If you could comb through all your employees, you’d identify the people across different jobs and at different levels - but also plenty of subgroups and segments within those jobs across the business. And if you could break down these segments and survey them - identifying things like demographics, geography, shared experiences, etc - you’d likely get some quite significantly different responses, experiences, and opinions about your business and what it’s like to work for you. This is segmentation. It is a critical concept in both research and marketing, providing a framework to effectively gather, analyze, and interpret data. By dividing a larger population into smaller, more manageable segments, researchers can gain deeper insights that lead to better decision-making. Now that you understand more about sample size, you can also begin to think about segmentation, and the practice of dividing your target market into approachable clusters, which will allow you to create more personal and effective survey strategies. The Importance of Segmentation for Data Analysis At its core, segmentation involves identifying and categorizing distinct groups within a broader audience based on shared characteristics. These groups can be defined using various criteria such as demographics, behavior, psychographics, or geography. Doing this ensures those conducting any research can pinpoint specific needs or preferences among target audiences, which in turn ensures more efficient and accurate data and insights. Ultimately, segmentation simplifies complex data sets into more digestible groups. When data is segmented, analysts can better uncover trends and patterns in these groups that might not be evident in aggregate data. Having this deeper understanding helps businesses to optimize their strategies and make informed decisions. Types of Segmentation Models Depending on the objectives of your survey and research, different segmentation models can be employed. We’ll talk about the appropriate time to use different segmentation models below, but the most common types are: Demographic Segmentation This is one of the most widely used forms of segmentation, as it categorizes individuals based on quantifiable statistics. This makes it easier to identify trends and preferences. This model divides consumers based on identifiable characteristics such as age, gender, income, education level, and family size. It can also include things like income level, religion, ethnicity, marital status and size of household. Example: A luxury car brand may want to reach high-income individuals aged 35-55, while a toy manufacturer may focus on parents with children aged 2-5. By tailoring marketing messages to address the specific needs and interests of these demographic segments, companies can enhance relevance and appeal. For B2B surveys, the segmentations might look a little different - such as type of industry, size of the business, number of employees, etc. 2. Geographic Segmentation At its most simple level, this type of segmentation identifies where your audience is located and may include categorization such as locations (i.e. zip codes, city, state, country), time zone, language, or population density. By categorizing individuals based on their location, you can create tailored messaging that takes into consideration regional preferences and cultural differences. Example: You are a fast food brand with locations globally, but you localise menu items in certain countries to better resonate with local audiences. By categorizing by location, you can ensure your messaging and marketing efforts are reaching the right audiences - and in the right language - for maximum impact. 3. Behavioral Segmentation This is where you group your customers based on certain behaviors, such as how they might interact with a product. It can help you to identify purchasing habits, brand loyalty, and product usage. It takes into account the actions and behaviors of customers - and by analyzing customer behavior, marketers can identify key trends and patterns. Example: Understanding that a segment of customers frequently purchases your product during holiday sales can lead to more tailored promotional strategies during those periods, which ultimately increase conversions and customer retention. Or, you can use behavioral segmentation to send out a special discount code to potential customers who may have shown interest in your products and signed up to your newsletter via the website, but have not made a purchase yet. 4. Psychographic Segmentation This type of segmentation classifies groups based on the attitudes, values, interests, and lifestyles of individuals. It can also take into account social status, personality traits and various opinions they might hold. It looks beyond surface-level data and demographics to better understand the deeper psychological traits that might influence consumer behavior. Example: You are a health food company targeting fitness enthusiasts, so that you can develop targeted content and campaigns that resonate with customers' lifestyle choices, building stronger connections and fostering brand loyalty. In order to do this, you might want to use segmentation to identify customers who go to the gym regularly, have an interest in wellness products, and regularly purchase wellness products or health foods during their weekly shopping. How to Choose the Right Segmentation Model? So, how do you know which model is right for your purposes? This is a crucial step in setting up effective market research, and you can consider the following factors: What are your research objectives? Clearly define what you hope to achieve from the segmentation process. This will help guide your choice of model. Data availability: Assess the type and amount of data you have access to. Some models require more detailed information than others. Target audience characteristics: Consider what characteristics are most relevant to your audience and business goals. LimeSurvey can help organizations identify the right segmentation model with its all-in-one, adaptable platform that gathers critical data and feedback about what drives various segments of your audience, as well as customizable feedback templates that allow you to receive a wealth of data with a ready-to-use approach. Effective Segmentation with LimeSurvey Segmentation is a vital component of obtaining accurate and insightful data, allowing researchers and marketers to dissect complex data. By implementing these various segmentation models, businesses can target their marketing efforts effectively, which leads to improved customer experiences and enhanced sales. LimeSurvey can help you with your segmentation planning by offering a wide range of customizable survey templates, enabling you to design surveys that precisely target the specific segments you've identified. Whether you’re focusing on demographic, geographic, behavioral, or psychographic segments, LimeSurvey’s templates can be easily tailored to fit your unique needs. Check out our template selection here. When organizations take the time to understand their audience at a deeper level, they position themselves for greater success in fulfilling customer needs and driving business growth.

