Filtering Properties in Link Surveys

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Suggested next article: Tagging Text Responses.


Unlock Delighted Link Surveys with powerful Filtering

Want to uncover deeper insights from your Link surveys? The key lies in properties. Properties are custom data tags you can attach to each survey, allowing you to filter results in powerful ways.

Imagine this:

  • Flag customers by their purchase history (ex. "SKU" and "Life Time Value") 
  • Segment responses demographically (ex. "Female," "Male," or "Kids")
  • Compare "Returning" to "New" customers

Filtering is a snap. Simply click the "Filter" button, choose the properties you want to filter by, and there you go! 

After you filter a few properties, you'll see them pop up everywhere — on Results pages, on Response pages, and in Visualizations, giving you a clear picture of your data from a variety of vantage points!

Start Filtering!

Unlock the full potential of your Link surveys by adding and filtering properties. Let's break it all down in three simple sections:

1 Adding properties to surveys with query strings
2 Filtering properties — the basics
3 Filtering properties — beyond the basics

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1. Adding properties to Link surveys with query strings

Query strings add extra information to the end of surveys URLs. Simply attach properties to the end of a  Base survey URL with paired Key=Value parameters (ex. Source=Web and Name=Sean).

Like coupling railcars to a locomotive, you can link up to 30 Key parameters together with Values up to 128 characters! (That's more power than Thomas the Tank Engine!) Each new property is coupled to the next with an "&" — except for the first property which connects with a "?" — don't ask us why.  

Can you spot the five key=value properties in this query string?

https://surveys.delighted.com/c/u/Bo5cKjF1?name=Sean&email=sean%40delighted.com&source=web&locale=en&mlb_team=padres

For your properties, it's a round trip. ALL of your properties will travel with your survey to your respondents — and they ALL return together with the added responses! 

Now it's "ALL CLEAR," let's break the above query string into its components:

Base Survey URL Query string — including keys = values
https://surveys.delighted.com/c/u/ Bo5cKjF1
?name=Sean
&Email=sean%40delighted.com
&source=web
&locale=en
&mlb_team=padres

How to create your Delighted Surveys query strings

To add properties to Links:

1
Click "My surveys" → and copy your survey's link 

2
In your text editor → paste your link (aka. base URL)

https://surveys.1.staging.delighted.dev/c/u/9wJmfU4t

3
Add your properties to the end of the base URL as explained above. (Don't forget "?" and "&")

https://surveys.1.staging.delighted.dev/c/u/9wJmfU4t?name=Sean&email=sean%40delighted.com&source=web&locale=en&mlb_team=padres

4
Send your updated URL along with your properties to your respondents → and await the returning results!
About symbols (?, &, =) and encoding (@)

A "?" will precede the first Key. Subsequent keys will lead with an "&" (ex. ?name, &email, &source, &locale, &mlb_team).

Values will follow with an "=" (ex. =Sean, =sean@delighted.com, =web, = en, =padres). 

All special characters are encoded. For example, %40 encodes the @ symbol in email addresses. Use a URL encoder/decoder to grab the correct encoding for any additional symbols you may need in your query strings.

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2. Filtering properties — the basics

Filter your Link properties (like Customer Type, Life Time Value, or SKU) with a simple click on the "Filter" button. We won't overwhelm you with endless options, but we'll showcase five basic examples to spark your creativity.

2a Adding, deselecting, and clearing Filters
2b Filtering Results pages — with multiple properties
2c Filtering Response pages — with a date range
2d Filtering individual Visualizations
2e Filtering Visualizations for Reports

2a. Adding, deselecting, and clearing Filters

To add and clear your properties:

1
Open your "Results" page
2
Click the "Filter" button
3
Choose "By Property," → select your Key=Value → and click "OK"
4
Deselect a filter → by clicking the "X" to the right of the filter's Key=Value property tag
5
Add as many property filters as you need
6
Clear all of your filters at once by clicking (of all things) → the "Clear filters" button

2b. Filtering Results pages — with multiple properties

The Results page compiles the aggregate data for every response from a survey — and creates a Visualization for each question. The trick here is to segment the responses into actionable cohorts.

To get the job done, "Filter" by as many properties as you like. In this example, we'll use two properties to segment responses for the question, "How did you hear about us?" 

To filter by multiple properties on the Results page: 

1
Open your "Results" page → and click the "Filter" button
2
Select multiple properties → (ex. "New" customers to the "Kids" collection) → and click 'OK"

In our example, see how the Filters reduce the responses from 29 down to 3 showing that "Social media" and "Third party reviews" are the main drivers of activity for this small subset of respondents.


2c. Filtering Response pages — with a date range

To filter with two properties by a timeframe:

1
Open your survey’s "Responses" page → and click the "Filter" button
2
Select your Key=Value filters, including a filter that includes a time range  → (like "Purchase date")
3
Set the date ranges as seen below → and click "OK"

Notice how the list of responses shrinks to match the selected properties and corresponding date range!


2d. Filtering individual Visualizations

To filter a Visualization:

1
Open your "Results" page → (notice that previous filters remain)
2
Select a Key=Value property → (ex. "New" customers)

Watch how the responses in the graph change with this segmentation, reducing the responses down to 8 from 16. Glance at this image to see the distinct drop in "ease of use" for "New" "Female" customers.


