“How did you hear about us?”The survey guide: options, examples & best practices
One question shows you where customers really come from. This guide covers the answer options to offer, examples by industry, and how Shopify brands turn the answers into attribution data.
The question in its natural habitat: a UserLoop survey on the Shopify thank-you page. Watch the follow-up question appear the moment a channel is picked.
The question your analytics can't answer
Click tracking misses the channels that actually build brands. Asking customers directly fills the gaps.
Illustrative
Last-click reports overclaim
Branded search and direct traffic soak up credit for demand created elsewhere. Customers tell you the true first touch.
Dark social is invisible
Group chats, DMs, and word of mouth carry no UTM parameters. No tracking pixel survives a group chat; a survey does.
Straight from the customer
Zero-party data is privacy-proof
Answers come straight from the customer. No cookies, no modeling, no consent-banner gymnastics involved.
Build your answer option list
The recommended default covers eight channels plus Other: Google or another search engine, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, friend or family member, influencer or creator, and podcast. Start there, or from your industry preset, then tune it to match where you actually spend.
Search & marketplaces
Social media
People
Audio & broadcast
Offline
Press & publications
How did you hear about us?
9 options- Google or another search engineWhat were you searching for?
- InstagramWhich account or creator?
- TikTokWhich TikTok creator?
- FacebookWas it an ad, a group, or a post?
- YouTubeWhich YouTube channel?
- Friend or family memberWho was it? We'd love to thank them
- Influencer or creatorWhich creator?
- PodcastWhich show were you listening to?
- Other (please specify)always last
In the 6-9 sweet spot. Randomize the order when you publish.
Do
- Randomize the option order to remove position bias
- Always include Other with a free-text field
- Keep the list to 6-9 options, including Other
- Use one channel per option, no overlaps
- Pair each channel with a Follow-up Question: which channel, which show, who
- Revisit the list quarterly as your channel mix changes
Don't
- List every channel you have ever tried
- Offer "Social media" and "Instagram" side by side
- Bury the question after four others: ask it first
- Re-ask returning customers on every order
- Treat Other answers as noise instead of a discovery feed
- Copy a competitor's list instead of matching your spend
Example option sets by industry
Discovery patterns differ by category, so the best lists do too. Four proven starting points:
Fashion & apparel
Discovery lives on feeds and in closets: social first, search second.
- TikTok
- Friend or family
- Influencer or creator
- Saw it in a store
- Other
Beauty & skincare
Tutorial-led buying: short video and creators drive trial.
- TikTok
- YouTube
- Influencer or creator
- Friend or family
- Saw it in a store
- Other
Food & beverage
Tasted at events, spotted in stores, shared by friends.
- Friend or family
- Saw it in a store
- TikTok
- Event or market
- Podcast
- Other
Electronics & gear
Research-heavy: reviews, Reddit threads, and YouTube deep dives.
- YouTube
- Friend or family
- Podcast
- Amazon or marketplace
- Product review site
- Other
Where and when to ask
Timing decides your response rate. Ask on pages customers already visit, then follow up where they already read.
Thank-you page
Ask seconds after checkout, while attention is at its peak and the purchase is still front of mind.
60%+ respondOrder status page
Customers come back to track their delivery. The question gets a second chance with no extra sends.
Free second askPost-delivery email
Triggered by fulfillment events, it reaches everyone else once the product is actually in hand.
Reaches the restLink & QR
Packaging inserts, support conversations, and offline moments all route to the same question.
Offline coveredUserLoop runs all four placements from a single survey. See post-purchase surveys for Shopify
A small discount changes the math
UserLoop's research across merchant surveys measured what a reward does to the question. The short version: attach a small discount, say so up front, and more customers answer, while far more finish.
Post-purchase survey response rates, UserLoop merchant research. Announcing the reward up front added an average 30% on its own.
more customers completed the entire survey instead of stopping after question one. That's exactly where your Follow-up Question data lives.
of incentive codes were redeemed on a follow-up order within 30 days, versus an industry coupon average near 1%. The survey pays you back twice.
All figures from UserLoop's research on survey incentives. Most merchants offer 10% or less, and UserLoop generates unique single-use Shopify codes automatically: see incentives and rewards.
