{"slug":"survey","title":"Send and manage surveys","description":"Send a form to vendors, customers or the public, then track and review their responses.","section":"market","sections":["market"],"tags":["surveys, data"],"aliases":[],"updated":"2026-09-13","published_datetime":"2025-09-08T12:00:00.000Z","promoted":false,"related":["forms","how-to-sync-a-survey-to-the-latest-form-version"],"links":["forms"],"images":{},"video":null,"source_commit":"d6cdbeb","body_format":"markdown","nav":{"section":"market","group":"Reach your community","previous":{"slug":"enabling-messenger-premium-plans","title":"Manage your market's Messenger plan"},"next":{"slug":"how-to-sync-a-survey-to-the-latest-form-version","title":"How to sync a survey to the latest form version"}},"related_articles":[{"slug":"forms","title":"Create and use forms","description":"Build a form your team fills out on a vendor or an event day, and see the answers together in one place."},{"slug":"how-to-sync-a-survey-to-the-latest-form-version","title":"How to sync a survey to the latest form version","description":"Update an already-sent survey so everyone still filling it out sees your form's latest questions."}],"body":"A survey is a form you send to people outside your team. The audience for surveys includes:\n\n- Vendors\n- Customers\n- The general public\n\n---\n\n## Surveys vs. Forms\n\nForms and surveys are built using the same drag-and-drop form builder, but they serve different audiences and purposes.\n\n### Forms are for your team\n\n**Forms** are designed for **internal use**. They are filled out by market managers, staff, or volunteers as part of day-to-day operations. Examples include:\n\n- Event day check-in forms completed by staff on-site\n- Vendor attendance tracking filled out by a market manager\n- Internal reporting forms used by your team during or after events\n- Booth inspection checklists for staff walkthroughs\n\nForms appear in your event day records and can be filled out directly from the dashboard by anyone on your team with the appropriate permissions. They are never sent to anyone outside your organization.\n\n### Surveys are for vendors, customers, and the public\n\n**Surveys** are designed for **external recipients**. When you send a survey, it goes out to people outside your management team and they complete it on their own time. Examples include:\n\n- Post-event vendor feedback surveys\n- Customer satisfaction surveys\n- Public interest or demographic surveys\n- Seasonal vendor intake questionnaires\n\n### Side-by-side comparison\n\n\n|                           | Forms                                                | Surveys                                                       |\n| ------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- |\n| **Audience**              | Your internal team (managers, staff, volunteers)     | External recipients (vendors, customers, the public)          |\n| **Who fills it out**      | A team member from the dashboard                     | The recipient, via a link sent to them                        |\n| **Distribution**          | Available directly in event day records & dashboards | Sent to recipients via the survey sending workflow            |\n| **Tracking**              | Completed by staff as part of operations             | Tracks sent / pending / in-progress / completed per recipient |\n| **Label in form builder** | No \"Survey\" label needed                             | Must have the \"Survey\" label enabled                          |\n\n\n!!! tip\n    You can reuse the same form template across multiple surveys. For example, you might send the same feedback form after every event day throughout an entire season.\n   \n\n\n---\n\n## Common use cases\n\nSurveys are most commonly used for straightforward feedback collection:\n\n- Vendor feedback surveys\n- Customer satisfaction surveys\n- Public opinion surveys\n\nBut they can also support more advanced workflows:\n\n- Managing vendor attendance change requests\n- Managing vendor booth change requests\n- Collecting rental and add-on requests\n- Supplemental data collection for approved vendor applications\n\n---\n\n## How surveys work\n\nSurveys follow a straightforward lifecycle:\n\n1. **Create a form** --- Design your questions under **Settings > Forms** using the drag-and-drop builder.\n2. **Label it as a survey** --- Assign the \"Survey\" label so the form becomes available for sending.\n3. **Send the survey** --- Choose your recipients and send.\n4. **Collect responses** --- Recipients receive the survey and fill it out. You can track completion rates in real time.