Everyone likes polls.
It helps people get their voices heard.
And, it feels even better to know that other people are with them.
This is why LinkedIn polls have been so great at driving engagement for a lot of users.
In this guide, we want to take an in-depth look at how to create great LinkedIn polls, how you can leverage them for views, and how you can translate this all to growth.
Are you ready?
? Yes
✅ YES!!!
What are LinkedIn Polls & How Can They Help With Engagement?
LinkedIn polls are a type of interactive post on LinkedIn that allows creators to ask a question and get people to vote using 2-4 options that the creator provides.
Once a LinkedIn viewer votes on the poll, it automatically shows them the tally of votes.
it might seem like such a simple LinkedIn feature, but they’ve been gaining prominence because of how people they are.
Here are a couple of reasons why they work so well:
- They’re short pieces of content – Everyone knows that the shorter and more engaging a piece of content is, the more people it can attract. With short-form content you can attract even the most impatient viewer. They require a minimal investment in time, so they are perceived to be worthy of smaller attention spans.
- Engagement magnets – LinkedIn polls are naturally interactive because there is the physical act of actually clicking on the post for it to work for you. They also automatically show you where your vote stands and it’s an engaging experience.
- Affiliation – Everyone can join in a poll, but what makes polls so powerful is that they let votes feel like their part of a more exclusive group after they make a choice. By checking on who else voted on their option, they get a sense of affiliation with other people regarding that specific choice.
- Builds trust – When a user votes on your poll it silently builds trust and familiarity with your profile. Although it isn’t blatant advertising, the mere act of interacting with your poll creates a little connection between you and your prospect.
The other great thing about LinkedIn polls is the fact that they provide a great balance to the content that you’re putting out.
Say you want to post 3-4 times a week.
You can have:
- 1-2 plain text founder stories
- 1 repurposed video or 1 inforgaphic
- 1 poll
Adding a little variety to your content makes you a more appealing person to follow on LinkedIn, and this, in turn, helps boost your reputation as a LinkedIn influencer.
LinkedIn polls are great and if you’re probably missing out if you haven’t used them before.
Let’s show you how we can make the most out of them.
How to Create LinkedIn Polls
LinkedIn polls can easily be accessed by heading over to the “Start a post” section on your LinkedIn feed.
First, you start with a caption for your LinkedIn poll.
Keep it short and sweet, and make sure it explains the reason(s) you started a poll. Now you don’t really have to put in a caption, but most of the time it’s advised.
Now you want to add a quick hashtag, we recommend using one to three of them. Don’t go overboard.
Now you want to head over to the bottom of the pop-up window and click on the “Create a poll” option.
This will automatically pull up options for you to start LinkedIn polls.
The first thing that you want to do is to put in your question, now you want to keep your questions concise for two reasons: to make it easier to read and to fit it into the 140 character limit that LinkedIn imposes.
Once your question is ready, you can now put in the options that your readers can choose from. There is a limit of 30 characters per option with a maximum of four options per poll.
Now, it’s time to include the duration of the poll. You can choose between 1 day, 3 days, a week, and two weeks. The usual option we choose is a week because we find that it fits the perfect balance between reach and engagement. We don’t usually run polls that last for a day unless it’s regarding a “hot” subject. Even then, 3 days would be better.
After you’ve chosen your duration, all that’s left for you to do now is to click on “Done”.
This will take you back to your LinkedIn feed where your poll will be the first item.
And, just like that, you’ve got your first poll out.
Now it’s time for you to wait for people to engage with it and start bringing in growth and exposure.
Notes on LinkedIn Polls
- LinkedIn doesn’t allow you to edit LinkedIn polls that have already been published. This means if you’ve made a mistake you’d probably have to delete your post first then repost it again. It’s a hassle but it seems to be a built-in security feature to prevent poll creators from manipulating results.
- Don’t run too many polls all at once. You don’t want to spam your followers into thinking that all you release are polls.
- Polls can be created on almost any device be it desktop or mobile. However, if you want an easier experience on mobile make sure you have the LinkedIn app downloaded.
- Polls can be taken down if you ask private questions or tackle offensive content that LinkedIn doesn’t approve of.
LinkedIn Polls Best Practices
Consider Adding an “Other” Option
If you want to get people to comment on your post or are looking for a more specific answer, add an option for people to choose “Other” and make them write down their answers in the comments.
Since you’re getting extra engagement in the comments, it makes your poll sem to be more interesting.
And, that’s not all.
The more initial engagement that you get on a LinkedIn post, the more likely it is for LinkedIn to show the post to other people and get it viral.
We’ve studied this phenomenon before and even experimented on it.
It works.
Here’s how you can create viral LinkedIn posts!
Keep Your Polls Short!
Poll questions have a limit of 140 characters, options are at 30 characters.
They are designed to be short, so keep them short.
You want to use polls to make sure that you cater to followers who don’t want to invest a lot of attention in what you have to offer.
And, by keeping them shorter, they look more enticing to engage with.
Use Hashtags
Hashtags help LinkedIn organize your content whether it’s plain text founder stories or videos.
