Wondering which survey to use? Here are 15 types of survey methods explained

What type of survey research is best for my business? Can I do customer satisfaction surveys over the phone? When are panel research surveys the way to go? And are in-person interviews worth the time?

These are great questions to ask yourself when you’re looking into survey methods for your brand. There are many different types of surveys, and each one has its own pros and cons. 

This guide will discuss 15 different types of surveys and provide examples of how businesses like yours can use them. We will also discuss the benefits and drawbacks of each type of survey.

To whet your appetite, here are the 15 survey types we’ll talk about:

1. Online surveys
2. Interviews
3. Face-to-face surveys
4. Phone surveys
5. Panel surveys
6. Paper surveys
7. Kiosk surveys
8. Pop-up surveys
9. Focus groups
10. Mail surveys
11. SMS surveys
12. Social media surveys
13. Email surveys
14. In-app surveys
15. Video surveys

TL;DR

• There’s no one “best” survey method. It all depends on what you’re trying to learn and who you’re trying to reach. 
• Some methods deliver speed and scale (like online, email or SMS surveys), while others offer deeper qualitative insight (like interviews, focus groups or video surveys)
• Your goals, budget, timeline and audience should guide your choice, especially if your customers aren’t online or prefer a personal touch.
• Every survey type has clear pros and cons, from response rates to cost, effort required and the quality of the insights you’ll actually get.
• Matching your research question with the right survey method is the fastest way to get reliable insights and make smarter, more confident decisions.

How to choose the right survey method

Ultimately, the best way to choose the right survey method for your research is to consider what you want to get out of it. Let’s look at how you can identify which types of surveys you should consider.

Your goal

There are many different objectives for consumer research. Some common goals include:

• Understanding customer needs
• Gauging customer satisfaction
• Tracking customer behavior
• Informing new product development 
• Measuring brand awareness

If you want high data quality for your research, make sure you choose survey research methods that match your objectives.

ℹ️ Here’s an example: Mail surveys are not great for collecting large amounts of data (all those envelopes to fill!) but can help if you want to ask questions to consumers in a specific zip code.

Resources

Your available resources play a major role in determining the type of survey that is right for your market research.

If you don’t have the budget or people power to conduct a telephone survey or in-person interviews, you might want to choose online surveys. And even within that spectrum, there are countless survey methods depending on your budget.

Time

Interviews, for example, require more time than online surveys, but they provide more accurate, qualitative results.It’s crucial you don’t just look at the time it takes to conduct your surveys, but also keep in mind how long it takes to analyze the results. Transcribing interviews can be a lot of work, and you might need some external or even AI help to analyze sentiment.

Your audience

You might be leaning towards conducting research using online surveys, because it’s quick and relatively easy to analyze.

But what if your audience is on average 85 years old — and not the kind that knows how to work an iPad better than the average millennial? Take into account how your audience will respond to the survey method you use.

15 types of surveys

There’s a type of survey for every occasion, but which one is right for you? Let’s dive into 15 different survey methods and look at when to use them, and which one will help you collect data for your research the best way possible.

1. Online surveys

Online surveys are digital questionnaires that people complete on their computers, tablets or mobile phones. They’re the most popular type, with the majority of surveys taken on mobile devices.

They’re one of the most common ways to gather feedback, opinions and insights. This is because they’re quick and easy to distribute. You can reach hundreds or even thousands of people in a matter of hours, which makes this method perfect for gathering data at scale.

When to use them

Use online surveys when you need insights quickly, have a limited budget or want to reach a specific target population (like frequent online shoppers or Gen Z consumers). They’re also ideal for large-scale projects where you need statistically significant results.

Pros	Cons
Fast to distribute	Risk of low-quality responses if the survey is too long or confusing
Easy to target specific demographics	Limited reach for audiences with no internet access
Great for large sample sizes	Platform quality varies, which can impact results

2. Interviews

Interviews are when you speak directly with respondents, and they allow you to dig deeper into their thoughts and motivations. 

Because they’re conversational, interviews let you ask follow-up questions and explore topics that structured surveys might miss.

When to use them

It’s a good idea to use interviews when you need detailed, qualitative research data. For example, when exploring customer attitudes or trying to understand why people behave in a certain way. 

They’re especially useful in the early stages of research, when you’re still defining your questions — meaning you’re still figuring out what you actually need to ask people and which topics matter most to unpack—or exploring new markets.

