Quick answer: LinkedIn polls allow users to quickly gather opinions and insights from their professional network. They can be useful for market research, driving engagement, and sparking discussions. However, some argue they provide limited value and can come across as spammy.
LinkedIn polls have become an increasingly popular feature on the platform. You’ve likely seen them pop up in your feed – short, multiple choice questions that users post to their connections. Polls seem simple and harmless on the surface. But if you take a step back, you may find yourself wondering – what is even the point of these things?
In this article, we’ll explore the intended purpose and benefits of LinkedIn polls, along with potential downsides and best practices.
What are the Main Goals of LinkedIn Polls?
There are a few key goals and motivations behind posting polls on LinkedIn:
Quick Market Research
One of the most common reasons people create LinkedIn polls is to conduct quick market research. With access to your professional network, you can easily survey a relevant demographic in just a few clicks.
For example, a digital marketer may ask: “Which social media platform does your company invest in most?” to gauge where they should focus their efforts. A recruiter may poll connections: “What employee benefits are most important to you?” to discover what appeals to candidates.
The instant results and ability to segment audiences makes LinkedIn polls useful for gaining fast insights. While not statistically robust, they can provide a helpful pulse check.
Increase Engagement
Polls are inherently interactive. They provide an easy way for connections to engage with your content with minimal effort. This can help increase overall engagement on your posts.
Even a simple binary “Yes/No” question is likely to garner more comments, views, and shares than a regular status update. The prospect of weighing in is more enticing than simply liking or commenting. Plus, when connections vote in your poll, it shows up in the activity feed of their networks, which can increase the reach.
Spark Discussion
The interactive nature of polls also makes them effective discussion starters. Asking an interesting or thought-provoking question gets people sharing their perspectives in the comments.
The poll provides a jumping off point for conversation around a given topic. For instance, a poll about remote work preferences may spark a debate about the pros and cons in the comments. This provides valuable qualitative data to accompany the poll results.
Establish Thought Leadership
As an influencer or expert in your field, polls allow you to connect with your audience and showcase knowledge.
Asking smart, well-informed questions establish credibility and trust in your brand or personal profile. And post-poll discussions provide an opportunity to share additional insights. This positions you as a thought leader vs. simply broadcasting one-way content.
Promote Events/Offers
Polls enable you to generate buzz around events, offers, and new products. For example, a poll like “Which session are you most excited about at our upcoming conference?” helps promote awareness of the event to your network.
Similarly, asking for input on new offerings allows you to validate and refine concepts based on user feedback. This builds anticipation and demand before officially launching.
Collect Testimonials
Positive feedback shared through polls can also serve as testimonials for your business. For example, a poll asking customers to describe their experience with your product in one word may yield useful endorsements like “life-changing” or “indispensable” that you can highlight in marketing materials.
Potential Benefits of LinkedIn Polls
While the goals of increasing engagement and gathering insights are clear, what are the actual benefits of using polls on LinkedIn?
Gain Customer and Market Insights
As discussed, quick polls allow you to easily gather first-hand data from your target audience to guide decisions. Keeping a pulse on customer and market trends through polls provides valuable real-time insights vs. waiting on formal research studies.
Increase Share of Voice
Polls garner higher engagement rates on LinkedIn than regular posts, which can increase share of voice for your brand. More eyeballs on your content gives you a larger platform to be heard and shape conversations within your industry.
Enhance Branding and Thought Leadership
Sparking discussions around relevant topics allows you to showcase knowledge and elevate your brand visibility and reputation. Establishing thought leadership builds trust and loyal followers.
Drivetraffic to Website
You can include links to gated content and landing pages in the comments of poll posts. This gives you a chance to promote and direct traffic to your website to further build your audience.
Improve LinkedIn Algorithms
User engagement is a ranking factor for LinkedIn’s algorithms. Polls tend to perform well, which may benefit your overall page and profile metrics used by LinkedIn to surface content in feeds.
