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Configure the survey layout and emails

This article covers one of the four steps in creating a survey in My Effectory. The four steps are:

  1. Selecting participants
  2. Setting the survey period and frequency
  3. Selecting survey questions
  4. Configuring the survey layout and emails

The final step in creating your survey is choosing the layout for your survey and emails, and editing the text of your invitation and reminders. This helps you set the right tone and create a professional look for participants.

 

How to set up your survey layout

In this step you decide how your questionnaire will look. Picking the right layout makes the survey clear and engaging for participants.

  1. In the survey setup, go to step 4: Layout & emails.

  2. In the Survey layout row, use the dropdown menu on the right to choose from the design templates available in your project.

  3. Select the template you'd like to use.
    > A preview appears so you can check how the design will look for participants.

  4. That’s it! The template you see in the preview is the one that will be used in the survey.

The template options you see here depend on what has been configured in the project settings by your project or central coordinators. Learn more about creating survey and mailing design templates here.

 

How to configure your email designs and text

This feature is available in the Professional and Expert packages.

In this step you set up the emails your participants will receive. You can choose a design and edit the text of both the invitation and the reminders so they match your style and tone. This is also done in step 4 of the survey setup (Layout & emails).

Note: These steps are optional. If you prefer to use the default email designs and text, you can skip this setup.

  1. Click the Invitation email or Reminder email rows to open a preview of the current design and content.

  2. Use the dropdown menu at the top to select a design template from the ones available in the project, or click + Create template to create a new one.

  3. To edit the email content, click Edit email content.

  4. In the editor window, you can change the text, format it with rich text options, and insert merge fields. The available formatting depends on the field you are editing. 

  5. If your survey runs in multiple languages, repeat the edits for each language using the list on the left. The platform will warn you if one or more languages have not been updated.

  6. Click Save for this survey to save your edits.

  7. Review your changes in the preview panel, then click Use email template to confirm.

 

Good to know:

  • You can edit the following fields of your emails: title, subtitle, and body. The header and footer cannot be edited.
  • Changes to your invitation and reminder emails are not applied to printable invitations.

Tip! Once the survey is planned, you can send yourself a preview email. This lets you see how the email looks and gives you the chance to adjust it again if needed.

 

What are merge fields?

Merge fields let you personalise your emails automatically. They act as placeholders that pull information from your employee data, such as a participant’s first name. In the editor window you can add merge fields from the menu on the top right. The system shows you a list of available fields together with sample data so you can see how they work.

The available merge fields are:

  • First name
  • Last name
  • Organization name
  • Survey name
  • Survey end date
  • Group
  • Manager email address
  • Manager first name (if this variable is in use)
  • Manager last name (if this variable is in use)

In previews they appear like , and when the email is sent the placeholder is replaced with the actual data.

Note: Only specific merge fields are available due to confidentiality and privacy rules, so custom columns from your employee data file cannot be used.

 

Coming soon: Editing reminder texts after launch

If your survey is already running and you want to edit the reminder text:

  1. Go to your survey page in My Effectory.

  2. Find the Design section and click on Email on the right-hand side.

  3. The preview side panel will open. Click Edit content to adjust the text following the same steps as above.

  4. Any edits you make will apply to all future reminders. 

Note: To add, remove, or reschedule reminders, see the dedicated article on managing reminders.

 

What’s next?

Once you’ve set up your survey, everything runs automatically. Invitations and reminders will be sent at the times you planned, so you don’t need to do anything manually.

Want to see how things are going? Check out your survey page to follow the response rate and keep track of progress.

Looking for inspiration to make your survey even more powerful? Visit the Resources tab in My Effectory to download our communication toolkit, follow-up toolkit, and more. These guides help you drive participation and prepare for meaningful follow-up once results are in.