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Personalization
Personalization
Updated over 3 weeks ago

Overview

Survey Personalization is a feature that lets you include dynamic placeholders in your survey questions or titles. These placeholders pull from a customer’s data (e.g. first name, city) and insert it directly into the text of your survey. This personalized touch can significantly boost engagement and make respondents feel recognized - whether dropping their name in an intro to a survey, or referencing a city for a particular question.

Table of Contents

  1. How Survey Personalization Works

  2. Adding Placeholders to Your Survey

  3. Using Default Values Effectively

  4. Using Placeholders with Kno Links

  5. FAQ & Troubleshooting

1. How Survey Personalization Works

Placeholders Explained

  • You can insert placeholders in your survey text or questions by using double curly braces {{ }}.

  • Each placeholder references a specific field from the customer’s record, for example:

    • {{firstName}}

    • {{city}}

Default Values

  • If a particular field isn’t available (e.g., the customer’s first name is missing), you can provide a default value.

  • The formatting is {{fieldName | defaultValue}}. For instance, {{firstName | there}} will display “there” if the first name field is empty.

Allowed Fields

To ensure data security and proper formatting, only the following fields are allowed by default:

  • firstName

  • lastName

  • email

  • phone

  • city

  • providence

  • country

Note: If you attempt to use a field not in this list, the placeholder will display the default value (if provided) or remain blank.

2. Adding Placeholders to Your Survey

Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. Open the Kno Survey Builder

    • Go to your Surveys page to edit an existing survey, or create a new one

  2. Insert the Placeholder

    • Wherever you want personalization, type in {{fieldName | defaultValue}}.

    • For example, to greet respondents by their first name, enter Hello, {{firstName | there}}!

  3. Save and Preview

    • Save your changes and open the survey in a preview or test environment.

    • Ensure that if you have a known customer, the correct data appears; if data is missing, the default text appears instead.

Practical Examples

  • Greetings

    • “Hello, {{firstName | there}}!” – If firstName is missing, it shows “Hello, there!”

  • Location Checks

    • “Were you satisfied with your shopping experience in {{city | your city}}?” – If city is missing, it displays “your city.”

  • Email References

    • “We’ll send confirmation to your email {{email | on file}}.”

3. Using Default Values Effectively

Default values ensure your survey text never looks incomplete or awkward if customer data is missing. Keep defaults simple, friendly, and relevant to your branding:

  • Instead of {{firstName | }} (no default), use {{firstName | there}} or {{firstName | friend}}.

  • Make sure the default language still flows naturally in the sentence.

4. Using Placeholders with Kno Links

When using Kno survey links, you can include placeholders as URL parameters to personalize the survey experience. These parameters are added to the end of the survey link URL.

How to add parameters

1. Start with your base survey link, for example:

https://app.knocommerce.com/surveys/6f62dd02-f08d-4187-b432-d2283f7c346d

2. Add a question mark (?) at the end of the URL to begin the query string:

https://app.knocommerce.com/surveys/6f62dd02-f08d-4187-b432-d2283f7c346d?

3. Add your first placeholder:

https://app.knocommerce.com/surveys/6f62dd02-f08d-4187-b432-d2283f7c346d?firstName=Kno%20Customer

4. Add additional placeholders using (&) at the start of each following string:

https://app.knocommerce.com/surveys/6f62dd02-f08d-4187-b432-d2283f7c346d?firstName=Kno%20Customer&city=Dallas

Best practices

  • URL Encoding: Ensure that any values containing special characters or spaces are properly URL-encoded. For example, "New York" should be "New%20York". There are many free online URL encoders to help with this!

  • Security: Be cautious about including sensitive information in URLs, as they may be logged or visible in browser history.

  • Testing: Always test your personalized links to ensure they work correctly and display the expected personalized content in your survey.

5. FAQ & Troubleshooting

Q: What if placeholders don’t render at all?

A: Check your spelling and confirm you used the correct field name. Also verify that the field name is in the allowed list.

Q: Can I add new fields beyond the allowed list?

A: Please reach out to KnoCommerce support if a new field is required. While not currently supported, we’d be keen to add it to our roadmap!

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