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How to Launch a Survey

Happy with your survey draft and ready to launch? Whether you're launching to your full sample right away or want to test the waters first with a soft launch, here's what to expect.

In This Article

Launching Surveys

  1. At the bottom of the Survey Editor, click Checkout.
  2. On the Checkout page, review your survey cost and add your payment (if applicable).
  3. With payment applied, review the Terms of Use guidelines and click the checkbox to agree.
  4. Click Pay and Launch Survey.

⚠️ Note: In some cases, an automatic error message will appear informing you of empty fields or conflicts in your skip logic. Errors are reported in the right-hand panel and identified by question number. Fix any errors in the survey, then click Checkout again.

Your survey is now in field—real-time collected results can be viewed from the Surveys in Progress tab of your Dashboard.

Empty fields and skip logic conflicts flagged in the right-hand validation panel

List Survey Specifics

After you've launched your List Survey, we provide a URL you can email to your list or post to social media. You also have the option to use the provided embed code for your website.

Real-time collected results can be viewed from the Surveys in Progress tab of your Dashboard.

Soft Launching Your Survey

Think of a soft launch as a test run for a larger study. It can be beneficial to test your survey on a small percentage of the total sample size before fully launching, to help ensure the success of your study.

⚠️ Note: To soft launch a survey, you must reach out to our team—users are unable to soft launch on their own.

What is a soft launch? A soft launch places your survey in the field with the sample size capped at a specific amount, such as 5% or 10% of the total sample. The survey pauses automatically once the cap is reached, letting you review the data and decide if any changes are needed before launching to collect the full sample.

Can edits be applied after a soft launch? If edits are needed, changes can be made to the existing draft only if they're not structural changes. A structural change requires the survey to be cloned, edited, and relaunched. The sample collected in the soft launch may still incur fees.

  • Structural changes—for example: adding questions, adding answers, swapping stimuli.
  • Non-structural changes—for example: updating text.

Why soft launch? Soft launches make it possible to check conditional routing (such as hide/show if logic) and collect survey metrics such as IR and LOI. A soft launch can also help gauge how well open-ended questions are being answered.

💡 Tip: If you're not sure whether a soft launch makes sense for your study, reach out to your account manager—they're happy to help you weigh it against a straight full launch.

Learn more about soft launching surveys in the Lighthouse Academy!

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What to Expect During a Soft Launch

Before approaching a soft launch, thoroughly review the study in detail. The preview feature on the Survey Editor page is an excellent tool to scout out any possible programming errors. Once you've completed testing, you're ready to reach out for a soft launch.

  1. When your programmed survey is ready, reach out to your account manager with the Survey ID, your total N, and the N of completes desired for your soft launch.
  2. The survey will transition to the Panel Operations team, who will monitor both the soft launch and subsequent full launch.
  3. When your soft launch is complete, we'll reach out for you to review and complete a data check.
  4. When you're ready, let our team know to proceed with the full launch.
  5. If adjustments must be made before the full launch, we can discuss options and pricing to improve feasibility or narrow the search as appropriate.