Brand perception survey

How you describe your brand and how people see it rarely match. This template measures the gap: the first word that comes to mind, what people think you do, and who they'd recommend you to. Then your positioning starts from what people believe.

Best for: Marketing and product teams checking positioning and tracking it over time.

Use this template free

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What's the first word that comes to mind when you think of us?

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The questions

1What's the first word that comes to mind when you think of us?Short textAsked before any prompting, so it's the purest read of what sticks.
2In one sentence, what would you say we do?Long textShows whether your positioning landed or got garbled on the way.
3What do you think we're best known for?Long text
4Who would you recommend us to, and why?Long textTheir answer describes who you're really for better than your own deck does.
5How do you feel about the brand overall?Opinion scaleA 1-5 read on how people feel. Pair it with the written answers so you know what's behind it.
6Which of these words describe us?Multi selectOffer a fixed list (e.g. reliable, expensive, innovative, complex) so you can compare the same words over time.
7How did you first hear about us?Short textLinks what people think to where they found you. Different channels leave different impressions.

Sample replies, counted

These replies are made up to show the method.

Asked: In one sentence, what would you say we do?

You make online forms.Just a form tool
Surveys that also read the answers for you, so you don't need a spreadsheet.Gets it right
Isn't it a scheduling app? I think I used it for a booking page once.Remembers the old product
a typeform alternativeJust a form tool
Helps small teams hear from the people they sell to and sort what they said.Gets it right
Booking and appointments, I think.Remembers the old product
Forms with nicer colours than Google Forms.Just a form tool
No idea, a friend sent me a link.Other

8 replies, one label each
Label	Replies
Just a form tool	3
Gets it right	2
Remembers the old product	2
Other	1

Three of eight people see a plain form tool and only two describe the part you sell on. Put the reading-the-answers part in the first line of your homepage, and check whether the old booking pages still rank.

How to run it well

Count the first-word answers. The most common word is your real positioning, whether you chose it or not.
Put the 'what we do' sentences next to your own one-liner. The distance between them is your messaging problem.
Ask people who pay you and people who don't. The gap between the two tells you if the problem is the product or that people haven't heard of it.
Keep the open questions before the word list, so the list doesn't put words in people's mouths.
Re-run the same word list every quarter so you can see whether a campaign moved anything.

When not to use this: If you're testing one new idea or tagline before launch, a brand survey is too broad. Use the concept test survey and show people the idea itself.

FAQ

Should I survey people who haven't bought from us?

Yes. That's where most positioning problems hide. People who pay you already get it. The people you're not converting show you what your messaging isn't saying.

How do I turn open brand answers into something I can track?

Pair the open questions with a fixed word list and keep its wording the same every time. The written answers tell you why. The word list gives you a number to watch quarter to quarter.

How often should I track brand perception?

Quarterly is enough to see movement without chasing noise. Run an extra round before and after a big rebrand or campaign so you can tell what changed it.

Where the method comes from

Brand awareness, Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
Writing Survey Questions, Pew Research Centerpewresearch.org