Calling all journalists and freelance writers, editors and publishers. Now’s the time to breathe more life into your copy. Turn your articles into living pieces that spark measurable debate and that allows you to engage with your readers mind and soul - we’re talking revolution.
As it was in the beginning
Publishers have for many years relied on letters to get feedback from their readers and although email has opened up this method of communication it is still time consuming and difficult to monitor and process, and for the more popular articles, it is either a case of only a fraction of the received correspondence ever being used, or where online comments have been allowed, well written and good comments can be buried under poorly written and abusive comments.
As well as being an overhead for the publisher, to most people it is an unrewarding medium in terms of the amount of effort required and response received, just consider the number of letters that go unpublished and unread.
As it is now
The Internet has brought new channels of communication and created opportunities that allow us to challenge traditional methods. Now a mature technology, the Internet is no longer the preserve of geeks and nerds but a technology that has been embraced by the global population, the young and the old, that invites new ways of doing things. There is now the opportunity for newspapers, trade journals, magazines and ezines to change the mental process.
Readers like to have the opportunity to comment and traditionally they may have composed a letter or send an email or write a comment. Emails make communication easier but it still takes time to compose an email and time for the majority, is what they haven’t got.
Although of interest a letters page is at best a snapshot of views or if comments have been allowed an unmanaged and often never ending list of comments; they may be well crafted and well written but due to the free text form, collectively they are views that are notoriously difficult to measure.
As it should be
Now consider the advantages of linking articles to online surveys where as a publisher you will have the ability to obtain valuable readership feedback in a form that can be easily measured. Communicating with your readers is important but equally so is allowing your readers to communicate with you; and in a way that they know it will count.
Want an instant snapshot of opinion? Did they like that article? Did the sentiments expressed in the article have the support of the audience or do the readers have a different view?
Now it is easy
Historically surveys would have taken considerable effort to design and publish and altogether was a process too long winded and often reserved only for the niche and bigger topics.
However, using a hosted survey site surveys and questionnaires can be created and published via the Internet by anyone who has a pulse. Professional looking surveys and questionnaires created in minutes that make the perfect complement to articles that prompt opinion and debate.
The advantage over letters, e-mails and comments are that all the feedback is managed and measured and sites like Survey Galaxy will provide you with a real time poll that you can either keep to yourself or share with your readers.
It can be complementary
Linking articles to online surveys will extend the life of the article and involve your readers in the discussion in a way where they are confident that their opinion will be counted.
You think people will still want to send an email? - not a problem - just include the facility within the survey and get the best of both worlds.
It’s low cost, fast and easy to do; it will not only empower and engage the reader but will establish a valuable communication channel that will provide you with measurable feedback and give you the opportunity to promote other related articles.
Join the revolution and record your opinion of this article here:- Readership Feedback Survey
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