Survey Links allow you to collect feedback using a simple URL or QR code—no email or SMS required. This is ideal for passive data collection, such as embedding in email signatures, printing on receipts, or displaying in-store.
💡 Introduction
If you're looking for a low-friction, passive way to gather customer feedback, Survey Links are perfect. This article walks you through creating, configuring, and sharing these links using AskNicely's Survey Links app.
🎥 Video Tutorial
🛠️ Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Create a Survey Template
Navigate to Survey > Manage Templates
Create or choose a Survey Template for your Survey Link
Update language to remove references to “email” and instead use more general language
Update footer: change “This email was sent by…” to “This survey is executed by…”
2. Configure the Survey Link
Go to App Store > Discover > Survey Links > Configure
Click “New Survey Link”
Select your Survey Template from the dropdown
(Optional) Add Custom Fields to tag responses—this will help filter/report results later
(Optional) Set a Timeout/Auto-refresh duration for kiosk-mode surveys
Click Generate to create your link
Use “Copy to Clipboard” or “Generate QR Code” to share
Adding Static Custom Data
Once you've selected your Survey Template, you'll be able to attach Custom Fields to the Survey Link. These fields help tag responses with meaningful context—such as a location, team name, or staff member—making it easier to filter and report on responses later.
You can only select Custom Fields that already exist in AskNicely.
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For each field, you can:
Choose an existing value from the dropdown, or
Create a new value on the spot
You can include as many Custom Fields as needed—but we recommend keeping it simple for clarity and clean reporting.
📌 Example:
In the screenshot below, we’ve selected the Custom Field Personal Trainer and entered the value Aydin Lang. That means all responses submitted via this Survey Link will automatically be tagged with:
This is especially useful when using one template across multiple users or teams—each Survey Link can be pre-tagged to track who or where the feedback is coming from.
3. Add a Contact Lookup Question (Optional)
Add the Contact Lookup Question to your Survey to prompt users for an email or phone number
This allows AskNicely to match the response to an existing Contact and apply all related Custom Data
If no match is found, a new Contact will be created
- See video tutorial for visual instructions on how to add this card to your Template
4. Share the Survey Link
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Embed it in:
Email signatures
Store signage
Chat widgets
Receipts
Download and print the QR code version as needed
⚠️ Be cautious with posting links publicly—they may become targets for spam or fraudulent activity
5. Deactivate the Link (If Needed)
Go to App Store > Installed Apps > Survey Links > Configure
Click the three-dot menu on the link you want to disable
Click Deactivate
Customize the Survey Expiry Message in your Survey Template
⚙️ Workflows and Anonymous Responses
If you'd like to trigger a Workflow based on whether a response came from an anonymous Survey Link, you can do so by adding a rule that looks for the special survey link domain in the respondent's email address. This is not a common use-case.
🛠️ How to Set It Up
In your Workflow:
Go to Workflows from the navigation bar.
Choose an existing Workflow or create a new one.
Under the Rules section, click Add a Rule.
Set the rule to:
email contains @surveylink.asknice.ly
This ensures that only responses from anonymous survey links (which do not include a known contact email) will trigger the workflow.
This Workflow will automatically close the cases of anonymous Responses generated from Survey Links...
🎥 Video Tutorial
❓ FAQs & Common Issues
Q: Are Survey Link responses anonymous?
A: Yes—unless you use the Contact Lookup Question, responses are anonymous and cannot be used for follow-up.
Q: Will Survey Link responses affect my statistics?
A: Yes, all views and responses count toward your survey allowance and response rate.
Q: Can I track which Survey Link responses came from where?
A: Yes—use Custom Fields like "Location" or "KioskID" when creating the link to tag and filter responses later.
Q: What if I want to restrict visibility of these results?
A: Use a dedicated Survey Template and/or Custom Fields to isolate these responses on your Dashboard.
Q: Can I use these links in SMS?
A: Yes! SMS delivery will log as “Delivered,” and clicking the link will show as “Sent” and “Opened.”
Q: What do sent, opened, and responded correspond to in Survey Links?
A:
We set sent to the time the survey page is sent to the user's browser.
When the survey page in the browser loads its embedded images, we mark the survey as opened.
When the contact answers the survey's first question, we mark the survey as responded. In the unusual event that the survey was not already recorded as opened, we now do so.