What is survey targeting?
Survey targeting is the set of rules that decide who sees a survey and where it appears. It keeps each question in front of the people who can answer it, and away from everyone else.
The right people, on the right pages
Targeting rules narrow a survey to an audience. A rule can name pages (only the pricing page), devices (only phones), countries, new or returning visitors, or facts about a signed-in user such as their plan. A visitor sees the survey only when every rule holds.
Good targeting makes answers more useful and leaves everyone else undisturbed. A question about checkout means little from someone who never reached checkout, and a question asked of everyone wears out the people it doesn't concern.
Targeting works with two other settings. A trigger decides when the survey opens, and show frequency decides how often the same person sees it again.
- Decides
- Who sees a survey and on which pages
- Common rules
- Pages, devices, countries, visitor type, user traits
- Works with
- Triggers for when, show frequency for how often
- Also called
- Display rules, audience rules
Common targeting rules
Most survey tools offer the same core rules. Combine them so that every rule must hold, and leave out any rule you don't need.
| Rule | What it checks | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Pages | The address of the page | Starts with /pricing |
| Device | Desktop, tablet or mobile | Mobile only |
| Country | Where the visitor is | United States and Canada |
| Visitor type | New or returning | Returning, 3 visits or more |
| User traits | Facts about a signed-in user | Plan is pro |
| Earlier surveys | What the visitor answered before | Skip anyone who answered NPS |
| Share of traffic | A random part of visitors | 10% of visitors |
Targeting vs triggers
Targeting and triggers are set together and easy to mix up. Targeting answers who and where: which people, on which pages. A trigger answers when: the moment the survey opens for someone who already matches the rules.
A pricing page survey shows both at work. Targeting limits it to first-time visitors on /pricing, and the trigger opens it after 30 seconds or when the visitor moves to leave.
| Targeting | Trigger | |
|---|---|---|
| Answers | Who sees it and where | When it opens |
| Examples | Pages, devices, user traits | Scroll, delay, exit intent, a click |
| Checked | Before the survey can show | While the person is on the page |
Survey targeting examples
Each example below pairs an audience with the question that concerns it.
- First-time visitors on the pricing page, asked what is missing
- Mobile shoppers on the checkout page, asked how easy it was
- Customers on a paid plan with five seats or more, asked for NPS
- Visitors from a newsletter campaign, asked what brought them
- Anyone who answered the NPS survey in the last 90 days, left out of the next one
How often to show the same survey
Targeting decides who can see a survey, and frequency decides how often they do. Common settings show it until the person answers, once per person, again after a set number of days, or on every visit for an always-on feedback button.
Add a wait after someone closes a survey without answering. A close is a clear sign the moment didn't fit, and asking again on the next page only annoys.
How targeting affects your results
Answers describe only the people the rules let in. A survey shown to returning visitors on one page tells you about them, and comparing it with another audience needs the same rules on both sides.
On a busy site, a share of traffic keeps the number of answers manageable. Say your site gets 20,000 visitors a week and the survey shows to 10% of them: 2,000 visitors see it, and if 5% answer, you collect 100 answers a week without asking everyone.
- Visitors a week
- 20,000
- Shown to 10% of traffic
- 2,000 visitors
- Say 5% of them answer
- 2,000 × 5%
- Answers a week
- 100
How Usertick targets surveys
Each website survey has display rules, and every rule must hold. On every plan, target by pages (included and excluded, matched by contains, is exactly, starts with, ends with or a regular expression), by device, by visitor country, and by new or returning visitors with a minimum number of visits. Excluded pages always win, and the rules are checked again after in-app navigation.
From Starter, target by sign-in state and by the user traits your page passes with identify. On 1 survey on Free and on every survey from Starter, target by earlier surveys answered or closed, by a share of traffic that stays the same for each visitor, by referrer and by campaign parameters such as utm_source=newsletter.
Show frequency sets how often a survey comes back: until answered, once, every set number of days or on every visit, with a wait after someone closes it. A link survey can still be limited by devices, country, dates and a response limit, while page and user rules apply only on websites.
Mistakes to avoid with survey targeting
Small choices that keep the results useful.
- 01
Showing every survey to everyone
A question that concerns a few people wears out the rest. Limit each survey to the pages and people it is about.
- 02
Stacking too many rules
Every rule must hold, so five narrow rules can leave almost nobody. Check how many people still match before you launch.
- 03
Forgetting to exclude pages
A sitewide survey can pop up on checkout or the cancel page. Exclude the pages where a survey would get in the way.
- 04
Asking the same person too often
Without a frequency rule, a visitor can see the same survey on every visit. Set a wait after an answer or a close.
Frequently asked questions
Targeting decides who sees a survey before anyone answers. Segmentation splits the answers afterward, for example by country or device, to compare groups.
Yes, when your app passes those facts to the survey tool. In Usertick the identify call passes up to 50 traits, and targeting by them needs the Starter plan or higher.
Usually, for a while. A rule on earlier surveys or a frequency setting keeps the same person from getting the same question twice in a short time.
Partly. A link reaches whoever has it, so page and user rules don't apply. In Usertick a link survey can still be limited by devices, country, dates and a response limit.
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