You want LinkedIn to organize your poll in the right category so that you get a more specific set of eyes looking at the stuff that you’ve posted.
This helps with keeping your campaigns more efficient.
Add a Caption
Always make sure that you add a quick caption to give your readers a quick background as to why you’re posting this poll.
This adds more depth to your poll and gives people something to read if they have the time for it.
You can keep this section short, but if you want to little bit more information, make sure the important stuff is “above the fold” in the post.
You want to evoke curiosity so they end up on your LinkedIn profile, not give them everything upfront and risk losing their interest.
Engage With the People That Comment
Since polls are built to be pieces of small-form content, you should take your time to engage with people who have taken the time to leave a comment.
These are people who are really interested in the topics that you’ve brought up.
Make sure you engage with these people, connect with them on LinkedIn, interact with them, and keep the conversation going.
They can be a source of fresh leads for your organization and they also tell people who happen to check the comments that you are active on LinkedIn.
It helps with your profile reputation as a whole.
Post at the Right Times!
LinkedIn polls should be treated as normal posts.
And, this means respecting peak times and off-peak times on the network.
For example, you shouldn’t be obsessed with posting on Mondays if you’re only releasing 2-3 posts a week.
You need to post at a time where your target is active on the platform.
But, that’s not all.
You also have to match the timezone of the majority of your target audience.
By posting at the right time, you make sure that you’re being efficient in your LinkedIn poll campaign. You want to maximize its reach, so you want to publish it at a time where it can reach the most number of people.
What’s the best time to post on LinkedIn? Check out our detailed guide.
Ways to Leverage LinkedIn Polls for Growth
Ask for Feedback
Consumer-focused polls are aimed at people who have bought your solutions or have used similar solutions in the past.
They are designed for you to find out how their experience was with a particular solution.
This helps in improving your product or service lineup and facilitating a great customer service experience.
Given that you can only ask them a few questions, the poll has to ask critical questions that can be answered easily.
These are different from LinkedIn brand surveys which are actual surveys that you can pull off.
Use Them for Market Research/Trend Analysis
Linkedin polls are a great way to find out where the market is heading.
You can ask your audience how they relate to certain trends that you’re seeing, and this should give you clues to which trends you should be looking out for.
We like polls for market research because it’s a quick way to pull data from a large sample. However, the only problem you have with this method of market research is that it doesn’t give you the exact demographics of your sample.
There’s a possibility that it could skew your data.
But, you shouldn’t dismiss it altogether.
Initial trends that you see in your polls can always be verified in much more detail later using more scientific methods.
Understanding Your Customer
Do you want to understand your customers better?
Ask them questions.
Polls are a lighthearted way to ask your customers meaningful questions that will help you get to know them better.
You can even tie in an incentive for them to answer your questions.
This makes your poll even more engaging.
Qualify Your Audience
How do you qualify leads?
You ask them questions.
That’s why LinkedIn polls are a natural lead qualification tool.
Now there are different ways to use polls to qualify your audience.
You can ask a specific question aimed at a particular target demographic and check for responses there, you can see who’s responded favorable to your lead qualification questions, or you can do a general poll to check where your current audience’s intentions are at.
You can even go in and see who’s responded to your poll and reach out to them. Ain’t that great for lead generation?
Make Them Fun
Polls are a fun way to interact with your audience because people love a gamified experience.
Not all LinkedIn polls have to deal with serious subject matter all the time, you could simply ask them what their favorite color is, or if they think that you’re doing a good job with your organization.
It’s fun questions like this that are great for highlighting the corporate culture that you’ve built up in your company.
They also make you seem like you’re easily approachable.
For Lead Nurturing
One of the passive roles of any piece of content that you put out on LinkedIn is lead nurturing.
And, polls aim to serve the same purpose as well.
For prospects that are currently at the beginning of your sales funnel, releasing polls does a lot of things for their buyer journey.
The most obvious benefit is that it reminds them about your brand. This is a subtle way of ensuring that your brand or solution is always fresh in their minds.
Some polls can also be engineered to ask questions about a particular pain point that you’re trying to address with your solution. This allows you to keep the conversation about their needs going even if it’s indirectly.
Get Opinions
The opinions of your prospects and customers matter.
You can use these opinions to derive additional data about your audience, and it can also serve as a jumpoff point for a new product or service that you may have.
The other reason that getting opinions is great on polls is that it shows prospects or would-be readers that you care about their concerns.
By doing this, you can form an emotional connection with your target audience, and this can help build rapport that can be used for lead generation.
These types of polls also drive emotional responses which is great if you want content that truly resonates with your voters.
Takeaways
LinkedIn polls are powerful.
They’re an easy way to create a connection with your audience.
And, people on LinkedIn love them.
With polls, you can ask people engaging questions, stimulate conversations, and even nurture leads through your pipeline.
If they’re not part of your content marketing strategy, then you’re missing out on a LOT.
We like them because they involve people directly.
It makes you relatable.
And, it shows that you care about other people’s opinions.
Have you been using LinkedIn polls lately?
You should.
