When running a Facebook brand lift study, one of the key decisions is determining how many survey questions to ask respondents. While there is no set limit on the number of questions, most experts recommend keeping the survey brief to maximize completion rates. In this article, we’ll examine the factors to consider when deciding how many questions to include in a Facebook brand lift study survey.
What is a Facebook Brand Lift Study?
A Facebook brand lift study is a type of survey designed to measure how effective a Facebook ad campaign is at improving brand metrics like awareness, consideration, and favorability. It works by serving a survey to people before and after they see a brand’s ads, then comparing the results.
Some of the key things measured in a Facebook brand lift study include:
- Brand awareness – Do people recognize or recall the brand?
- Brand consideration – How likely are people to consider purchasing the brand’s products or services?
- Brand favorability – What are people’s perceptions and attitudes toward the brand?
- Ad recall – Do people remember seeing specific ad creative from the campaign?
By serving the survey to both a test group (people who see the ads) and a control group (those who don’t), marketers can isolate the true impact of the Facebook advertising on brand metrics.
How Many Questions Should You Ask?
Facebook allows marketers to ask up to 10 questions in the brand lift study survey. However, most experts caution against using all 10 questions and recommend aiming for 3-5 quality questions instead. Some key factors to consider include:
Survey Fatigue
Lengthier surveys lead to survey fatigue, which hurts completion rates. According to SurveyMonkey, the average online survey completion rate is only 33%. But for surveys with just 10 questions or less, the completion rate jumps to 83%. Keeping your survey short and focused helps prevent respondents from dropping off due to fatigue.
Data Quality
Asking too many questions can also negatively impact data quality. Respondents may start providing random or inconsistent answers if the survey drags on too long. Limiting the survey to your 3-5 most important questions can help improve the thoughtfulness of responses.
Question Relevance
Every survey question needs to tie directly back to your core research objectives. Avoid throwing in arbitrary questions just to fill space. If a question won’t provide truly actionable data, it’s not worth asking.
Cost
Facebook charges more for surveys with more questions. Each additional question adds to the total cost of the study. So limiting your questions helps control research expenses.
Best Practices for Survey Questions
Here are some best practices to make sure you’re asking the right survey questions:
- Focus on measuring brand awareness, consideration, and favorability.
- Limit demographic questions since Facebook provides this data.
- Avoid open-ended questions that require text responses.
- Make questions clear and specific.
- Randomize question order to prevent bias.
- Include both positive and negative answer choices where applicable.
Sample Survey Question Wording
Here are some examples of effective Facebook brand lift study questions:
Brand Awareness
- Which of the following brands are you aware of? Please select all that apply.
- Have you heard of [BRAND] before today?
Brand Consideration
- How likely are you to consider purchasing [BRAND] products?
- Please rank the following brands you would consider purchasing from in the next month.
Brand Favorability
- Do you have a favorable or unfavorable view of the [BRAND] brand?
- How would you rate your perception of [BRAND] compared to its competitors?
Ad Recall
- Did you recently see an ad from [BRAND] on Facebook?
- Which of the following [BRAND] ads do you remember seeing recently?
Using Logic and Skip Logic
To keep the survey short and relevant, make use of skip logic and logic in Facebook’s survey builder. For example:
- Only ask ad recall questions if awareness is high.
- Skip brand questions for those unfamiliar with the brand.
- Use demographic questions to filter results as needed.
Testing Different Question Combinations
The ideal number of questions can vary for every brand and campaign. That’s why it’s smart to test different question combinations and lengths in a series of small scale studies before launching a large-scale brand lift study.
For example, you could try 3 vs. 5 question surveys or test alternate wording and answer choices. Look at the completion rate, data consistency, statistical significance, and actionability of insights from each test round.
This testing allows you to fine tune your survey approach before committing to a full study.
Setting an Appropriate Sample Size
In addition to the number of questions, the sample size must also be adequate to yield statistically significant results. Facebook recommends at least 1000 completed responses.
Since not everyone who sees the survey will complete it, you’ll need a larger reached audience. For shorter surveys, aim for around 3000-5000 reached to get 1000 high-quality completes.
You can approximate the number of respondents needed with online sample size calculators.
Conclusion
To summarize, here are some best practices for determining the number of questions to ask in a Facebook brand lift study:
- Limit your survey to 3-5 tightly focused, relevant questions.
- Test different question combinations and wording through small studies.
- Use skip logic and survey logic to eliminate unnecessary questions.
- Aim to reach 3000-5000 people to yield 1000 high-quality completed responses.
- Focus on measuring brand awareness, consideration, and favorability.
Keeping your Facebook brand lift study survey brief, while still collecting actionable data, will provide the most reliable and insightful results.