Panel management: How to configure sign-up and profile surveys (panel synchronization)

Introduction

When managing a panel, it is advisable to implement automated processes to streamline onboarding and member updates, reducing the need for manual intervention.

Within Survalyzer, you can automate the following panel management activities:

• New members sign-up process
• Members updating their profile information
• Members receiving credits for filling out surveys (see more here)
• Members redeeming credits for incentives (see more here)

To address the first 2 points above, you can use the panel synchronization feature. It is visible in the general survey settings of any survey, as long as you have panel management workspace setting turned on.

What is panel synchronization?

The panel synchronization feature allows to create automated sign-up and profile surveys for the panel. It synchronizes data between survey answers and panel member variables. Specifically, it allows to:

1. Create new panel members
2. Save survey answers in corresponding member fields
3. Prepopulate survey fields with values from corresponding member fields

For example, you can create a short sign-up survey with open questions asking for the member’s First name and Email address. Using panel synchronization feature in this survey you can automatically create new members with this information saved in member variables.

Panel synchronization settings

Panel synchronization can be applied to two types of surveys:

1. A sign up survey (creates new member and saves collected information to the member)
2. A profile survey (displays current member information and save submitted changes)

Panel synchronization can be enabled in the general settings of the survey:

In the Panel Synchronization window the following settings are available:

We will now explain in detail how to create an example sign-up and profile surveys set-up.

Sign up survey

A sign up survey allows to register new members: these members are automatically added to a panel after completing the sign-up survey.

Example sign-up survey content

You have full flexibility in how you craft your sign-up survey. For example, you can first ask your member only to provide email, then ask to confirm the email address, and only then invite them to the bigger profile survey. Or you can already ask all your member details questions in the first sign-up survey, it is totally up to you.

Just remember, that in any scenario, members should go through double opt-in process (email confirmation) before they can be fully enrolled.

In this article we will focus on the first scenario: a simple sign-up survey that contains the basic elements needed to create a new member.

Example sign-up survey content:

1. Text block: Typically used to provide information and context about the panel. For instance, to explain the benefits of signing up.
2. Email address: The most important field, to be able to invite panel members to participate in surveys.
3. Terms: depending on the requirements of the panel, members should confirm that they are part of the target group and have read the terms and conditions.
4. Validation: validations allow to ensure that only if the terms are met, people can sign up to the panel.

Panel synchronization sign-up settings

The next step is to connect the survey to the panel using panel synchronization feature.

Go to the survey general settings > panel synchronization feature. Select “sign-up” version, your target panel, and connect your survey questions with correct member variables.

In our simple scenario described above, we only connect Email survey question with Email member variable.

Email confirmation message

In a single opt-in scenario, members can be automatically created after the completion of the sign-up survey. However, if we want to create a seamless and compliant double opt-in process, we need to “create” the member already within the sign-up survey.

This will allow to send a confirmation email with a personal invitation link to the profile survey, where with the same tool we both confirm the email address and collect all the remaining information about the member.

Here are the elements you need to include at the end of the sign-up survey to achieve that:

1. Page break: Insert a page break and check the checkbox: Create a new panel member at this page break to create the member (setting visible only when there is already “sign-up” panel synchronization enabled for this survey).
2. Send Email: This is our confirmation email, which should always be placed after the member is created. This email must contain the following placeholders to work correctly:
   • Send to:{{member.Email}}.
     This placeholder will be replaced with the member’s email.
   • In content: {{survey(id).interview_link}}
     This placeholder will be replaced with a personal interview link for the member to complete the registration. The ‘id’ must be replaced by the actual survey ID of the profile survey that we want to direct a new member to (see next section in this article).
3. End page: when the respondent reaches the end page, the survey data will be synchronize to the panel. We recommend highlighting that the members should still complete their registration and check their mailbox.

In this example the member is created, but not yet enrolled. First the member needs to confirm the email address and fill in background information in the profile to update the membership status to become enrolled and participate in surveys.

Profile survey

A profile survey usually contains more questions than a sign-up survey and allows to have the data viewed and updated by the panel members from the connected panel.

In the current example, we describe the process of completing the profile and setting the membership status to enrolled, so that double opt-in process is complete.

In our example below you can see:

1. On the left: the build page of the profile survey (collapsed view) that contains the questions that can be synchronized with the panel member fields.
2. On the right: the variables page of a panel, where the member fields are shown that can be synchronized with the question in the survey

The panel synchronization feature allows to connect these fields as needed.

The panel synchronization can be set up in the following way:

1. Type: Panel profile: this is used when member is already created and data can be synched between the member and the survey.
2. Panel: data can only be synchronized when the survey is connected to a panel.
3. Panel selection: here the panel that the survey is connected to is selected.
4. Membership Status: with this setting it is determined which status will be assigned to the panel member when the survey is completed.
5. Variable mapping: question data is connected to member data and can be viewed both in the raw data of the survey and in the panel member overview. Only panel variables that are present in the connected panel and are of the same data type as the question can be selected.
6. Password: in the survey an open question can be set to be a ‘Password field’. The respondent will be asked to put in the password and confirm it. Always be sure to connect it to the Password variable of the panel. This ensures that the password is never visible to anyone.

The same survey can also later be used by panel members to view their profile information and save changes if needed. Alternatively, you can use totally different survey for that purpose, it is up to you how you structure your panel management surveys set-up. You can have more than one sign-up or profile surveys configured for the same panel.

Distribution of Sign-up and Profile Surveys

A sign up survey should always be distributed and accessed via the anonymous survey link and by default does not allow multiple participation.

A profile survey can be accessed in two ways:

1. Personal link: the panel member has direct access to the survey without a log in screen.
2. Anonymous link: access to the survey is only possible after entering a combination of email address & password on a log in screen.

Q&A

Is there a panel portal, where members can log-in, browse their surveys, see credits balance, redeem incentives?

Yes, there is community portal solution in Survalyzer, however it is not included within our standard community extension.

Within standard community extension it assumed that panel members are either invited directly to sign-up / profile / target research surveys, or that you have your own customer-facing panel website or portal, where you can place static links to sign-up and profile surveys, or integrate deeper with Survalyzer through our API.

If you are interested in Survalyzer’s community portal solution, please contact your account manager. Below you can see our demo portal example:

How to assign values to member variables in a more flexible way?

The panel synchronization feature is a simple way to allow viewing and saving values to member variables. However, sometimes your scenario might require more flexible or conditional logic.

In order to achieve that, you can also work with member variables directly in a Value Assignment element.

For example, in some scenarios you might want to set member’s Membership Status variable to Enrolled at the moment of opening confirmation survey, not at submit.

In that case, you just need to place the following Value Assignment at the beginning of your confirmation survey:

Remember, that you can only work with member variables when:

• Member is invited to the survey with personal link
• Member logs in to survey (e.g. because panel synchronization of type profile is enabled)
• After member is created at page break within sign-up survey

How to force single participation in the survey of type “profile”?

In case of a profile survey, by default the access control is set to Group access, meaning that respondent can update the data multiple times:

If your scenario requires allowing only single participation for a profile survey, then the setting above should be switched to Single access.

This might be helpful in a scenario, when you want to give members credits for filling out an introductory profile survey. Then naturally you only want to give credits once. If you also want members to view and update their profile later, you will need separate profile survey for that purpose.

How to reward members with credits and incentives?

It is possible to reward panel members with credits, that can be used to redeem vouchers. View this page for more information on how to reward members with credits.