Surveys are the ideal tool for finding out what your customers really think and why, so you can continuously improve your products and services and deliver a better experience tailored to suit them. But you have to know how to ask. We’ve put together some advice to help you get the answers you’re looking for.

In this guide we’ll cover:

for both Mobile and Desktop surveys.

For some in-depth knowledge before you get started, read through our Best practices for designing effective and engaging surveys.

By deciding between a small or large format survey, you are able to optimize for your particular surveying use case.

Small format surveys are perfect for reaching broad audiences, where the nature of the questions are lightweight, non-urgent and shouldn’t disrupt customers from their task. This format works well for a Quarterly NPS®, where you want to get a quick pulse on customer sentiment.

A small format survey is displayed as a floating banner fixed to the bottom of the page on web. Customers can still interact with other elements on the page, and the survey will remain there until they choose to complete it or dismiss it.

Note: Small format surveys are displayed full-screen on Mobile SDK and will need to be completed or dismissed.

Large format surveys are great for reaching highly targeted audiences, where the nature of the questions require the users full and/or immediate attention. This format could be used for new user onboarding, where you want to find out a customer's first impressions and obtain detailed answers.

A large format survey is displayed as a large modal fixed to the center of the page on web. Customers won’t be able to interact with other elements on the page until they complete the survey or dismiss it.

Note: Large format surveys are displayed full-screen on Mobile SDK and will need to be completed or dismissed.

Use this chart as a quick reference when choosing a format for your survey:

Intercom Surveys supports 8 different question types. This will explain what each one is so that you can select the right one for your survey.

NPS®

A 0 to 10 numeric rating scale to capture customer sentiment.

Numeric Scale

A customizable numeric scale to help measure your query. Define your scale’s start and end, and customize your labels to match your question.

Star Rating

A 5 star rating scale with customizable labels.

Emoji Rating

Use emojis to capture customer sentiment. Choose from either a 3-emoji or 5-emoji rating scale with customizable labels.

Dropdown / List

Allow customers to choose from a list to find the option that best matches them. Add answer options in the Question settings panel (on the left) using commas to separate values. You can customize the placeholder text as well.

Short text entry

Customers can input their own response - up to 255 characters. You can customize your placeholder text.

Long text entry

Customers can input their own response - up to 2,000 characters. You can customize your placeholder text.

Multiple Choice

Present customers with several options to choose from. The default allows only once choice; however, you can toggle on “Multiple-select” to allow customers to choose as many options as they’d like. Add an “Other” option to provide customers with a freeform text field to input their response. (Copy will be localized based on customers’ browser language)

Note: This question type is only available for large format surveys.

Pro tip: For all question types, except long text entry, enrich your customer data by storing responses as a user attribute.

You can send customers down different paths in your survey using branching logic. This depends on the way the question response is stored and only works on closed ended question types.

Closed ended questions include:

Surveys is available for mobile apps in v12 of the Intercom's Android and iOS SDKs, making surveys a truly cross-platform experience for our customers.

Mobile surveys can do everything our surveys on web can do, including all question types, background and button colour customisations, storing and leveraging of survey responses. Find out more about creating a mobile survey here.
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