Invite sample members by e-mail for survey

In the first stage, you can select the distribution channel to be used for inviting the sample members.

The following distribution options are available:

• E-mail distribution
• SMS distribution (professional user)
• Link list distribution

When you have selected the desired distribution channel (E-mail distribution for this procedure), the corresponding tile will be highlighted in light blue and marked with a tick mark (in the top right-hand corner). You can then click the Next button at the bottom right to go to the Filter panel members screen.

In the second stage, you can use a filter to select members from the sample to whom the invitation should be sent. In this way, you can considerably reduce the number of sample members. After all, the survey invitation may not be equally relevant to all sample members.

At the distribution stage, filters can be based on:

• System fields, such as Email and Last Name, whose data are stored in the respective sample.
• Custom member fields: These are the additional variables you create in a sample, e.g. Function.

Example

Using the drop-down button (1) at the end of the variable field, you open a list from which you can select a variable type, e.g. Custom member fields (2). After clicking on it, an overview unfolds with all available underlying variables, e.g. Function (3).

If you select this variable, you can specify (part of) the job title, e.g. Support, so that the system selects the members with this job title from the sample. Based on this example, sample members with the function of Support employee will receive a survey invitation. The bottom of the screen indicates the number of sample members who meet the specified filter condition.

To reduce the number of sample members even further, you can create another filter condition in a similar way.

Once you have set the desired filter, you can click the Next button at the bottom right to go to the Choose e-mail message screen.

Note: If you do not want to specify a filter, you can skip this screen and click the Next button directly.

In the third stage, you can select the e-mail message to be used for the invitation. All displayed e-mail messages can be found in the Messages screen (see the Library menu).

When you have selected the desired e-mail message, the corresponding tile will be highlighted in light blue. You can then click the Next button at the bottom right to go to the Text screen.

In the fourth stage, you can check the text of the e-mail message and edit it, if necessary. This text can be found on the Messages screen for the corresponding e-mail message, see the Library menu.

Message header

In the Language field (1) you can select the languages in which the e-mail message is written. The language shown here is the default language set on the Messages screen. Using the Add language button (2), you can define other languages for the e-mail message. As soon as you click this button, a drop-down list appears from which you can select the desired language. Once you have selected a language, this will be included in the selection field. By clicking the Translate button (3), you can translate the subject and the corresponding text on the Translate message window.

Note: Do not forget to translate your e-mail message into all languages required.

You can then exit this window using the < button (see red arrow). The e-mail message will be displayed in the language selected under Language (1). To change the e-mail message of another language, you can select that language in this selection field.

In the 1st part of the Sender e-mail address field (4), the user name of the e-mail address must be specified. This user name is displayed to the participants as the sender of the message. The 2nd part contains the domain name. If you want to send e-mail messages on behalf of your organisation, please read the information in the topic Email – Setting up your own email sender domain.

In the Reply e-mail address field (5), enter the e-mail address to be used for collecting responses to the survey invitation. If this field is left blank, then the responses will be sent to the sender’s e-mail address.

The field Subject (6) must be filled with a subject that the participants will see, when they launch their e-mail application. By default, the subject is taken from the corresponding e-mail message you have created on the Messages screen.

E-mail message

Here you can edit the text of the displayed e-mail message. To adapt the e-mail message of another language, you must first select that language in the Language selection field.

Note: Consult the link for information on placeholders in messages.

Send test mail: In the input field (3) you can enter the e-mail address of the person to whom the test mail is to be sent via the Send test mail button.

Save text: In the text boxes (1) above and below the start button, you can change and/or supplement the text that has already been entered for the e-mail message.

• By clicking the Save (4) button, the customised e-mail message will be sent to the sample members to be invited. In addition, it will automatically be updated on the Messages screen from the Library menu.
• By clicking the Save as new message button (5), a pop-up window will appear in which you can enter a new name for the customised e-mail message. This custom message will then be sent to the sample members to be invited and added under the new name to the Messages screen from the Library menu.

Change text start button (2): To do this, you must click in the inner part of the green button with the start button text and subsequently select the Rich Text Editor… pop-up link. The RTE window will then be opened allowing you to edit the text of the start button. If you save the modified start button text, the corresponding sample members will be shown this text in the e-mail message sent to them.

Once you have checked the data related to the text to be sent, you can click the Next button at the bottom right to go to the Field phase screen.

In the fifth stage, you can set the date and time on which the e-mail message is sent to the selected sample members. By default, the value Now is selected in the Field phase start date field. In this case, the invitation will be sent to the corresponding sample members immediately after completion of this procedure.

You can also opt to send the invitation at a later time, to be determined by you. For this, you have to select the value Later in the Field phase start date field, see below.

In the Survey end date is field, the value No end is usually specified, unless you have specified an end date for the survey in the Data collection ends on setting (under Access control on the Build screen). For further details, see Survey settings. In this case, the end date will be displayed in the Field phase screen.

Explanation of selection value Later

In this case, a date field is displayed in which you can use the calendar button (1) to set the month (use the < and > buttons if necessary), a date in the future (2) and the time on that date (3) and (4). As soon as you click the OK button (5), the selected date and time will be inserted in the date field.

Once you have set the schedule, you can click the Next button at the bottom right to go to the Distribute screen.

In the last stage, you can check the preset data and, if necessary, adjust them on the previous screens (using the Back button). The number of e-mail messages to be sent is indicated at the bottom of the screen.

After you have checked the data on the screen, you can click the button Send xx email(s) now (Planned date: Now) or Send xx email(s) at dd/mm/yyyy (Planned date: Later) at the bottom right of the screen to create a distributor on the distribution overview. It contains the survey invitation of a sample via e-mail distribution.