Have you ever come across a poll on your Facebook timeline or other social media platform?
They’re brief, informal, and a simple way to gather information.
They’re also an excellent way to give your brand a boost online.
Polls are invaluable digital marketing tools, so understanding how they work will benefit your business.
This article will cover the ins and outs of how to create a poll on Facebook and how you can put this feature to work for you.
Contents
What Is a Facebook Poll?
A Facebook poll is a post feature that lets you add a poll to your post.
The poll feature has become popular across social media, but Facebook was the first to launch it.
What Is the Purpose of a Facebook Poll?
A Facebook poll is a simple tool for marketers, businesses, and the average layperson.
By asking a question and providing a specific list of choices, you can do the following:
- Get product feedback
- Gather opinions
- Gain more followers
- Make decisions
- Increase engagement
- Give ownership to your followers
- Learn about your target audience
- Increase lead generation
Who Can View a Facebook Poll?
Your privacy settings will determine who can see or interact with your poll.
If you’re a business owner, anyone who has access to your Facebook page or profile will be able to participate.
However, if you want to exclude certain people or groups, you can adjust your Facebook audience settings to prevent anyone you don’t want participating in the poll from doing so.
Sharing the post and encouraging others to do the same is the best way to get your poll in front of as broad an audience as possible.
Why Should I Use Facebook Polls?
While the average person might use a Facebook poll to decide which book to read next, business owners’ implications are more vast.
A Facebook poll can help you generate leads, boost your follower count, and inform decisions on your products and services when used correctly.
Polls also allow you to humanize your Facebook presence.
Users participating in a poll do so with the knowledge that you’re on the other side reading and absorbing their feedback.
Your desire for their input could be enough for them to click the “Follow” button or complete a task.
What Are the Benefits of Facebook Polls?
Facebook polls are a quick, effortless way to gain insight into your target market.
It requires little work, but it doesn’t require much of participants, either.
All a user has to do is select their poll option, then carry on with their day.
The simplicity of a poll also allows you to get feedback from a broader audience than you might through a more robust social media marketing campaign or survey.
A click is less of a time commitment than a survey, and there are hundreds or thousands of users who might see your post.
You can get a big chunk of user data you can use to improve your business.
How Do Facebook Polls Benefit Your Business?
The main benefit of a Facebook poll is that it can inform business decisions.
A poll can help you get feedback on products and services, understand user expectations, and test new ideas.
It’s a fast and easy way of conducting market research on a large swath of users.
A poll will also increase engagement on your business page.
Increased engagement can lead to more page views and ideally, interest in your product.
Your page will also land in front of users who haven’t followed you yet based on participants’ user behavior.
Finally, polls are an effective method of getting to know your audience by asking about your followers’ interests by asking more general questions.
For example, if you own a restaurant, you might run a poll asking users to choose the best way to top macaroni and cheese.
Not only will you get valuable information from participants, but food preference questions are an excellent vehicle for engagement.
What Are the Different Types of Facebook Polls?
One of the best things about Facebook polls is that you have multiple methods.
You can run polls in a group, Messenger, an events page, or Story.
In addition, you can run polls on Events pages and in video calls.
The main drawback is that you can’t run polls on your Facebook Business page or personal page.
However, you can still post a poll on your business page’s Story, which we’ll discuss below.
How To Create a Facebook Poll
To create a Facebook poll, you’ll need to draft out what your goal is and ask your questions in an understandable way to reach your goal.
For example, if you want to learn what macaroni topping your users prefer, you might word your post like this:
What’s the best topping for your macaroni and cheese?
A. Breadcrumbs
B. Ranch dressing
C. Nothing
D. Hot sauce
E. Other (sound off in the comments)
The key to these poll options is the “Other” choice.
Offering “Other” as an option will eliminate user frustration, limit the list of choices, and promote engagement in the comment section.
So, let’s dig into how to create a poll.
The following instructions each assume you already have the Facebook mobile app installed on your device and have logged into your Facebook account.
How To Create a Facebook Poll in a Group
Follow these steps when you want to create a poll in a Facebook group.