Pros	Cons
Provides rich, detailed insights	Time-consuming to run and analyze
Allows for follow-up questions and clarification	More expensive than many other survey methods
Builds trust and rapport with respondents	Interviewer bias can influence responses

3. Face-to-face survey

Face-to-face surveys are when you talk directly with people in person and are more like conversations. But, unlike interviews, they follow a structured set of questions.

This means you can collect responses quickly while still getting the human connection that comes from an in-person conversation. 

Face-to-face surveys have higher response rates, usually between 30% to 60%, because of the personal interaction they naturally provide.

When to use them

You should use face-to-face surveys when you need fast, high-quality responses from a specific location or demographic. 

They’re great for testing products in-store, gathering feedback right after a customer experience or capturing opinions from audiences who might not appreciate frequent online surveys.

Pros	Cons
Builds trust and engagement through personal interaction	Requires more staff and planning
Great for targeting specific locations or demographics	Can be time-consuming and costly to run
Allows you to clarify confusing questions on the spot	Harder to reach large sample sizes

4. Phone surveys

Phone surveys are when you call survey respondents directly and ask them a set of questions. They’re more personal than online surveys and allow you to clarify questions on the spot, which can improve the quality of the responses you get.

While they’re not as fast as online surveys, they can reach people who might not respond digitally via mobile app surveys, for example, which makes them useful for some audiences.

When to use them

Think about using phone surveys when you need targeted feedback from specific groups, or when you want a more personal touch than what an online survey can give you. They work well for customer satisfaction checks and follow-ups after a service experience.

Pros	Cons
Personal interaction can improve response quality	Can be expensive to run at scale
Can reach audiences not active online	Time-consuming to call and collect responses and not everyone answers phone calls
Good for targeted or hard-to-reach groups	Data analysis takes longer than automated research methods

5. Panel surveys

Panel surveys use a pre-selected and vetted group of respondents who meet specific criteria. For example, people who own a certain product, live in a particular region or fit a target demographic.

Because the same group can be surveyed multiple times, panel surveys are perfect for tracking changes over time.

When to use them

You should use panel surveys when you want to understand trends or shifts in behavior within a consistent audience. They’re perfect for tracking customer loyalty or monitoring brand perception across multiple touchpoints.

Pros	Cons
Allows tracking changes in behavior or opinion over time	Can be costly to maintain a panel
Works online, by phone or face-to-face	Not always representative of the general population
Targets specific, pre-defined audiences	Needs careful panel management and engagement

💡 Pro-tip: Panel surveys are often used for longitudinal research. If you’re deciding whether you need a one-off snapshot or ongoing tracking, this guide to cross-sectional vs longitudinal surveys is a helpful next step.

6. Paper surveys

Paper surveys are the classic, offline way to collect feedback. Think printed questionnaires that respondents fill out by hand in a scenario like at a live event.

While digital surveys are more popular, paper surveys are still useful when your audience isn’t tech-savvy or they don’t have easy internet access.

When to use them

Yes, even with the internet being integrated with every part of our day, there are still some reasons to choose paper surveys for your market research. 

Use paper surveys when you need to reach audiences who aren’t online or event attendees. They’re also handy for in-person settings like workshops or stores where handing out a questionnaire is easy.

Pros	Cons
Accessible for audiences without internet or tech skills	Time-consuming to distribute and collect
Familiar and easy to understand	Data needs to be manually entered for analysis
Good for targeted, location-based research	Harder to scale compared to digital surveys

7. Kiosk surveys

Kiosk surveys are on-location surveys, usually set up in stores or malls, where people can give feedback right where they are.

They’re typically run on tablets or touchscreens and make it easy for consumers to share their opinions in the moment. Kiosks are a quick way to capture insights while experiences are still fresh in people’s minds.

When to use them

Using kiosk surveys is ideal when you want immediate customer feedback at a specific location. They’re great for gathering opinions on products, services or overall customer experiences.

Pros	Cons
Captures real-time feedback on-site	Limited to people physically present in the location
Easy way to collect structured responses	Can be expensive to set up hardware
Convenient for respondents	Needs staff oversight to ensure smooth operation

8. Pop-up surveys

Pop-up surveys are short questionnaires that show up on websites while visitors are browsing. They’re designed to capture feedback in real-time, which gives you a quick way to understand user experiences and test ideas.

[H4] When to use them

Pop-ups are ideal when you want instant feedback from visitors, such as after completing a purchase, reading content or using a digital service. They’re perfect for quick insights or understanding the user journey.