2e. Filtering Visualizations for Reports

To add a filtered Visualization to include in a Report:

1
Open your "Results" page → and select your Key=Value properties
2
Click open any "Visualization" → (ex. "How easy was our product to use?")
3
Pick the "Add to a report" button → and choose a Report from the "Add to a report" model

Glance to see how the filtered Visualization looks in your selected Report!

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3. Filtering properties — beyond the basics

Okay, in the basics section we just scratched the surface. Let's dive deeper.  

Surveys will list up to 10 Key=Value properties at the top of your Results and Responses pages, as well as 10 Values along the bottom of every individual response card. After that, we run out of space to put everything!  

 Remember, you can add up to 30 properties per survey. To see them ALL, click the " + # others" tag on any individual response card.

Here's a handy tip — hover over the Values at the bottom any response card to view a tool tip revealing the Key for each Value. That's a nice touch! 

With that, let's jump into five nuanced examples we're sure you'll want to know about:

3a Exporting ALL of your properties with your data
3b Filtering by a respondent's Name
3c Filtering Text responses
3d Filtering with operators — Equals & Does not equal
3e Filtering with operators — Has any value & Has no value

3a. Exporting ALL of your properties with your data

Quickly send yourself a CSV (spreadsheet compatible) file with all of your data, including each property you've defined. Each Key will head it's own column with all the corresponding Values appearing in their designated rows. 

To export a CSV file listing all of your properties:

1
"Filter" your "Results"
2
Click "Export data"
3
Check your email → as the CXV file will be sent to the address associated with your account
Suggested next article: Exporting and Sharing Results

3b. Filtering by a respondent's Name

To "Filter" by name, add names to your Key=Value query string — ex. &Name=Sean. 

To filter by name:

1
Open your "Responses" page
2
Click "Filter" →  "By Property" → "Name"
3
Review a selected respondent's specific response card


Suggested next article: Managing Contacts

3c. Filtering Text responses

To "Filter" your Text responses by your Key=Value properties:

1
Open your "Results" page → and scroll down to a Text Visualization
2
Apply your filters → (ex. "New" customers)
3
Review the filtered text responses

3d. Filtering by operators — Equals, Does not equal

As operators go, "Equals" and "Does not equal" are about as simple as it can get. Either a response includes the Key=Value parameter you are looking for or it doesn't. Simple as that. 

  • Take "Life Time Value" as a Key.  How many customers answering your survey are included the higher $149 and $249 pricing levels, and how many can be excluded?

To filter "Life Time Value" by the "Equals" operator: 

1
Open your "Results" page
2
Filter "Life Time Value" → (to include only the most profitable customer pricing levels — 249, 149)
3
Review the Visualizations containing the number that "Equals" the most profitable group

To filter "Life Time Value" by the "Does not equal" operator: 

1
Open your "Results" page
2
Filter "Life Time Value" → (ex. and  exclude the least profitable pricing levels — 249, 149)
3
Review the number of customers that fits into the least profitable group


3e. Filtering by operators — Has any value, Has no value

The operators "Has any value" and "Has no value" are usually paired with other properties. 

In this example, we will give the Key for a product "SKU" number "Has any value." This allows us to filter for "New" or "Returning" customers who have purchased specific items labeled with the corresponding SKU. (If we used "Has no value," we'd reverse the process and come up with no Values.)

To filter "New" customers who are associated to any SKU number: 

1
Open your "Results" page
2
Filter "SKU" → (to include "Has any value")
3
Filter "New" customers purchasing any "SKU"

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Best Practices: Choosing properties meaningful to your business.

Properties add context to responses and unlock valuable insights from your survey responses. Think of them as extra details – like customer names, purchase history, or product selections. By adding up to 30 properties per survey, you're laying the groundwork for powerful future analyses. The more you include, the merrier. 

Why More is More (But Manageable!)

Including relevant properties opens doors to unforeseen insights. You might not always know what questions to ask today, but comprehensive properties ensure you can explore every angle later.

Don't worry about information overload - Delighted Surveys keeps it simple. You can easily add or remove property filters from your Results, Responses, and Visualization pages at any time. This keeps your analysis focused and manageable, regardless of the number of properties you include.

Based on your business, the below categories can be useful to pass along as Key=Value properties:

Categories Description
Basic customer details Cover the most critical customer information first. Names, length of time as a customer, products purchased, customer identifiers in your system, and other basic details can help quickly bucket your feedback according to the key elements of your business
Geography and language Customer geo location is an important factor. Plus, collecting geographic and language information allows you to send in multiple languages (Currently available in CX, and coming soon to Surveys)
Demographic information Age, education, income, and other demographic factors are important considerations—particularly to your marketing research team
Product lines Including properties for your product lines helps determine which products are being received well and which products are in need of improvement (or even discontinuance)
New versus existing customers Separating feedback from new and existing customers will help you understand how experiences differ for people at the various milestones in their customer journey
Customer type This property can break out different types of customers who are using your products or services (ex. buyers, sellers, consultants, etc.). You can also use a similar property to differentiate between customer tiers (free plan, premium customers, enterprise customers)
Purchase location Passing purchase location information can be useful if you have multiple stores, territories, or sales regions. You can isolate each location or see aggregate feedback across regions

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