Survey-Based Targeting
Detect the visitor's preferences and cater to them with personalized offers.
Survey-Based Targeting is an OptiMonk targeting approach that uses the answers a visitor provided in a previous OptiMonk survey campaign to determine which subsequent campaigns they see — delivering personalized offers and messages that directly reflect what each visitor told you about themselves. When a visitor fills out a survey element in an OptiMonk popup — selecting their wine preference, their skin type, their shopping goal, or any other preference question — that answer is stored in OptiMonk's per-visitor tracking. Using the "Engaged with OptiMonk Campaigns" condition in a subsequent campaign's targeting settings, you can then show or hide that campaign based on the specific answer the visitor gave. For example: a visitor who answered "Red wine" in your preference survey on step one can be shown a red wine product recommendation popup on their next page view, while a visitor who answered "White wine" sees a different, equally relevant offer — all handled automatically by a single targeting rule referencing the survey answer. Survey-Based Targeting is the on-site personalization layer that converts the first-party preference data you collect through surveys into immediate, relevant campaign experiences.
Key benefits
- Turn survey answers into instant on-site personalization. The moment a visitor submits a preference survey through an OptiMonk campaign, their answer becomes available as a targeting signal for every subsequent campaign in the same session or on future visits. There is no integration to set up and no data export required — the answer is captured by OptiMonk and immediately usable to determine which campaigns that visitor sees next, creating a seamless preference-to-personalization pipeline within the same platform.
- Create genuinely individualized experiences without a CRM. Most on-site personalization requires connecting a CRM, passing user data via APIs, or relying on third-party enrichment tools. Survey-Based Targeting achieves individualization using only data the visitor has explicitly shared with you — their stated preferences — stored and evaluated entirely within OptiMonk. A visitor who said they prefer hiking gear sees hiking recommendations; one who said running gear sees running recommendations. The personalization is based on self-declared intent, which is both more accurate and more privacy-compliant than behavioral inference.
- Builds naturally on top of multi-step campaign flows. Survey-Based Targeting and multi-step campaigns are designed to work together. Step one of a popup captures the preference; step two captures the email. On the next page or visit, a follow-up campaign fires based on the answer from step one. The entire journey — from preference disclosure to personalized offer delivery — happens within OptiMonk's campaign infrastructure, with no external tools required at any stage.
How it works
Create and publish a campaign that includes a survey element — a radio button, checkbox, or preference selection — where visitors choose between options such as product categories, skin types, dietary preferences, or any other segmentation dimension relevant to your store. This campaign collects the answer and stores it in OptiMonk's per-visitor tracking for that browser.
In your follow-up campaign's targeting settings, click Add new condition and select "Engaged with OptiMonk Campaigns." Set the condition to target visitors who filled in your survey campaign, and specify the survey answer value that should trigger this particular campaign — for example, visitors who answered "Red wine" in the preference survey. Create separate campaigns or Experiences for each answer variant, each targeting the corresponding answer.
When a visitor who previously completed the survey returns to any page where the follow-up campaign's trigger is active, OptiMonk checks their stored survey answer against the targeting condition and fires the campaign only if the answer matches. The visitor sees a campaign that speaks directly to what they told you — without any manual segmentation, any data export, or any external integration.
Frequently asked questions
What is Survey-Based Targeting in OptiMonk?+
Survey-Based Targeting is an approach that uses answers from a previous OptiMonk survey campaign as targeting conditions for subsequent campaigns. When a visitor answers a survey element in an OptiMonk popup, that answer is stored per-visitor and becomes available as a targeting signal via the "Engaged with OptiMonk Campaigns" condition. This allows follow-up campaigns to show personalized offers based on each visitor's stated preferences — without any external CRM or data integration.
How does OptiMonk store and access the survey answer for targeting?+
When a visitor submits a survey element in an OptiMonk campaign, their answer is stored in OptiMonk's per-visitor tracking using the visitor's browser cookies. On subsequent page views or visits, OptiMonk reads this stored answer and evaluates it against the targeting conditions of any active campaigns configured to use it. The answer persists as long as the visitor's OptiMonk cookies are present — it is not reset between sessions unless the visitor clears their cookies or uses a new device.
Do I need to create a separate campaign for each possible survey answer?+
There are two approaches. The most flexible is to create separate campaigns — one for each survey answer variant — each with its own targeting condition referencing the specific answer and its own design tailored to that segment. Alternatively, you can use OptiMonk's Experiences feature within a single campaign, creating one Experience per answer variant with different targeting conditions and different designs, all managed within one campaign. The Experiences approach is generally more efficient for stores with many answer variants.
Can I combine Survey-Based Targeting with other conditions?+
Yes. The "Engaged with OptiMonk Campaigns" condition based on survey answers works with AND logic alongside all other OptiMonk targeting conditions. For example, you can show a personalized product recommendation only to visitors who answered "Red wine" AND are currently on a product page AND have a cart value above $30 — combining preference-based personalization with behavioral and contextual signals in a single campaign.
How does Survey-Based Targeting relate to Dynamic Shopify Customer Tags?+
The two features address different stages of the same workflow. Survey-Based Targeting uses the survey answer to personalize on-site campaigns in real time during and after the visitor's session. Dynamic Shopify Customer Tags uses the same survey answer to tag the new subscriber's Shopify customer record at the moment of opt-in, enabling the preference data to flow into Shopify's customer segments and automation flows for post-visit email personalization. The two features are fully complementary — running both simultaneously means a visitor's survey answer personalizes their on-site experience immediately and enriches their email profile for the long term.
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