Pros	Cons
Quick and easy to deploy	Can feel annoying to visitors if overused
Captures real-time feedback	May not reach all audience segments equally
Great for testing new ideas or website changes

9. Focus groups

Focus groups bring together a small group of people to discuss a product, service or idea in a guided conversation. 

A moderator leads the discussion, and they ask questions and encourage survey participants to share their opinions and experiences. 

When to use them

When you want to explore perceptions, attitudes or reactions in depth, focus groups are ideal. They’re great for testing new products, advertising concepts, packaging or messaging. 

Pros	Cons
Generates rich qualitative insights	Can be expensive and time-consuming to run
Encourages discussion and idea sharing	Needs skilled moderation to avoid bias
Helps uncover the “why” behind opinions	Group dynamics might influence responses

10. Mail surveys

Mail surveys are questionnaires sent via your postal service to a select group of respondents. People complete the survey when they’re ready to and then mail it back to you.

It’s a slightly older method, but it can still be effective for reaching audiences who aren’t online or who prefer traditional communication. They historically have a response rate of around 5% to 20%.

They also give respondents time to think about their answers, which could result in thoughtful responses.

Although these surveys are obviously made of paper, they differ from paper surveys in that they’re mailed to people’s homes rather than handed out at an event, for example.

When to use them

You can use mail surveys when your target audience isn’t tech-savvy or when you want responses from a geographically dispersed group. They’re also useful for more formal research or when being anonymous might encourage more honest feedback.

Pros	Cons
Reaches audiences who aren’t online	Slower turnaround compared to digital research methods
Can encourage thoughtful, considered responses	Costly to print and mail
Familiar and trusted method for some audiences	Response rates can be slow without follow-ups

11. SMS surveys

SMS surveys are short questionnaires sent to people’s mobile phones. They’re perfect for collecting quick feedback while your audience is on the go. 

These surveys are usually a text message with a link to a quick survey or a couple of questions that respondents can reply to directly in the text thread.

These surveys can deliver fast responses and give you timely survey data that reflects real-time opinions.

When to use them

The ideal scenario to use SMS surveys is when you need rapid insights or want to reach audiences who are frequently on their phones. They’re ideal for customer satisfaction checks or quick polls to gather feedback without needing a long-term commitment.

Pros	Cons
Quick and convenient for respondents	Not suitable for collecting detailed feedback
High open and response rates	Needs you to have access to mobile numbers
Works well for short, targeted feedback	Requires opt-in consent

12. Social media surveys

Social media surveys are polls or questionnaires shared on platforms like Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn or Facebook. They make it easy to reach an engaged audience where they already spend their time online.

These surveys are great for gathering opinions or quickly, understanding trends and testing new concepts, all while capturing responses in real-time.

When to use them

Social media surveys should be used when you want fast feedback from your followers or target audience. They work well for brand sentiment checks, content testing or gathering qualitative feedback on products and campaigns in a fun, interactive way.

Pros	Cons
Easy to reach a large, engaged audience	Responses may not represent your entire target market
Quick to set up and analyze	Limited question types on some platforms
Provides real-time survey data	Harder to control who participates

13. Email surveys 

Email surveys are questionnaires sent directly to people’s inboxes. They’re a convenient way to reach a specific audience and collect feedback without needing in-person interaction.

It’s a good idea to use a survey tool that allows you to design the email, track responses and manage the data collected efficiently.

When to use them

You should use email surveys when you want to reach customers or subscribers with a longer or more detailed questionnaire. They’re great for gathering feedback after a purchase, tracking customer satisfaction over time or running product or service evaluations.

Pros	Cons
Easy to reach a targeted audience	Response rates can be low if emails aren’t engaging
Convenient for respondents to complete at their own pace	Can be ignored or sent to spam folders
Works well with survey tools for automated follow-up	Not ideal for very short, urgent feedback

14. In-app surveys

In-app surveys are questionnaires that show up on a mobile app while users are engaging with it. They’re designed to capture feedback in the moment, which makes it easy to understand user experiences without interrupting their flow.

Conducting surveys this way allows you to get highly contextual insights that are often more accurate than post-experience questionnaires.

When to use them

Use in-app surveys when you want feedback on specific features, user journeys or app experiences. They’re great for product teams who want to improve usability or test new features, while keeping the survey process quick and easy for users.

