Import data into a power survey for external samples

If you are distributing a power survey to participants outside of your Community, you cannot use the Imports tab to import data because there is no email address to link to the data to in Community.

• Access to Power Surveys.
• Admins can perform this task. To perform this task as a Power User or an Author, you must have the Can access sensitive data permission.

Example: Invite an external sample of participants to a survey

You want to invite members of your loyalty program to participate in a power survey; however, the members of your loyalty program do not belong to Community. When you create your power survey, you use the Imports tab to import member data you have collected outside of Community. The import will fail because the external email addresses do not exist in Community.

1. In your Power Survey, create a hidden question that will store the imported profile variable data. Use the imported profile variable values for the answers in the hidden question.
   Tip: To hide the question, right-click the question in the question tree and select Hide. For more information, see Hide a question.
2. Create a CSV file distribution list that you will upload when you create your invitation.
   For more information, see CSV file requirements.
3. In the CSV file, create a column for the profile variable question and values.
   Note: Use answer precodes for the profile variable values in the CSV file instead of the answer text.

   

4. Create an invitation.
5. From the Select Recipients list, select Upload Recipients, and upload the CSV file you created in step 2.
   The members are included in your distribution. The profile variables will be created for each member in the CSV file.
6. Append the profile variable to the activity link in the body of the invitation.
   1. In the email body, select the [%ActivityLink%] variable.
   2. From the Insert Variable list, select Activity Link with Variables.
   3. In the pipe that is inserted, replace:
      • QuestionName with the name of the hidden question in the Power Survey.
      • TypeProfileVariableHere with the name of the imported profile variable as it appears in the CSV file you uploaded in step 5.

      Example

      [%ActivityLink%]&[%url(PowerSurveyQuestionName,CsvProfileVariable)%]

7. Append the Click here to start hyperlink
   1. Copy the link you created in step 6.
   2. Click Source to switch to HTML view, and search for the activity link:

      

   3. Select [%ActivityLink%] and paste the appended link.
8. Optional: Append another profile variable to the link.
   1. From the Insert Variable list, select Append Variable to URL.
   2. In the pipe that is inserted, replace:
      • QuestionName with the name of the hidden question in the Power Survey.
      • TypeProfileVariableHere with the name of the imported profile variable as it appears in the CSV file you uploaded in step 5

      Example

      [%ActivityLink%]&[%url(PowerSurveyQuestionName1,CsvProfileVariable1)%]&[%url(PowerSurveyQuestionName2,CsvProfileVariable2)%]

9. Test the invitation.
   For more information, see Send a test email.