- Navigate to the Facebook Group.
- Click “Write Something.”
- Click the three dots in the bottom corner.
- Select “Poll.”
- Fill in the necessary information.
- Click “Post.”
Group members will be able to see your post and select one or multiple answers, depending on your post’s settings.
How To Create a Facebook Poll in Messenger
Once you log into Facebook, follow these steps to create a Facebook Messenger poll.
- Navigate to Facebook Messenger through the Messenger app.
- Select or start a group chat.
- Click the plus sign next to the text field.
- Swipe until you see three horizontal lines.
- Select “Poll.”
- Write your question and add your answers.
- Tap “Create Poll.”
How To Create a Facebook Poll on an Events Page
Navigate to the Events section in your Facebook account, then complete the following steps.
- Select the Event where you want to add a poll.
- Tap “Discussion.”
- Select “Add Post.”
- Tap “Poll.”
- Enter your information.
- Click “Post.”
Note: If you’re not the person who created the event, you can only add a post if the discussion is enabled on the business page.
How To Create a Facebook Poll in a Story
Using a Facebook Story to run a poll is another effective way of reaching your audience.
- Click “Create Story” at the top of your Facebook Newsfeed.
- Choose your image.
- Tap “Stickers.”
- Choose “Poll.”
- Type your question and answers in the provided fields.
- Click “Share to Story.”
The main drawback to Facebook Story polls is that you can only choose this/that format for responses. Only use this feature if you want to offer two specific options.
How To Create a Facebook Poll on a Video Call
Unfortunately, there’s no way to add a poll to a video call on Facebook.
However, you can upload your videos to your Story, a Facebook Group, or Messenger and include a poll.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you still have a few questions about Facebook Polls? Here’s some more information you might find helpful.
Can I have multiple Facebook Polls running at once?
One of the nice things about Facebook Polls is that you can run multiple polls simultaneously.
This allows you to gather information from numerous sources and examine the results in one sitting.
What is the best time of day to post my Facebook Poll?
The best time to run a poll or post on Facebook is Wednesday-Friday between 1-4 PM.
These are when you’ll get the highest views, engagement, and traction with your posts.
Can I send a message directly to someone who answers my Facebook Poll?
You can message someone who answered your Facebook poll just as you would anyone else.
Simply navigate to your poll and click the small profile photos under each poll option.
Then, choose the person you want to message, go to their profile, and click “Message.”
Can I change my Facebook Poll after it is published?
One of the downsides to a Facebook poll is that you can’t edit the content once you’ve posted it.
However, you can add options if you find many people are writing comments suggesting something you didn’t think of.
How long should I leave my Facebook Poll up for?
You can set a time limit for how long your poll runs.
The default is one week, which is enough for most people.
You shouldn’t leave it up much longer than that, though, or you risk fewer people seeing it.
Not to mention, you’ll have to wait longer for results.
How can I share my Facebook Poll?
You share your Facebook Poll the same way you’d share any post.
First, tap the “Share” option on the post.
Next, choose how and where you want to share it.
Wrapping Up
Facebook polls are an invaluable tool for content marketing in any industry.
However, they’re especially beneficial to small businesses.
So, if you have an online presence and want to glean information from your audience, a poll is the way to go.
Still have questions?
Check out our comprehensive guide to content marketing to learn how to up your content marketing game.
Can I make the options have a picture or pictures to vote on?
This is all well and good, but how does one select when a poll will expire/no longer allow voting?? People aren’t logging onto Facebook nearly as often as they used to, so in some cases by the time they see a poll– like in a group, which is what I’m talking about– chances are it will have expired/they’ll no longer be able to vote (and in some cases they won’t mention it/Comment so you’ll have no idea).
On top of that, the option to add Events to groups seems to have disappeared suddenly and for no reason.
I get that FB is ultimately meant to make its users available to be advertised to etc, but you’d think that removing features would make users less inclined to stay. You can try sending Feedback, but you’ll never get a response/it won’t make a difference; it seems that FB staff have stopped trying. Can’t wait for some equivalent to come along and replace it.