Pros	Cons
Captures real-time feedback within the app	Limited to app users only
Highly contextual, focused on user experience	Can annoy users if overused
Easy to integrate into the app’s flow	Needs technical setup

15. Video surveys

Video surveys allow research participants to respond to questions on camera rather than through text or multiple-choice formats.

This method captures not just what people have to say, but also their tone, facial expressions and emotions. This gives you richer insights than some of the more traditional survey methods on our list.

When to use them

It’s ideal to use video surveys when you want to understand the “how” and “why” behind opinions, reactions or behaviors. 

They’re a great fit for things like testing ad campaigns or brand messaging. They’re also useful for capturing authentic, detailed responses that methods like mobile surveys can’t always give you.

Pros	Cons
Captures nuanced feedback, including emotions and tone	Requires participants to have a camera and internet access
Provides richer, more detailed insights	Can be intimidating for some participants
Great for qualitative research and storytelling	Not ideal for large-scale qualitative studies

💡Pro tip: With Attest, you can add video responses directly into your survey to capture tone, emotion and nuance you’d miss in text alone. It’s an easy way to bring qualitative depth into a quantitative study without running separate interviews.

Summary: Types of survey methods 

Here’s your cheat sheet. A quick rundown of all 15 survey methods: What they do, when they work best and what to watch out for.

Survey Type	Description	When to Use	Pros	Cons
Online surveys	Digital questionnaires completed on computers, tablets or mobile phones.	When you need fast insights, have a limited budget or want to reach a specific demographic at scale.	Fast to distribute; easy to target groups; ideal for large samples.	Risk of low-quality responses if too long; limited reach for people without internet; platform quality varies.
Interviews	Direct conversations that explore thoughts and motivations in depth.	When you need detailed qualitative data or are exploring early-stage questions.	Rich insights; allows follow-ups; builds rapport.	Time-consuming; more expensive; interviewer bias risk.
Face-to-face surveys	Structured in-person questionnaires with high engagement.	When you need fast, high-quality responses from a specific location or demographic.	Builds trust; clarifies questions in real time; good for location-based targeting.	Requires more staff; costly; harder to scale.
Phone surveys	Surveys conducted over the phone with live interaction.	When you want targeted feedback or need to reach people not active online.	Personal and clarifying; good for hard-to-reach groups.	Expensive at scale; time-consuming; slower analysis.
Panel surveys	Research using a pre-selected group who meet criteria and can be surveyed repeatedly.	When tracking behaviour or sentiment over time in a consistent audience.	Enables trend tracking; works across channels; highly targeted.	Costly to maintain; may not represent the general population; requires management.
Paper surveys	Printed surveys completed manually, often used offline.	When audiences aren’t online or for in-person events and workshops.	Accessible; familiar; good for location-based insights.	Time-consuming; manual data entry; hard to scale.
Kiosk surveys	On-location touchscreen or tablet surveys capturing in-the-moment feedback.	When you want immediate, in-store or on-site reactions.	Real-time insights; convenient; structured responses.	Limited to physical footfall; hardware setup can be costly; needs oversight.
Pop-up surveys	Short website surveys triggered while users browse.	When you want instant, contextual feedback on digital experiences.	Quick to deploy; real-time insights; great for testing ideas or UX.	Can annoy visitors; may not reach all segments equally.
Focus groups	Small-group discussions moderated to explore attitudes and reactions.	When testing concepts, messaging, or understanding perceptions in depth.	Rich qualitative insights; encourages discussion; uncovers the “why.”	Expensive; needs skilled moderation; group dynamics can skew results.
Mail surveys	Paper questionnaires sent and returned via the postal system.	When targeting offline or geographically dispersed audiences who prefer traditional communication.	Reaches offline audiences; thoughtful responses; familiar method.	Slow and costly; low response rates; manual handling required.
SMS surveys	Short surveys delivered via text message.	When you need quick insights or want to reach mobile-first audiences.	High open/response rates; fast; convenient.	Not suited for detailed feedback; requires phone numbers and consent.
Social media surveys	Polls or questionnaires shared on platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn or Facebook.	When you want fast feedback from an engaged audience or want to test ideas.	Easy reach; fast setup; real-time data.	May not represent a full audience; limited formats; little control over participants.

Survey research examples in action

We’re not going to lie: we’re big fans of online surveys. They’re versatile, valuable and give businesses insights that can turn their brand upside down (in a good way). Let’s look at some use cases for surveys to gather valuable insights.