\n5. **Review analytics** --- Once responses come in, review individual answers and aggregate analytics. Export data as needed.\n\n### Understanding recipient statuses\n\nThe **Recipients** tab shows one of two statuses for each person you sent the survey to:\n\n\n| Status        | Meaning                                          |\n| ------------- | ------------------------------------------------- |\n| **Sent**      | The recipient has not submitted a response yet.   |\n| **Completed** | The recipient has submitted their response.        |\n\n\n---\n\n## Getting started\n\nFirst, you need to create a form under **Settings > Forms**. To learn more about creating forms, see the support article linked below:\n\n[Creating Forms](https://articles.marketspread.com/v1/articles/forms)\n\nThe key to enabling a form to be used as a survey is to assign it the **\"Survey\" label**. In the form editor, click **Form settings**, then find \"Form is usable in these areas of the platform\" in the right-hand panel and add \"Survey\" to it.\n\n![The \"Form is usable in these areas of the platform\" field, with Survey added](https://articles.marketspread.com/images/survey/01-survey-label.png)\n\n### Sending options\n\nSurveys can be sent to **vendors** in several ways:\n\n- To all vendors in a particular event day (from the Event Day record)\n- To a single vendor (from the Vendor record)\n- To a group of vendors selected in your main Vendor list\n\nSurveys can also be sent to **customers** or **the public** from the Surveys section in your left-hand toolbar.\n\n---\n\n## Walkthrough: Event day vendor survey\n\nThis example walks through sending a survey to all vendors after a market event.\n\n### Step 1: Find the event day\n\nGo to **Event Days** in your left-hand toolbar and scroll to the most recently ended event.\n\n### Step 2: Create a new survey\n\nClick the **+** button on the Surveys tab within the event day record.\n\n![The event day's Surveys tab, with the button to send a new survey](https://articles.marketspread.com/images/survey/02-event-surveys-tab.png)\n\nYou will be presented with a list of all forms published as surveys.\n\n### Step 3: Configure and send\n\nClick the survey form to select it. This will reveal additional options including the recipient type and a name field.\n\nSelect **Vendors** as the audience and fill in a descriptive survey name. Then click the blue **Send Survey** button at the bottom right.\n\n![Sending the survey to Vendors, ready to send](https://articles.marketspread.com/images/survey/03-send-survey.png)\n\n!!! tip\n    Use a descriptive name like \"Sept 7 Vendor Feedback\" so you can easily identify the survey later. Avoid generic names like \"Survey 1.\"\n   \n\n\n### Step 4: Confirm the survey was sent\n\nThe survey list for the event day now includes the survey you just sent to all of the vendors booked for that day.\n\n![The event's Surveys tab, with the survey sent to all vendors](https://articles.marketspread.com/images/survey/04-survey-sent.png)\n\n### Step 5: View survey details\n\nClick the **View** button to the right of the list entry to see the full survey detail page. From here you can:\n\n- **End the survey** --- Stops accepting new responses\n- **Delete the survey** --- Permanently removes the survey and all its data\n\n!!! caution\n    Deleting a survey permanently removes all collected responses. This cannot be undone. If you just want to stop collecting responses, use **End Survey** instead.\n   \n\n\n### Step 6: Review recipients\n\nThe **Recipients** tab shows everyone who received the survey along with their current status.\n\n![The survey's Recipients tab, with each vendor's status](https://articles.marketspread.com/images/survey/05-survey-recipients.png)\n\n### Step 7: Review analytics\n\nAs soon as a recipient completes their response, an **Analytics** tab appears. This gives you aggregate data across all responses. You can export this data using the **Export Analytics** button, or access it through your standard Data Reports.\n\n---\n\n## Walkthrough: Direct vendor survey\n\nYou can also send surveys to vendors outside the context of a specific event day.\n\nOpen **Vendors** in your left-hand toolbar and select the vendors you want to survey using the checkboxes. Click **Bulk actions**, then **Send Surveys**.\n\nThis approach is useful when your survey is not tied to a specific event --- for example, a seasonal feedback form, an interest survey for an upcoming program, or a general satisfaction check-in.