables article for a full list of options.
☝️ Editing an email: Insert variable drop-down on the Survey Communications page.
📌 Note: In engagement surveys, the variable Recipient Preferred Name is automatically populated by the Preferred Name demographic. If you haven't uploaded Preferred Name for your employees, you can use the Recipient Name variable instead.
Adding Links
You can add links to any text or variables in the Message field:
Highlight the text you want to link.
Click the link icon in the email editor.
Add the URL, then click Save Changes.
☝️ Adding a URL to text: Pop-up screen on the Survey Communications page.
Previewing and Testing Email Communications
Previewing your communications before launching the survey is now simpler than ever.
From your surveys Communications page, choose the email communication you want to preview: Survey Invitation, First Reminder, Final Reminder, or Welcome Screen.
This opens the preview screen where you can edit your message using Edit Email or send a test using Send test.
To send a test email, click Send test and select an admin from the recipient list dropdown. Then, click Send test email.
☝️ Survey Communications Page: Pop-up screen for sending a test survey invite
Editing Slack Communications
From your surveys Communications page, select the email communication you would like to preview, choosing from Survey Invitation, First Reminder, and Final Reminder
Edit the Message field by adding in plain text or format the message with Slack’s custom formatting language.
Select Update communication to save your changes
☝️ Survey Communications Page: "Customize Slack Messages" Section
💡 Tips for Designing Your Survey Communications
Keep the message short
Bold key details like deadlines
Use variables to personalize the content message for each recipient
Avoid adding too many links to your email, since the ultimate goal is to get folks to take the survey
Only use "%" for commands like
%{respond_by}. When mentioning a percentage, like "Last year our participation rate was over 70%", use the word "percent" instead of the symbol. Using "%" outside of a command can cause your Slack messages to failAny commands such as
%{survey_name}in your Slack communications will automatically populate based on the details from your account/survey. For instance, the%{respond_by}command will be automatically filled with the date from your launch plan. You don't need to change it yourself. If the command is set up incorrectly, it can cause the Slack Communications to fail.Consider inserting the support contact variable in the last sentence of the communications email
Edit the email sender name to personalize what employees first see when they receive survey email communications
Consider when you'd like to launch the survey and how soon after the launch to send first and final reminders
Preview and test communications
Should you wish to disable the Thank you screen, just reply with "Ask a Person" in a Support Conversation to speak with a Product Support Specialist.
💬 Need help? Just reply with "Ask a Person" in a Support Conversation to speak with a Product Support Specialist.