Market research surveys

Market research surveys are used to gather information about a particular market. They’re often used to understand customer needs and preferences, track market trends and spot areas for growth. 

They can also be used to get to know how people feel about your competitors, or to understand differences between different markets on a national level.

That’s exactly what Baby Brezza did. They used Attest to run a market analysis among mothers in France, Germany, Italy, the UK, Australia, Korea and Taiwan.

“We wanted to cover some of the big markets in Europe, and some big markets in Asia and understand consumer habits and practices in those markets. Because even though babies are the same around the world, parents’ behaviors and approaches are different.”

David Contract, Marketing Team Lead, Baby Brezza (Betesh Group)

This is something you can clarify using a market research survey. David went on to say:

“What was great was that within less than a week, we got the results back. I was able to go through it all and then I realized that there’s actually a lot more similarity than difference in terms of this new product opportunity around the world.”

David Contract, Marketing Team Lead, Baby Brezza (Betesh Group)

💡 Read more about what Baby Brezza did with their insights.

Brand tracking surveys

You can track different brand metrics using surveys, such as brand awareness, brand perception and brand recall. There are a few different types of brand research:

✔️Brand awareness surveys: Used to measure how familiar consumers are with a brand. This can help you determine which marketing campaigns are most effective at increasing brand awareness. 

✔️Brand perception surveys: Used to measure how your customers perceive your brand. This can help you spot any areas where you can improve your branding and track progress over time.

✔️Brand recall surveys: Used to measure how well a consumer remembers a particular brand. This is often used by businesses to measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. You can use this brand tracker survey template, written by Attest’s in-house research experts, for this type of survey.

💡Pro-tip: But how do you track something like “awareness” in a survey? How realistic is “recall” as a metric? And what do you do with opinions and brand perception? Here are some guides that explain it all in detail:

• 10 simple ways to measure brand awareness
• How to do a brand recall survey
• Brand perception survey: questions, examples and templates

Consumer profiling surveys

Consumer profiling surveys help organizations understand their ideal customers. They can be used to uncover what products or services a customer might be interested in, what their spending habits are or what kind of customer they are.

You can use this information to create a buyer persona, which will help you develop better products and campaigns that speak to your ideal customers.

New product development surveys

A new product development survey or concept testing survey is a method that businesses can use to gather feedback about potential new products. You can use this to gauge interest in a product, collect ideas about features or design and track satisfaction with prototypes.

This is what supermarket Ocado did when it partnered with Disney to develop a new meal bundle for children. Ocado used Attest to run three surveys: a proposition test to see which name and branding was most appealing, which Disney films to focus on and the price point for the meal bundles.

“We’d never done a partnership with a company the size of Disney before. It was a very important project for the business, so we wanted to make sure we got things right. That meant finding the correct name, and the most-appealing characters and food combinations.”

Ben Franks, Research Executive, Ocado Retail

Creative testing surveys

Creative testing surveys help you validate marketing ideas, product names, messaging and visual elements before they go live. They reduce guesswork and make it easier to understand what resonates with your audience — and why.

You can even use them to steer major brand or product decisions, just like Zzoomm did when launching their new broadband offering. The team needed clarity on everything from product naming to colourways and pricing, so they used Attest to test multiple creative directions with people responsible for broadband purchasing. They quickly learned which names felt clearer, which colourways improved trust, and which messages landed best.

As Simon Gray, Head of Marketing at Zzoomm, explains:

“Previously when we’ve had to do qualitative research, it’s taken months and months. Attest gets the information that we need quickly. By the very next day we’re able to implement some of the changes and then go back for round two.”

The insights directly shaped Zzoomm’s 2023 product launch, and even led to hitting a major milestone of 10,000 customers across the UK. Their team now uses Attest to continually refine naming, creative, and broader commercial decisions.

When’s the last time you conducted a survey?

Surveys are one of the most versatile ways to understand your audience, from quick online polls to in-depth video responses.

Each method has its strengths, whether you need speed, detailed feedback or quantitative and qualitative data. The key is choosing the right type of survey for your goal and audience.

Now’s the perfect time to connect with your customers or target audience and gather fresh insights that can guide more strategic business decisions. If you want a head start, browse our survey templates to kick off your research quickly.And if you’re ready to take your surveys one step further, check out our guide on how to write good survey questions. It’ll help you get clear, actionable answers every time.