\n\n---\n\n## Syncing surveys to the latest form version\n\nAfter you send a survey, you may realize you need to update the underlying form --- perhaps to add a question you forgot, fix a typo, or remove something no longer relevant. When you publish changes to a form, surveys that have already been sent **will continue using the older version**. The **Sync to Latest** feature lets you update an active survey so all recipients see the most current version of your form.\n\n!!! important\n    Surveys do not update automatically when you edit their underlying form. You must explicitly sync each survey to pick up form changes.\n   \n\n\n### When to sync\n\nUse **Sync to Latest** when you have:\n\n- Added new questions to your survey form after it was already sent\n- Removed or edited questions and want those changes reflected for recipients who haven't responded yet\n- Published a new revision of your form and need outstanding surveys to match\n\n### How to sync\n\n#### Step 1: Open the survey\n\nNavigate to the survey you want to update. On the survey detail page, you'll see response statistics and an action bar at the top.\n\n\n\n#### Step 2: Click \"Sync to Latest\"\n\nClick the **Sync to Latest** button in the top-right action bar. This opens the sync dialog.\n\n!!! note\n    This button only appears when a newer revision of the form exists than what the survey is currently using. If you don't see it, the survey is already on the latest version.\n   \n\n\n#### Step 3: Review field changes\n\nThe dialog shows you exactly what will change:\n\n- **Preserved** --- Fields that exist in both the old and new versions. Responses already collected for these fields are kept intact.\n- **New** --- Fields that have been added in the latest revision. These will appear as new questions for recipients.\n\n![The Sync to Latest dialog, showing the field this update adds and who it affects](https://articles.marketspread.com/images/survey/06-sync-to-latest.png)\n\n#### Step 4: Select responses to sync\n\nBelow the field changes, you'll see a table listing every recipient along with their current **Status** and **Data Risk** level.\n\nUse the filter buttons to quickly make your selection:\n\n\n| Button        | Behavior                                                          |\n| ------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |\n| **Safe Only** | Selects only responses where syncing carries no risk of data loss |\n| **All**       | Selects every response                                            |\n| **None**      | Deselects all responses                                           |\n\n\nYou can also check or uncheck individual recipients. Once ready, click **Continue to Confirm**.\n\n\n\n#### Step 5: Confirm and sync\n\nOn the confirmation screen, review the summary:\n\n- The survey name and which revision it will be updated to\n- How many responses will be affected\n- The **Preserve existing response data** checkbox (enabled by default)\n\n!!! warning\n    When \"Preserve existing response data\" is **unchecked**, answers to questions that no longer exist in the new form version will be **permanently deleted**. In most cases, you should leave this checked. Preserved data stays in the background but is hidden from the new form --- nothing is lost.\n   \n\n\nClick **Sync Now** to apply the update.\n\n\n\n#### Step 6: Reload the page\n\nAfter the sync completes, you'll see a success message showing how many responses were updated. Click **Reload Page** to refresh the view.\n\n\n\n### Key sync terms\n\n\n| Term                    | Definition                                                                                      |\n| ----------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |\n| **Revision**            | A version of your survey form. Each time you publish changes, a new revision is created.        |\n| **Preserved fields**    | Questions that exist in both the current and latest revision.                                   |\n| **New fields**          | Questions added in the latest revision that recipients haven't seen yet.                        |\n| **Data Risk**           | Whether syncing a particular response could affect existing answer data. \"None\" means no risk.  |\n| **Orphaned field data** | Answers to questions that no longer exist in the updated form. When preserved, kept but hidden. |\n\n\n---\n\n## Best practices\n\n### Designing your survey\n\n- **Keep it short.** Aim for 5--10 questions. Vendors and customers are far more likely to complete a brief survey than a lengthy one.\n- **Use clear, simple language.** Avoid jargon. Write questions the way you'd ask them in person.\n- **Mix question types.** Combine rating scales, multiple choice, and one or two open-ended questions. This gives you both quantifiable data and qualitative insight.