Open survey vs closed survey – How to choose?

On this page we explain which survey mode best suits your needs. Learn more about open surveys for a broad participant base or closed surveys for (often) fixed target groups.

Open survey

The open survey is ideal for targeting a diverse and not exactly defined group of participants. For an open survey, askallo generates a universal link (e.g. www.askallo.com/abcdefg/survey.html) that you can share via email*, social media, websites, flyers, ads or many other ways. An additional QR code generated and accessible in askallo further facilitates access.

*both via askallo and via their own e-mail system

However, it is important to note that open surveys have limited control over who participates. Any person who knows the link can participate – even multiple times. Therefore, if necessary, we recommend designing the questions in such a way that in the end it is ensured that only the desired target group completes the questionnaire.

Open Survey

Closed survey

The closed survey is ideal if you have already defined your target group in advance. You can conveniently upload email addresses of the people to be invited into our system and send (personalized) invitation and reminder emails via askallo.

The main difference to the open survey is that participants in closed surveys receive an individual access code. The link to this type of survey is unique to each person (e.g. www.askallo.com/abcdefg-123456/survey.html), and should not be shared.

This method allows for precise control, as the setting „Do not allow multiple participation“ also ensures that each invited person can only complete one questionnaire.

closed survey

If no e-mail addresses are available or if, for example, no real e-mail addresses are to be used for data protection reasons, even dummy addresses can be generated. This variant is particularly popular for employee surveys: the invitation to the survey can be distributed / sent by letter, for example, even to people without an e-mail address. At the same time, the anonymity of the employees is even higher due to the dummy address, since no personal e-mail addresses are available in the system.

This hybrid survey form (online/paper) is particularly interesting for companies with a commercial and an industrial employee share. Please feel free to contact us about our service offer, we will support you in the implementation!

Decide on the appropriate mode to successfully implement your survey – whether open to a broad mass or closed for targeted insights.

Personal data in open and closed surveys

One of the most important principles in askallo is the protection of participants and their anonymity. The two modes listed so far, „Open survey“ and „Closed survey“, are designed in such a way that the answers in a questionnaire cannot be linked to the invited persons.

If, for example, you explicitly ask for the name or another unique characteristic when registering for an event or a workshop, this obviously no longer applies. In this case, however, the participating persons decide for themselves whether you want to disclose the information and continue the survey. However, you should explicitly state that you are processing personal data (in accordance with Article 13 of the GDPR).

Do you have questions or need more information about the two survey modes? Feel free to contact us!

Special modes on request

The following two survey modes are only enabled on request, but are very helpful in some situations when implementing a survey project.

Personalized survey

The „Personalized Survey“ mode is a customized solution for special customer surveys, confirmation / supplementation of existing data or project-specific surveys.
In all situations, an individual association between the participants and their answers is crucial. This mode allows you to make a direct connection and, if necessary, link information known in advance to the answers. Perfect for accurate data collection, targeted interactions, and action.

personalized survey

Integrated survey

Our „Integrated Survey“ offers seamless integration into your existing process. Here, you connect your third-party system to askallo via an interface. This mode is particularly useful if you want to integrate surveys into larger-scale processes, such as automatically sending surveys after certain actions in your CRM system. Increase your efficiency by collecting valuable data at exactly the right time.

Integrated survey

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