Provide clear and honest survey information Everyone has opened a survey thinking they’d give some quick feedback, only to find that there are far more questions than anticipated and it will require more time than they were expecting. To avoid this, ensure that you’re open and transparent about the details of your survey. Provide the necessary information about the survey for your participants on the welcome screen of your survey. Before respondents begin, give them information about the survey topic, the number of questions, and an indication of how much time this will take. Additionally, it can be helpful to include details about data protection, including how the data is stored and whether participants can revoke permission. This can give people peace of mind, allowing them to fully understand how their responses and data will be used. In LimeSurvey, you can easily design your welcome screen. Once you have opened your survey, navigate to Settings -> Text elements and fill in the fields. Show survey relevance Gathering survey feedback hinges on ensuring your survey is relevant to your target audience. It is critical that you explain the topic and lay out how this is relevant to your survey respondents’ interests, be it determining the cause for a charity golf tournament, furthering academic research, or weighing in on workplace culture. To reach a more representative and engaged audience, consider using panel integration. This feature lets you tap into a pool of pre-screened respondents who align with your desired demographic, increasing the relevance of your survey responses. Whether you need feedback from specific consumer segments, age groups, or geographic areas, panel integration helps connect you with the people whose insights matter most. We recommend Splendid Research as a trusted Panel Provider - they will provide an exact sample of respondents according to your specifications and desired demographics. Also, explaining why participation is important can also help convince people to take your survey. When they fully understand the purpose of the survey and how it relates to them, they’ll be more inclined to respond. Use mandatory questions only where needed It can be appealing to make every survey question mandatory – after all, you worked hard on putting the survey together and every question matters to you! But, for many respondents, too many mandatory questions can create fatigue, resulting in a higher breakoff rate. To avoid this, determine which questions are the most important to receive answers to, and make those mandatory, but leave the rest as optional. You might be surprised by how many people go ahead and respond to the optional questions! To make a question of your survey mandatory, open a question in the survey editor (Structure - tab). Select the question you want to make mandatory and look at the Question settings panel (right side panel). Under General settings, you will find the option Mandatory. Toggle it on and Save your question. If you're done with this step, your question is mandatory, and can't be skipped anymore. This will also be shown to your participants when taking the survey. Mandatory questions are visualized by an asterisk (*). Test your survey to minimize breakoff Before pushing your survey live, it can be beneficial to receive feedback on your overall survey design through pre-testing. Send your survey questions to friends and colleagues to gain insights into the clarity of the questions, the survey flow, and whether the types of questions you’ve chosen (multiple choice, short answer, ranking, etc.) are the best option. After you’ve fine-tuned your content, don’t forget to check how your survey appears on different devices, such as laptops, smartphones, and tablets, and how quickly it loads when connected to different types of internet connections. If there are any issues with appearance or connection, be sure to address them before sending the survey to participants. {loadmoduleid 429}   Make surveys accessible During the testing phase, don’t forget to optimize your survey for a multitude of devices, including screen readers, which are often used by people who are blind or visually impaired. Make sure you’re using user-friendly fonts, readable font sizes, and high contrast to help further avoid eye strain or fatigue, especially if your survey is long or requires the participant to provide answers to open-ended questions. With LimeSurvey, you don't have to worry about accessibility. For instance, just use our new default survey theme "Fruity TwentyThree" for your survey, and all these aspects are taken care of for you. Nice, right? The following is an example of our default theme: Give people plenty of time to respond One critical component of gathering survey feedback is patience. Though instant gratification is hard to resist, ensuring participants have enough time to respond is imperative for receiving useful data, opinions, and information. When planning your survey timelines, ensure you’ve provided enough time for everyone to respond so that you can have a robust, diverse sample of answers, thoughts, and perspectives. Offer incentives for participation Never underestimate the power of an incentive. If you offer your target participants a small token of appreciation for the time they spend filling out your survey, it may entice more of them to complete the survey. Though unconditional incentives work best, you can also consider a lottery for respondents, a donation to a charity for each completed survey, perks for employees, or extra credit for students. Send reminders Everyone is busy these days, so don’t hesitate to remind people about your survey after you’ve sent out the initial links or invitations. If you’re conducting a closed-access survey, use the LimeSurvey feature to send reminders to both those who have yet to start a survey, as well as those who started, but did not finish. A little nudge might just be the thing they need to jump in! If you want to activate your survey in closed-access mode, simply activate your survey and choose Activate in closed-access mode. When this is done, a Participants table will be created for you. This table is like a list of your survey participants where you can upload and store important information about them, like their names and email addresses. To navigate to your participants' table, open your survey and go to the Settings - tab. Under Survey menu you will find the item Survey participants. You can send emails to your participants from here. You can also use the menu item Email templates to prepare the emails you want to send out and start distributing them once you're done. Using these tips and tricks, you should be able to acquire the feedback, data, and opinions you need to make your survey a success. To learn more about how to use LimeSurvey’s features, like sending reminders to participants, check out the Help Centre. Haven’t tried LimeSurvey yet? Start your own free survey now!