\n- **Put the most important questions first.** If someone abandons the survey partway through, you'll still capture what matters most.\n- **Test before sending.** Preview your form and fill it out yourself to catch confusing wording, missing options, or layout issues.\n\n### Sending surveys\n\n- **Name your surveys descriptively.** Use names like \"Sept 7 Vendor Feedback\" or \"2026 Season Customer Survey\" so you can find them later.\n- **Send promptly.** For event day surveys, send within 24 hours while the experience is still fresh.\n- **Choose the right audience.** Use event day surveys for event-specific feedback. Use direct vendor surveys for general or seasonal topics.\n- **Don't over-survey.** Sending too many surveys leads to fatigue and lower response rates. One survey per event or one per month is a reasonable cadence.\n\n### Managing active surveys\n\n- **Monitor response rates.** Check the survey detail page regularly. Low response rates may mean the survey is too long or was sent at a bad time.\n- **Use End Survey when you're done collecting.** This prevents late responses from trickling in after you've already reviewed the data.\n- **Export analytics promptly.** Download your data while it's relevant so you can share findings with your team or board.\n\n### Syncing and form updates\n\n- **Finalize your form before sending.** The best way to avoid needing to sync is to thoroughly review your form before the first send.\n- **Sync early if you must.** If you need to update the form, sync before most recipients have responded. It's cleaner to get everyone on the same version early.\n- **Always keep \"Preserve existing response data\" checked** unless you have a specific reason to discard old answers.\n- **Review field changes carefully.** Before confirming a sync, verify the preserved and new fields look correct. This is your last chance to catch issues.\n\n---\n\n## What not to do\n\n!!! caution\n    These are common mistakes that can lead to lost data or a poor experience for your recipients. Review this list before sending your first survey.\n   \n\n\n- **Don't delete a survey to \"start over.\"** Deleting removes all collected responses permanently. If you need to make changes, use **Sync to Latest** instead.\n- **Don't send the same survey to the same people multiple times.** This creates duplicate entries and confuses recipients. If you need to remind people, follow up through Messenger instead of re-sending.\n- **Don't edit a form and assume surveys update automatically.** They don't. Existing surveys stay on the version they were sent with until you explicitly sync.\n- **Don't uncheck \"Preserve existing response data\" unless you're certain.** Removing orphaned data is irreversible. In almost all cases, keeping it hidden is the safer choice.\n- **Don't ignore incomplete responses.** \"In Progress\" responses mean someone started but didn't finish. This could signal that the survey is too long or a question is confusing.\n- **Don't wait too long to review results.** Survey data is most actionable when it's fresh. Build a habit of reviewing responses within a few days of the survey closing.\n- **Don't use surveys for time-sensitive communication.** Surveys are for data collection, not urgent announcements. Use Messenger or email for anything that needs an immediate response.\n\n---\n\n## Frequently asked questions\n\n**Can I reuse the same form for multiple surveys?**  \nYes. A form is just a template. You can send it as a survey as many times as you like --- for different event days, different vendor groups, or different seasons.\n\n**Will syncing affect responses that vendors have already completed?**  \nCompleted responses will be updated to the new form revision if you select them during the sync. With \"Preserve existing response data\" enabled, their existing answers are retained.\n\n**Can I undo a sync?**  \nNo. Syncing cannot be reversed. Review the field changes and selected responses carefully before confirming.\n\n**What happens if I don't sync after updating my form?**  \nRecipients will continue to see and fill out the older version of the form. New questions or changes won't appear for them until you sync.\n\n**Can customers and the public fill out surveys without an account?**  \nYes. Surveys sent to customers or the public generate a unique link that does not require a Marketspread account.\n\n**Where do I find survey data in reports?**  \nSurvey response data is available through the standard **Data Reports** section. You can also export directly from the **Analytics** tab on any individual survey."}