Using Twitter Polls to Engage Your Audience

Which country will win the most gold medals in Rio this summer? Who will win the presidential election in November? Were Ross and Rachel really on a break?

Everyone has pressing questions they wish they could gain more insight on. Well now you can with Twitter Polls. Launched late last year, this feature allows you to easily create a native poll on Twitter and pose questions to your followers who can then cast their votes. The best part? You can see the results of your poll live, giving you immediate insight. Like with any new social media feature, we PR pros immediately asked ourselves: how can brands benefit from using this?

The answer is simple: engagement. Twitter Polls are a good way for you to engage directly with your audience and build a stronger connection. For instance, late night television host Jimmy Fallon uses regular branded polls to generate buzz and stay relevant by asking viewers to vote on things like their favorite show segments (although Jimmy probably doesn’t need to ask that when the obvious winner is Pup Trivia).

You can also go one step further and use Twitter Polls to get your followers involved in decision making. By proactively seeking your followers’ opinions, you show you are invested in your audience and care about deepening that relationship. Twitter itself uses polls frequently to bring its users into the decision-making process when it comes to the Twitter user interface.

Twitter Polls don’t always have to ask a question that directly impacts you. They can be a good tool to start or enter the conversation on a topic that is relevant to you and your brand. For instance, Airbnb often creates polls around the holidays to ask what people are doing for the break. True, this kind of poll doesn’t directly create buzz for Airbnb, but it does create conversation around vacation trends and invites people to participate in a community discussion. Plus, it gives Airbnb potential insight into what people may be looking for in terms of location or amenities at different times of the year.

Of course, it goes without saying that another huge advantage of this Twitter feature is data. Twitter Polls give you instant access to measurable data. Thinking of opening a new store or launching a new product? Use a Twitter Poll to ask what your followers think and see what insights you gain that could help your strategy. Plus, we know the media is always hungry for data, so you may end up finding a good story to tell from your research.

At the end of the day, engagement is what drives brand loyalty, and Twitter Polls are a great way to engage your audience.