Go a level deeper than the channel
Knowing it was YouTube is a start. The budget question is which channel. UserLoop's Follow-up Questions trigger from the answer a customer just gave, so every channel can ask its own natural next question.
Step 1: the channel
How did you hear about us?
- YouTube
- Podcast
Step 2: the follow-up
Which YouTube channel?
Open text, in the customer's own words. One quick tap to answer, nothing to scroll.
Step 3: AI grouping
- The Gear Lab214
- Studio Sessions96
- Long-tail creators143
“gear lab yt” and “the gear lab studio tour” count as one channel.
The natural follow-up for every answer
Follow-ups are where the survey pays for itself: the creators worth sponsoring again, the stores worth stocking deeper, and the customers referring their friends, named in the customer's own words instead of guessed from a report.
From answers to attribution
Collecting answers is the easy half. The value shows up when answers are grouped, joined to orders, and queried.
AI channel grouping
Free-text answers like "saw it on tt" are normalized into clean channels automatically, so open text stays usable.
Follow-up answers become ranked lists
Open Follow-up Question responses group into named creators, shows, and stores, so "the gear lab studio tour" and "Gear Lab yt" count as one channel.
Revenue per answer
Answers join to Shopify orders, so every channel and creator shows order value and repeat rate, not just a response count.
Ask your data in Claude or ChatGPT
With the UserLoop MCP server connected, "which creator drove the highest repeat rate?" is a prompt, not a project.
UserLoop's AI grouping open-text answers into clean channels.
Frequently asked questions
What is a "How did you hear about us" survey?
It's a one-question survey, often abbreviated to HDYHAU, that asks new customers which channel led them to your brand. Ecommerce stores usually run it on the post-purchase thank-you page, where response rates are highest, and use it to verify marketing attribution.
What options should a how did you hear about us survey include?
Cover your active acquisition channels plus the unmeasurable ones: Google or another search engine, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, friend or family member, influencer or creator, podcast or radio, and an Other option with a free-text field.
How many answer options should I offer?
Six to nine. Fewer buries real channels inside Other; more creates choice overload and lowers completion. Randomize the option order so position bias doesn't skew the results.
Where should I ask the question?
The post-purchase thank-you page converts best, typically 60% or more of buyers on UserLoop. The order status page catches repeat visits, and post-delivery emails reach everyone else. Signup and lead forms work too, just expect lower volume.
Is self-reported attribution accurate?
It's directionally strong and captures channels click tracking can't see, like word of mouth, podcasts, and group chats. Treat it as a complement to platform reporting rather than a replacement; the gaps between the two are usually the insight.
Should the question be multiple choice or open text?
Multiple choice with an Other free-text option converts best and keeps the data clean. If you prefer fully open text, AI grouping can normalize freeform answers like "insta ad" into clean channels automatically.
Can the survey ask which TikTok creator or which podcast?
Yes. UserLoop's Follow-up Questions feature triggers a second question based on the answer selected, so TikTok can ask for the creator, YouTube for the channel, podcast for the show, and friend or family for the person. The AI then groups those open answers into named channels and creators you can rank by orders and revenue.
What is a follow-up question in a survey?
A follow-up question is a second question triggered by the answer to the first. In a how did you hear about us survey, picking TikTok can trigger "Which TikTok creator?", turning a channel-level answer into a named source. In UserLoop the feature is called Follow-up Questions, and every answer option can carry its own.
Do follow-up questions lower response rates?
Not meaningfully, because the follow-up only appears after the first question is already answered, and the customer has committed by that point. Keep the follow-up optional with a visible skip and the channel-level data stays intact even when someone doesn't type an answer.
Should follow-up questions be required or optional?
Optional. The channel answer is the must-have; the follow-up is high-value bonus data. Making it optional protects completion while still capturing named creators, shows, and referrers from the customers most willing to share.
How do I analyze open-text follow-up answers?
Manually, it means tagging spreadsheets. UserLoop's AI does it automatically: free-text follow-up answers are grouped into named entities, so "gear lab yt" and "the Gear Lab studio tour" roll up to the same channel, ranked by responses, order value, and repeat rate. You can also query the results in Claude or ChatGPT through the MCP server.
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