Online polls and surveys are useful tools for small businesses to connect with customers and gauge insight on customer satisfaction. Google Forms is a simple and convenient way to execute an online survey and obtain information from customers. Why pay for a fancy online server, when you can easily collect unlimited data for free through your email.
What is Google Forms?
Google Forms is a tool offered through Google Drive that collects information in the form of a poll or survey. All responses are automatically added and organized into a spreadsheet which you can view at any time. More than just a list of interactive questions, Google Forms can be used for anything from collecting emails at a trade show, event RSVPs, or gathering feedback to help your business.
While some online polling services are costly for certain features, Google Forms is entirely free. Other sites may cap the amount of forms you can make, or the amount of respondents able to take it, but with Google Forms, everything is unlimited. You are able to run as many polls as you’d like, until your Google Drive is full. This does not happen to most people, but if it does, save older files to your computer and delete them from Drive to make room for more.
How do Google Forms work?
Before you can use Google Forms, you first need to have a Google account. If you 
don’t have one set up, you’re missing out. Once you’re set up with Google, to create a Google Form, go to the Google Drive feature of your Google account. There, you are given many different options like word document or spreadsheet, along with form.
Google Forms is an easy and convenient way to conduct a study because the person who creates the form can share the link. This means that anyone with the authority can access the questions and respond. It is a free application, but you need a Google enabled email address with access to Google Drive in order to create a form. But anyone, even people without a Gmail account, can submit answers in the form. All forms created in Google Forms are mobile friendly, so anyone can conveniently send in their responses from their mobile devices.
What kinds of forms can you create in Google Forms?
Each question can be answered in a variety of formats such as multiple choice or short answer, and can be required for submission or optional. Customize your form with pictures for each question and pick between themes you can tailor to fit your business’s image. Additionally, you can insert your business’s logo as a header image and choose between different fonts and text colors.
In particular, one feature that is incredibly useful is the ability to provide different questions based off of the user’s previous answers. For example, if the user selects one answer for a question, on the next page they have a different set of questions than someone that selects the other option.
Another useful feature is the ability to opt into email notifications for email newsletters when a user has completed your survey. If you want to know immediately that someone has responded to the form and want to see the results, you can choose to be notified. You can also choose to be sent a daily update of the responses instead.
How to Use Google Forms as a Marketing Tool
1. Customer Surveys
Google Forms is a great way for a business to obtain customer insight. The custom forms allow you to create professional looking questionnaires to send to customers. For any small business to successfully grow and develop, it’s important to get and implement customer feedback. Customers are the basis of your business, so it’s important that you are constantly listening to their advice in order to best engage your audience and extend your reach.
2. Suggestion Box
Google Forms can take the place of the old suggestion box. If you’re looking to revamp your business or get new ideas in general, ask your loyal clients for some ideas that would make the experience better for them. As mentioned, in order to have a successful business, you need to retain satisfied customers. Find out what you can do that best suits them and their needs.
3. Grow Your Business Email List
You can use Google Forms to collect email addresses at a trade show or expo or to access interest from potential clients. Simply create a form before an event and have it set up on an iPad or table for people to fill out at your booth.
Whether you’re seeking to collect email addresses to add to your mailing list or encouraging clients to sign up for your services, using Google Forms is an easy way to grow your email list.
- Restaurants, bakeries, or caterers can use Google Forms to take orders for the holidays.
- Fitness centers can use Google Forms for exercise class sign up if they don’t have a reservation system in place.
- If you are running an in-store contest, like guessing how many gumballs are in a jar to win a gift card, urge customers to enter through a quick Google Forms poll. Using Google Forms this way gives you all of the information in one place so that so you can easily pick a winner.
Who should use Google Forms?
Google Forms are a simple tool but not very robust. Google Forms useful for business owners with a small marketing reach and who don’t have a budget for more expensive software. Since all of the responses in a Google Form are automatically collected into a spreadsheet, analyzing the data is simple and can easily be exported into an Excel spreadsheet for further analysis.
Any business can use Google Forms for their own specific purposes, which is why Google Forms is such a versatile tool to have. Google Forms can be used for purposes other than marketing, such as organizing duties and tasks for company events, collaborations, and parties!
Have you ever created a survey through Google Forms? What was your impression?
