If you’re a Twitter user, you may have noticed the “Poll” feature that was introduced in October. Twitter polls allow you to pose questions to your followers. Here’s a great “how to” link: How To Create A Basic Two Option Poll On Twitter. With Twitter polls comes great opportunity for businesses. Ranging from canvassing a general opinion to a bit of fun, Twitter polls could become a go-to staple in your social media diet. Here are some ideas:..
1. Preliminary market/content research
A Twitter poll can be used to conduct some very basic market or content research. Ideally, your Twitter followers will have some sort of interest in your business, be it a current or potential client or someone within a similar sector. Posing a simple question, such as the one above, can you give you a basic answer to a question.
2. Settle an argument/get an opinion
This maybe a bit more “tongue in cheek”. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of light hearted fun every now and again, especially on social media. You could post something as basic as the example above or you can give a bit of back story and ask people to settle a dispute.
3. Current event/general engagement
Using a poll in tandem with a current event is a good way to create engagement. If it’s in the news, Twitter users will most likely have heard or read about it. There may be trends on Twitter that relate to your business. Ask questions surrounding them.
Simple engagement
A big plus for Twitter polls is the relative ease by which you can create engagement. It’s easy for you to create one, and It’s easy for the user to vote, taking the just 2 clicks. Whilst you may not be able to see who is engaging with you as the votes are anonymous, they are a great and slightly different way of creating engagement. Polls can also encourage people to share (retweet) your content. If someone is scrolling through their Twitter timeline, they may scroll past or miss a normal text based tweet. A poll is more likely to pique their interest.
Twitter poll tips
- You can have 2, 3 or 4 choices (answers).
- Don’t overuse polls. You don’t want to be remembered as “the people who always do polls.”
- Make the most of their versatility. Mix polls asking light-hearted questions with others looking at industry relevant questions.
- Voting is anonymous.You aren’t notified of who voted in your polls.