Fun Interaction and Feedback Loops
At minimum, polls create more interactive, engaging user experiences. They break up static newsfeeds and provide a feedback loop between you and your connections. This helps foster community and approachability for your personal brand or business.
| Potential Benefit | Description |
|---|---|
| Gain Customer and Market Insights | Quickly gather data to guide decisions |
| Increase Share of Voice | Garner higher engagement and platform reach |
| Enhance Branding and Thought Leadership | Showcase expertise and elevate reputation |
| Drive Traffic to Website | Promote and direct to external content |
| Improve LinkedIn Algorithms | Boost metrics that influence rankings |
| Fun Interaction and Feedback Loops | Increase engagement between you and your audience |
Potential Drawbacks of LinkedIn Polls
However, LinkedIn polls also come with some potential downsides and risks to be aware of.
Poll Fatigue
With the rise in popularity of LinkedIn polls, some users are experiencing “poll overload” in their feeds. Too many polls from the same users or companies can come across as spammy. This risks frustrating connections or even prompting them to remove you from their feed.
Skewed Data Sample
While convenient, polling your own connections provides a skewed, non-representative sample. You are limited to the niche demographics within your network vs. a broad cross-section. So use caution when extrapolating broader implications from the results.
Superficial Interactions
Some argue that polls lead to lower quality, superficial engagements vs. meaningful discussions. Voters may engage with a poll post without any further conversation or follow up.
Limited Discussion in Comments
Similarly, polls may receive lots of votes with minimal comments or discussion. Without open-ended discussion, you miss qualitative data to complement the quanitative poll results.
Lack of Context
The limited real estate in a poll question can lack full context. Without proper background, the results may be misleading or misunderstood. Additional explanation is often required in the comments for clarity.
Leading Questions
Poll creators may intentionally or unintentionally ask leading questions to skew the results towards a desired response. This undermines the value in gauging unbiased opinions from your network.
| Potential Drawback | Description |
|---|---|
| Poll Fatigue | Too many polls frustrate connections |
| Skewed Data Sample | Limited to your niche network demographics |
| Superficial Interactions | Minimal conversations beyond voting |
| Limited Discussion in Comments | Lack of qualitative data from comments |
| Lack of Context | Constraints of question length omit details |
| Leading Questions | Biased wording skews desired response |
Best Practices for LinkedIn Polls
To maximize the value of LinkedIn polls while mitigating potential downsides, here are some best practices to follow:
Limit Frequency
Avoid poll overload by using them sparingly, no more than 1-2x per week. Spread them out to reduce fatigue for your audience.
Vary Topics
Keep polls fresh and engaging by varying the topics vs. asking the same types of questions repeatedly. Tie questions to relevant trends and news.
Segment Audiences
Leverage LinkedIn’s targeting capabilities to segment polls for specific audiences to get more relevant results.
Craft Unbiased Questions
Avoid leading words or disproportionate answer options that could sway the outcome.
Explain Rationale and Context
Provide clear background on the poll purpose and topic in the descriptive text to give proper context.
Spark Further Discussion
Ask a related open-ended question in your post to spur conversations beyond just voting.
Close the Loop
Follow up on the poll with key takeaways, conclusions, and next steps to complete the feedback loop.
Monitor Engagement Metrics
Track views, votes, comments, and shares to assess poll performance and fine-tune future questions.
| Best Practice | Description |
|---|---|
| Limit Frequency | Avoid overload by spacing out polls |
| Vary Topics | Keep polls fresh with diverse questions |
| Segment Audiences | Target polls for more relevant results |
| Craft Unbiased Questions | Avoid leading wording or answers |
| Explain Rationale and Context | Provide background details on the poll topic |
| Spark Further Discussion | Include open-ended follow up questions |
| Close the Loop | Share key takeaways and next steps |
| Monitor Engagement Metrics | Track performance to improve approach |
Conclusion
In summary, LinkedIn polls can provide business value through quick market insights, increased engagement, thought leadership, and lead generation. But they need to be used judiciously and thoughtfully to maximize benefits and avoid common downfalls.
Following best practices, like limiting volume, asking unbiased questions, and providing context, will lead to higher quality poll discussions and actionable results. Polls should stimulate two-way conversations, not just a tally of votes.
With mindful and strategic use of polls, you can gather valuable real-time data directly from your professional network to inform business decisions and strengthen relationships. Just be wary of poll fatigue and ensure you are driving quality over quantity when it comes to audience engagement.
