When you distribute your survey by email, the email received by respondents will contain a unique URL to access the survey. You can customize the invitation email in two places in the application:
- From the survey settings menu (on the My Survey page, click the settings icon for the survey you want to customize –
), choose Survey Invitation Email within the Survey Communication Properties section.
- As part of the survey launch wizard – when you launch your survey and choose email launch you will automatically be prompted to configure the launch email.
Configuring the Invitation Email
You first must enter a “From” name (the name that will be displayed to the recipient), a “From” email, and the email subject. You can use any “From” email address but be careful if you use a dummy email address as respondents may attempt to reply to it. If you use a dummy email address and a respondent attempts to reply it will not be returned to the sender as undeliverable.
Email Message
The email subject and body will prepopulate with standard text but you can customize it as needed, such as entering a salutation, including an explanation of what the survey is for and how it will be used, etc.
The [SURVEY-LINK] Tag
Your survey invitation email will always have a [SURVEY-LINK] tag. When the email is delivered, this tag will be replaced with the recipient’s unique URL that will take them to the survey. You must have this tag somewhere in your survey invitation email. The system will not allow you to proceed to the survey launch without this tag. You can, however, move it anywhere within the email body.
Using Custom Field Values
You can insert custom field values into the email subject and body, which will allow you to customize the message to recipients. For example, if you have a respondent’s first name in custom field 1 and you want to address the email to that recipient, you can insert the tag [CUSTOM-FIELD1] where desired. When the email is delivered, the tag will be replaced with each recipient’s custom field 1 value (their first name). You can type in the tag name or click the “Insert Custom Fields” link and choose the custom field you would like to insert.
Opt-Out Message
To comply with global spam regulations we automatically include an opt-out link in every survey invitation email that goes out. Any recipient who clicks that link will automatically be added to the Master Opt-Out list in your mailing lists. If someone clicks on the link by accident, you can opt them back in by going to the Opt-Out list, finding their email, and removing it from the list.
Customizing the Survey Link and Opt-Out Message
Most of the invitation email text is customized from the Survey Email Invitation menu. However, there are instructions that are inserted with the survey link and the opt-out message. Those messages are inserted from the survey language packs and can be customized by creating your own language pack and then setting the language on your survey to that custom language pack.
