What is the Response Rate? Definition, Calculation & 10 Tips to Increase It

The response rate refers to and describes the percentage of people who respond to a survey —that is, who complete it completely or partially. It compares the number of planned and completed surveys.

Companies often conduct quantitative surveys. It’s crucial for them to know how many of the invited respondents not only noticed the survey but actually participated. A company can easily determine this with the help of a feedback tool like zenloop’s.

The response rate is an important metric for companies, as it not only demonstrates the relevance of the survey results but also provides an indication of the quality of the survey itself. The higher the response rate, the more meaningful the results. In B2B surveys, response rates between 20% and 40% are considered typical, while in B2C surveys, rates between 10% and 20 % are more common. These values serve as a kind of response rate benchmark that companies can use as a guide.

If the response rate is significantly lower, the authenticity and reliability of the survey results suffer. For B2B customers with custom– manufactured OEM products, response rates were over 45 %.

In addition, a high response rate not only contributes to the meaningfulness of the survey results, but can also strengthen customer loyalty by taking customer feedback into account and actively addressing customer needs – after all, those who feel heard are more likely to remain loyal. To learn more about the key to understanding customer needs, read zenloop’s blog post “How to Conduct Customer Surveys Correctly

The response rate can be calculated manually . It’s also quite easy! You can use the following formula:

Response Rate (%) = (Number of responses / Number of survey invitations) × 100

However, the response rate calculation for online surveys conducted using a feedback tool like zenloop can usually be done automatically. Zenloop is a powerful feedback tool that helps companies automatically capture, analyze, and leverage customer opinions.

Compared to manual calculation and evaluation, zenloop offers advantages: Response rates are determined automatically and accurately, customer feedback is intelligently analyzed in real time and clustered thematically, and dissatisfied customers can be directly won back through automated responses. All of this can be seamlessly integrated into existing tools and systems.

The gross response rate includes all respondents who completed the survey, but it doesn’t take into account whether they completed all fields completely. This scenario falls under a special form of non-response rate known as item non-response .

The net response rate is the proportion of respondents who completed the questionnaire completely and without any missing information.

The non-response rate refers to the proportion of invited respondents who did not complete the survey. It is also known as unit non-response. It can be calculated as follows:

Non-response rate = 100- response rate

Now that we have clarified how a response rate can be calculated, we will now apply this knowledge in practice, using the examples of Stadtwerke Kassel and vertbaudet. We will look at what different response rates indicate and which strategies can help to specifically improve them.

The Stadtwerke Kassel surveys received a total of 700,000 impressions by September 1, 2024. 9,000 of these completed the survey. The response rate can be calculated using the following formula:

Response rate (%) = (Number of reviews received / Number of review requests sent) × 100

Number of reviews received: 9,000
Number of review requests sent: 700,000

Answer: The response rate is approximately 1.29%. Due to the minimum values “>9,000” and “>700,000,” the response rate could be slightly higher.

Why is the response rate comparatively low?

A response rate of around 1.3% is not uncommon in the public sector—especially for large-scale email or online campaigns. Possible reasons for a low response rate may include:

• The invitation to the survey gets lost in the mass of messages (e.g. in emails or pop-ups).
• The survey was poorly displayed on mobile devices or was not technically implemented optimally. • Participation seems unattractive or too time-consuming for many people

There is a lack of clearly communicated added value for users.In many cases, such rates can be significantly increased through targeted optimizations in the approach, timing or design.

A successful example of how to successfully deal with Customer feedback provides the Baby clothing brand vertbaudet. Within just eight months, the Companies received over 46,000 survey responses and around 6,500 comments – with more than 430,000 Impressions. With the help of zenloop , this feedback was not only evaluated but also specifically implemented into concrete measures such as service emails, personalized calls , or customer loyalty campaigns. This impressively demonstrates that customer centricity doesn’t end with listening—it begins there.

Often, invited respondents don’t even participate in a survey or abandon it prematurely. Individual unanswered questions are also common – and this can have various reasons, such as:

Reasons for unit non-response:
– Refusal to participate – Inviters are unable to participate in the survey (e.g. due to disability)
– Lack of accessibility

Reasons for item non-response:
– sensitive or very personal questions
– Questionnaire too extensive
– Usability of the questionnaire

• Keep the survey short,with simple sentences
  and clear language
• Emphasize anonymity and data protection
• Announce surveys in advance
• Choose the right timing
  and frequency
• Change the sender
• Use a personal greeting
  for participants
• Use multiple touchpoints (e.g., reminder messages)
• Run a test to detect potential issues
• Tailor the survey to your
  target audience
• Communicate the added
  value (e.g., how feedback will be used)

Example: A fashion company conducts a survey among regular customers who regularly shop through the app. The survey is displayed directly in the app, takes only two minutes, and relates to their most recent order.For new customers who discovered the company via social media, the survey is conducted via Instagram Stories with simple, image-based questions and voting options – tailored to the channel and usage situation

In conclusion, it’s worthwhile for companies to work specifically on increasing response rates. Tools like zenloop make it particularly easy for companies to keep track of response rates and gain direct actionable knowledge from them. This turns a number into true customer centricity. After all, the more customers participate in a survey, the more meaningful the results. A high response rate not only strengthens the quality of the insights but also signals appreciation for your customers – their opinion counts! This, in turn, builds trust, promotes customer loyalty, and forms the basis for customer-centric action.