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Topic interest survey template

Cover more of what readers want, and find the story nobody is telling

Two questions for your subscribers: more, less or the same coverage of six topics, and the story nobody is covering. Use it as it is or change any topic, and Usertick reads every written answer for you.

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What this topic interest survey tells you

A topic interest survey asks subscribers where they want your coverage to grow and where it can shrink. This template takes about a minute: one grid that rates six topics from less to more, and an open question on the story nobody is covering.

It is written for an email to your subscribers once a year, before you plan the coming year's coverage. Usertick sends it to your contact list, now or scheduled up to 30 days ahead, and since the first question is a grid, the email shows a button that opens the survey. The same template also runs as a link in your newsletter or, from Starter, as a popup for signed-in subscribers on your site.

Every story idea is read as it arrives and filed under a category from your list, such as topics and coverage, with a type and a sentiment. Results shows a heat map with a row for each topic and its average, so the topics readers want more of stand out from the ones they would trade away.

In an emailAs a linkOn your websiteAs a conversation
Questions
2
Time to answer
About a minute
Written for
An email to subscribers once a year, before you plan coverage
Plans
Every plan, the free plan included

See it on every channel

The same template on your website, behind a link, in an email and as a conversation.

In an email

Send it from Usertick to a contact list, and a button in the email opens the survey on its own page. Usertick sends 50 emails a month on the free plan, or connect your own sender.

The 2 questions, one by one

What each question asks, why it is there, what it shows you and what to change.

Question 1 of 2 · Matrix · Optional

How much coverage would you like of each topic?

Why ask it
Asking about each topic on the same three steps shows where readers want you to shift, without asking them to rank everything you cover.
What you learn
A heat map with a row per topic and its average, so a row that leans to More, such as local news, stands out against one that leans to Less. Select More on a topic to see what those readers think nobody covers.
Make it yours
Replace the rows with your own desks and beats, and keep the list to six or eight so the grid stays readable on a phone.
Question 2 of 2 · Text · Optional

What story is nobody covering?

Why ask it
Readers notice the gaps in your coverage first. One open question turns what they notice into a list of stories to assign.
What you learn
Usertick reads each answer as it arrives, gives it a category, a theme and a sentiment, and marks it as an idea or a question, with up to 8 themes and their trends in Results.
Make it yours
Filter Results to the readers who asked for more of one topic before you read their ideas, then share them with that desk's editor.

What the answers show

Results turns each question into numbers you can follow week by week.

How much coverage would you like of each topic?

Each row's answers side by side, so the part that needs work stands out.

Every written answer, read for you

Each answer arrives with its category, theme, type and urgency, so the urgent ones reach your team first.

Use this template in four steps

From the template to the first answers.

  1. 1

    Open the template

    Sign up free and pick Topic interests in the template gallery. It opens in a matching style, ready to change.

  2. 2

    Make the questions yours

    Reword any question, change the options, and add logic or more questions.

  3. 3

    Choose where it runs

    Show it on your website, send it by email, share its link and QR code, or switch it to a conversation.

  4. 4

    Publish and read the answers

    Answers arrive in Results and the inbox as people send them, each written one read and filed by Usertick.

Tips for this survey

Small choices that keep people answering and the answers useful.

  1. 01

    Send it before you plan

    Schedule the email for the weeks before your planning meetings, so the answers are in when the desks set priorities.

  2. 02

    Keep the repeat skip on

    Leave Skip people who already received this survey on, the default, so a second send later in the year reaches only new subscribers.

  3. 03

    Keep the rows from year to year

    Use the same topics each year and set the Results range to the year, so every row compares with the year before.

  4. 04

    Report back to readers

    Tell subscribers in your newsletter which topics they asked for and what you will cover, so they see where their answers went.

Market research surveysReader surveysEmail surveysLocal coverage questions

More research templates and questions

Templates like this one, and single questions from the library to add to it.

Templates

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ResearchProduct-market fitTrack product-market fit with the Sean Ellis question: the share of users who would be very disappointed without you. Send it to people who used the product at least twice in the last two weeks.

Questions from the library

Browse the question library
  1. Do you read our coverage of your own area?Yes / No · Local coverage
  2. Which local topics matter to you?Multiple choice · Local coverage
  3. How well do we cover your area?Big scale · Local coverage
  4. Was this article useful?Yes / No · Articles and reading
  5. How would you rate this article?Stars · Articles and reading
  6. What brought you here?Multiple choice · Articles and reading

Frequently asked questions

Once a year, before the coverage plan is set, as the template suggests. Send it again after a big change, such as a new section or a desk you closed.

Yes. Import subscribers as contacts from a CSV and Usertick sends the survey email, now or scheduled up to 30 days ahead, or connect your own sender. Usertick sends 50 emails a month on Free, 500 on Starter, 2,500 on Pro and 10,000 on Business.

Each response counts toward your organization's monthly total: 150 on Free, 1,000 on Starter, 5,000 on Pro and 25,000 on Business. At the limit, collection stops until the next month, an upgrade or a purchase of extra responses, so check the total before a large send.

Yes. Select an answer in the grid, such as More on local news, and the whole page filters to those readers, including their story ideas.

Read them beside the More column. A topic with a large Less share and a loyal group asking for more may be better served by a newsletter of its own than by space on the front page.

Yes. Every template comes with every plan, the free plan included, and the free plan covers 150 responses a month across your surveys.

Yes. The template becomes your own survey, so reword any question, add or remove questions, and change the options and the logic. The gallery stays as it is.

Yes, from Starter. The template is written in US English. Add languages by hand or with AI translation, and each person sees the survey in their browser's language.

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