If you’ve ever wanted to know what the general public thinks about a topic, there’s a good chance that you’ve looked at a poll. Polls are extremely popular because they provide answers to questions that can sometimes be difficult to answer. They’re also fun to use and easy to understand.
Polls have made their way to LinkedIn—and there are a ton of ways to use them for personal and marketing purposes!
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What Are LinkedIn Polls?
LinkedIn Polls are a way to engage your audience and get feedback from them. They can be used to ask questions, test ideas, or even just build interest in a post.
LinkedIn Polls make it easy for you to get answers from the people who care about what you have to say—all in one place.
When it comes to marketing, you could add a poll at the end of any post on LinkedIn or embed it into an email campaign for greater reach. You can choose from five different question types: multiple choice, single answer with open comments, single answer without open comments (perfect for quick polls), ranking (e.g., “Which is better?”), or Likert scale (e.g., “Strongly Agree” to “Strongly Disagree”).
How to Make a LinkedIn Poll
Creating a LinkedIn poll is pretty straightforward. Here are the steps:
To get started, click on the “Questions” tab in the top right corner of your LinkedIn feed. From here, you’ll see a list of recommended polls that you can choose from. If none of these are what you’re looking for, click on “Create Poll” at the bottom of the page.
Once you’ve clicked “Create Poll,” you’ll be taken to a new window where you can fill out all the information about your poll: title, description (optional), questions (up to six), and answer choices. You can also choose whether or not users are allowed to select multiple answers at once (by default they will be).
Once you’ve completed all of these steps, click “Publish.” Your poll will then appear in your feed and any other users who have it selected as “Who Can See Posts?” under their settings will be able to vote on it!
How To Run a Successful LinkedIn Poll
There are ways to ensure that you’re publishing a poll that’s effective and engaging, such as:
- Use a good question, not just one that asks for a simple yes or no answer. This can be hard to do, but if you want a better response rate, it’s worth the extra effort.
- Use an image in your poll that relates to the topic and doesn’t distract from it. For example, if you’re asking about whether people would prefer to work remotely or in an office environment, don’t use an image of someone on vacation at some tropical resort while they answer their phone because they’re sitting poolside (unless those are your preferences).
- Make sure your title is clear so users know what they’re getting into and don’t hit “see more” without reading further first; this might result in fewer clicks than expected as well as lower completion rates when someone does click through.
Notes When Asking in a LinkedIn Poll
When asking questions, keep the following in mind:
- Ask one question per poll. This allows for easy comparison and analysis of results between multiple polls.
- Use open-ended questions that allow participants to type their answers, rather than choosing from a list of preselected options. This will allow for more data collection and also help with analysis later on, when you’re looking at patterns across all responses.
- Be specific about what kind of response you expect people to provide—for example, if asking about favorite foods, don’t expect everyone to give the same answer (unless this is part of the experiment). Try asking some variation on “What’s your favorite food?” so that users have an idea what they should be answering with before they vote.
Polls are great for exposure and reach
LinkedIn Polls are an under-utilized tool that can result in great engagement and brand exposure. As you know, LinkedIn is the largest professional network with a business focus, so it’s the perfect platform to use when looking for feedback on a new product release or campaign.
Hopefully, this guide has helped you get started with creating your very own poll. Get those questions out there and you’ll definitely find valuable (and interesting) answers!