Like everyone else, your form takers want to feel special.

They want their responses taken into account, and they want to receive questions that are thoughtful and relevant to their situation.

To treat form takers well, use form personalization—a means of creating individualized experiences for respondents, depending on the answers they provide in addition to who they are. When applied effectively, you can also expect to benefit, as it helps you collect specific answers that are more valuable.

So what exactly does form personalization look like? And how can you create personalized experiences across different ways of using your forms?

We’ll answer both of these questions by providing concrete examples. But to start, let’s review the 3 ways you can go about pursuing form personalization.

Your 3 trusty form personalization tools

Use any one of these 3 rules to build forms that change dynamically:

Field Rules: Allow you to show or hide fields depending on how a form taker answers a previous field and/or who they are.

Page Rules: Help you take each form taker to the appropriate page, depending on how they answer a field on the current page and/or who they are.

Form Rules: Enable you to follow up with each respondent appropriately—from sending them an email to deliberately redirecting them to a webpage. Like the other rules, what gets shown to each respondent is determined by how they answer a specific field and/or who they are.

Don’t worry if these rules seem complicated or abstract. We’ll help you understand how they work by going over a couple of examples below.

Note: To use each of these rules in Wufoo, go to the specific form you want to personalize. Once on the form’s home page, click on the  “Field Settings” tab. At the bottom of the section, you should see a button that reads, “Add Branching & Logic.” When you click on it you go on to a page that lets you set up rules for your form.

Tailor your order form for every buyer

Let’s illustrate the different ways you can personalize your order form with an example.

Say you sell a few different electronics products: laptops, headphones, and cell phones, and you use a good ol’ purchase order form to handle transactions.

Leverage Field Rules to ask for information that makes sense for each type of buyer.

If someone tells you they want to buy a cellphone, use Field Rules to then show a field that asks them for the specific type of cell phone they want. Similarly, you can apply Field Rules to customize the follow up fields for those who want to buy either headphones or laptops.

Let Page Rules move prospective buyers to the appropriate next step.

Say you don’t want to pressure form takers to immediately make a purchase. You can add a checkbox field on the first page for those who are interested but just not ready to buy. Then, use page rules to take the form takers who check off that box to a specific page that asks about their needs and wants. Meanwhile, those who ignore the checkbox can go on to a page that allows them to complete—or gets them closer to making—their purchase.

Finally, use Form Rules to show different groups of buyers additional products they might be interested in.

If someone buys a cellphone, send them an email that promotes the phone accessories they can buy from you. And if a customer buys a laptop? Tell them about the different security software products you offer.

Organize events diligently  

Now imagine you’re hosting an event that will include a few speakers who are popular in the technology industry. To invite those you want to attend, you’ve built out a nifty online registration form.

Before you send it, flip on the form personalization switch!

Use Field Rules to proactively prepare for your event.

For example, program Field Rules to understand attendees’ preferences. To do this, you can use a multiple choice field that asks whether or not they’re coming. If they are, you can then show fields that ask what they hope to learn, who they hope to hear from, what they’d like to eat, etc.

You can employ Page Rules to better understand why people can’t attend.

Those who can’t make it can go on to a page that asks for more context: Is it because of a scheduling conflict? A lack of interest in the speakers? Irrelevant content? etc. Their feedback can help you better organize and market your next event.

Finally, use Form Rules to keep educating both attendees and non-attendees.

Email attendees the details of your event so they have key information on hand. And send non-attendees your latest and greatest marketing content so they stay engaged with your organization.

Collect the key nuggets of information from every lead

Imagine that after your event you write a blog post that summarizes the key takeaways from the speakers.

To help you collect leads, you gate the page behind an online form; which, in other words, means that interested readers have to fill out a form before they can access your post.

Drum up leads by making your form come alive!

Use Field Rules to better understand how those interested in your products/services want to be contacted.

For example, you can use a multiple choice field to ask form takers if they’d like to learn more about your products/services. If they say yes, you can then show a field that asks them how they’d like you to follow up (e.g. email, phone, etc.)

Leverage Page Rules to learn more about each lead.

Say that your prospects typically come from a few different professional backgrounds. You can ask them what field they’re in. Then, using Page Rules, they’d go on to a page that asks for information specific to their professional domain.

Lastly, use Form Rules to take respondents who complete your form to the post you wrote!

There you have it folks! From purchase orders to event registrations to lead generation, you can personalize just about any type of form you build. And when you do, the form-taking experience and the data you get back will only improve.