Engage, Learn, and Convert
TL;DR
If you’re not sure what to post or how to connect with your audience, start with a poll. I’ve used simple polls to spark conversations, test ideas, and get clarity on what people want from me.
This article walks through how polls can help you attract more clients by making your content more useful, more personal, and way less stressful to create. I share real examples, easy steps, and a free AI prompt to help you try it out. This is one of the fastest ways I’ve found to build trust and engagement without overthinking it.
If you’re looking for a quick, easy way to engage your audience and learn more about what they want from you, polls are a great option.
Whether on social media or in an email, polls let you tap into what your audience is thinking without asking for a long response.
And because it’s so easy for them to participate, you’re more likely to get some solid feedback you can actually use.
Why Polls Matter for Your Visibility
You might be wondering, why bother with polls? Here’s the thing—building trust with your audience is key to growing your visibility online. Polls give you a simple way to start a conversation and show your followers that you care about what they think.
Polls also serve as a subtle way to remind your online and email audience about what you do and how you can serve them.
A strategic question and the answer choices tell a micro-story about who you are and what you do.
When you know what your audience is into (or what’s keeping them up at night), you can create content that hits home. And when your content resonates, they’re more likely to stick around, engage, and eventually become clients. Plus, when you have that data in hand, you can tweak your messaging to speak directly to their needs. It’s a win-win.
Most email broadcast providers offer a way to embed simple polls in your emails (I use MailerLite and love their easy polling option). You can also send an email with one question and ask for a reply. That’s about as quick and easy as you can get, and it’s a great way to start a conversation with your email subscribers.
Visibility Tip
“Once you send out a poll to your audience and get sufficient responses, you can repurpose that information as different content, such as posts, blogs, email campaigns, testimonials, or stories, which can be shared on various social media platforms.” Source
Try it, and let me know how it works for you!
How to Start Using Polls to Engage Your Audience
Here’s how you can start running polls and making them work for you:
1) Pick a platform. Figure out where your audience hangs out the most (this could be a one-question poll for your email list).
Are they active on Instagram, LinkedIn, or Facebook? Do you have a strong email list? Choose the platform where you’re already seeing engagement.
You can create a short poll directly on a LinkedIn post, as well as on posts in Facebook groups, and on X/Twitter posts.
Or, as mentioned above, send an email asking one question and requesting a reply. You’ll have to track responses manually, and it’s a natural way to start a conversation with readers who reply so you can start building a one-to-one relationship.
2) Keep it simple. Ask one or two straightforward questions. Don’t overcomplicate it. Something like:
- “What’s your biggest challenge with [your topic]?”
- “What type of content do you enjoy the most?”
3) Add a time limit. Polls on Instagram, for example, work really well with a 24-hour limit. People are more likely to participate when they know it’s a now-or-never situation.
Urgency works!
And promote the poll on any platforms you’re active on (more visibility!).
4) Share the results. Once the poll closes, let your audience know what you learned. You can share the results in a post or follow up with an email and then tell them how you will use their feedback.
5) Tweak your strategy. Use the insights you get to adjust your content, messaging, or even your offers. Your audience just gave you a roadmap—use it to meet them where they are.
Experiment with This AI Prompt to Help You Out
If you want a little help coming up with poll questions, here’s an AI prompt you can play with:
“I want to create a poll for [your specific target audience] to figure out their biggest challenges with [your topic]. Based on common struggles in this area, what are three engaging questions I can ask them in a poll to get helpful feedback?”
If you’re creating a poll with one question and several options to choose from, you can also ask for 3-5 responses that you can use in the poll. Below is the prompt I used on ChatGPT for the Target Audience poll mentioned above:
You can also ask for ideas for analyzing the results or drafting follow-up messages.
A Few Extra Things to Keep in Mind
- Follow through. Don’t just run the poll and then forget about it. Share the results and let your audience know what you’re doing with that info. It shows you’re listening, and it keeps the conversation going.
- Stay consistent. Polls can be a regular part of your content strategy. Running them every few weeks or months will help you keep the pulse on what your audience needs and wants from you.
- Consider incentives. While most people will respond to polls without needing anything in return, sometimes offering a small incentive (like a freebie or discount) can help boost participation. Just keep it relevant to your audience.
Polls are a super simple way to boost engagement, get to know your audience better, and figure out how you can serve them better. The more you know about what they want, the easier it will be to create content (and programs/services) that attract the right clients to your business.
Give it a try, and then let’s chat about it—I think you’ll be surprised at the insights you’ll gain!
This article was originally published on Your Visibility Ege.
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