SMS Surveys.

Surveys are an essential way of getting feedback on products and services offered by an organization, business or government. Surveys can be conducted in various ways, e.g. • Administering in-person questionnaires, • Phone calls, • Emails, • Sharing links to online questionnaires such as Google forms etc.

However, the above methods can be limiting in the following ways: • In-person surveys are time-intensive and require enumerators making the process costly. • Difficult to transfer data from paper-filled questions to a database; some information can be lost in this process due to damage of questionnaires. • Online surveys are likely to exclude participants in areas with low internet connectivity or users without smart phones.

Looking for an Affordable, Accessible, Easy-to-use and resource-effective alternative?

Welcome to SMSLeopard’s SMS Surveys!

SMS surveys are a powerful solution for businesses or organizations to collect real-time feedback on customer satisfaction and the quality of services/products for data-driven insights.

The surveys are a form of 2-way SMS which are done via a Shortcode. A shortcode is a 5-digit code e.g. 23989, that enables recipients or users to respond and send feedback to your messages. Users can opt in by sending keywords e.g. 'INFO' to get information on a product or campaign.

Shortcodes can be categorized into two:

1. Dedicated Shortcode: A Dedicated Shortcode is a five-digit code exclusively assigned to you, where users can send in their feedback to you without using a keyword to the code.

This service allows you to receive direct responses to your messages through your dedicated shortcode. The messages will then be routed to your SMSLeopard inbox.

A dedicated shortcode can be registered as either: i. Zero-rated - Free for the end-user to send and receive messages from the shortcode ii. Standard rated - The user is charged for sending messages to the short code at the normal telco charges for SMS, i.e. KES 1.5 per message. Service Prices: i. The service is available at a one-off setup cost of KES 17,400 for all Kenyan networks ii. The monthly maintenance fees per network are as follows: a. Safaricom, Airtel, and Equitel - each @ KES 17,400 b. Telkom @ KES 10,400 All prices are inclusive of VAT. The registration is conducted on Mondays and Thursdays and takes about 5 working days on the Safaricom network. The shortcode range is from 20xxx to 22xxx and 40xxx. Registration on the Airtel network may take up to 6 months to be completed.

2. Shared Shortcode: This is a 5-digit code/number used by multiple businesses to send and receive messages from their users. Each business, typically, sets their own unique keyword to engage their users. SMSLeopard provides a shared shortcode 40504 for SMS surveys, which allows users to send feedback to you through your preferred keyword e.g. 'KILIMO'. The short code is zero-rated meaning your recipients will access the surveys at no cost, the cost for each SMS will be absorbed by you. The messages will then be routed to your SMSLeopard inbox tab, and delivery reports can be accessed in the outbox tab.

SMSLeopard provides an in-built survey tool that is user-friendly, as broken down in the steps below:

1. Login to your SMSLeopard account on app.smsleopard.com/login or create a new account on app.smsleopard.com/register. Our platform is free and easy to navigate. 2. On your dashboard, go to surveys and select “New Survey” to create a survey:

Step 1

3. Fill in details of your survey on the first page, including the survey name, description of the survey and a unique keyword. The survey name and description are only visible in your account and are meant for recording or reference purposes. The simulator on the left side indicates how the survey will appear on your recipient’s phones.

Step 2

4. On the next page, add your survey questions as follows:

Step 3

5. You can select the response type preferred for each question, e.g. multiple choice for rating questions or free text for questions requiring details such as names.

Step 4

6. Once you add the options, save them and add another option as per your survey design. You can indicate the question each that the user will move to depending on the response selected.

Step 5

7. You can save the first question and proceed to add more survey questions. 

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8. A question with free text will appear as follows:

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9. You can also select the flow of questions based on the responses selected. As shown below, recipients who select option 1 will move to question 5, while those who select option 2 and 3 will move to question 4.

Survey 8

10. To select the next questions, select the dropdown as follows:

Step 9

11. Once you complete drafting SMS surveys, please proceed to the next step and compose the outro message that your recipients will receive once they finish the survey as follows:

Step 10

12. The outro message is optional. In the next step, upload the contact list of your recipients as a file or from your contacts on SMSLeopard:

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13. Review the recipients and check for errors highlighted in red:

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14. You can add recipients in this section as well:

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15. Draft the invitation message that will appear at the start of the survey:

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16. You can submit the survey immediately or schedule the survey for a later date and time. Remember, surveys are promotional messages and therefore can only be submitted between 8am and 6pm.

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17. Look out for any errors at this stage. Select the highlighted row in red to view the error message.

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18. You can review, edit the recipient’s details by selecting the icon in yellow, or delete the recipient by selecting the icon in blue shown below.

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19. Once you have reviewed the rest, select send and confirm to submit the survey:

Step 19

20. Success! Your survey has now been published and is accessible to all your recipients.

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A successful survey will be indicated as published:

Step 21

You can use the simulator on the right to test how your recipients will receive the survey on their end:

Step 22