This technique has become one of the best engagement strategies on social media. That is because polls are an excellent method to find out friends’ opinions, likes, and dislikes. The user asks a question, and friends or followers can give their answers on the post. Users can post polls only on their stories on personal pages.
Below is a complete guide on how to create a poll on Facebook in 2023 and how to use it for business growth.
Table of Contents
What Is a Facebook Poll?
Facebook added this feature back in 2017. At first, people could ask questions with two alternative answers for their friends to choose from. But now, users can only put polls on their stories and groups. Now Instagram also has this feature.
It is a powerful tool because anyone can know their friends or the audience’s opinions on different things. For example, if a company wants to know if their audience prefers its product pink or yellow, they only have to ask.
- Surveys on stories can only be questions with two possible answers.
- Polls on groups can have many answers, and the members can add other alternatives when they interact with it.
- They aren’t anonymous, so the creator of the survey and anyone else who participates will see the answers.
- The statistics include the percentage of each answer and even the people who saw the survey and didn’t participate.
- The questions can be about any topic. There is no limit as long as the user sticks to Facebook Guidelines.
How Can Polls Be Useful for Businesses on Social Media?
Surveys have become a common feature between most social media platforms like Instagram or Twitter. Facebook is only one of them, but Instagram, Twitter, and even YouTube already have them too. They have become quite popular because people love to use it to engage with their friends and acquaintances.
Polls are also a potent marketing tool. Businesses use them to engage their audience and make them feel like their favorite brands care about their opinion. Ikea did on Instagram by sharing photos of the kitchens they sell and asking their audience which one was their favorite.
The main reason why they work is that people love them. Social media platforms make it simple to participate with just one click. And people feel compelled to answer and to know what the results are too.
How to Make a Poll on Facebook
Facebook offers different alternatives to doing a survey. It depends on where on the platform it will be, like on stories or groups. Instagram has a very similar approach to polls, so if you’re familiar with it, then it would be easier to design one. Here is a step by step guide on how to make a poll on Facebook in each instance.
Guide for a Facebook Group Poll
Creating a group survey is a straightforward process. People can do it from the Facebook page and mobile app as long as they have an account. Here is a step by step guide on group polls from any device in 2023.
How to Make a Facebook Poll from a Computer?
People usually post these surveys through their mobile. Still, if they’re more of a computer person and would like to know how to make a Facebook poll on a desktop, it’s as easy as accessing an account and interacting with the audience.
Facebook’s page interface doesn’t change through different operating systems like macOS or Windows. This is a pro that this platform has in comparison to Instagram.
Follow these steps:
- Sign-in to an account and go to the news feed section.
- On the left, under the Explore section, select “Groups.”
- The list of groups the account follows will appear. Choose the group where the survey will be.
- Select the square where it says, “Write something…” A highlighted bigger square with different alternatives will appear.
- Find “Poll” in the different alternatives that dropdown.
- Select “Ask something…” and write the question or content.
- Add an option set that will be the possible answers to the question.
- On “Poll Options,” modify the configuration of the survey. Like if it will allow users to add other options set or choose multiple answers.
- Choose “Post,” and it’s ready.
Creating Polls From the Mobile App
The Facebook mobile app is a more compact version of their online page. But it has all it’s features and an intuitive interface so anyone can use it easily. Here are the steps to create a group survey from the app.
- Open the app on a smartphone or tablet.
- Sign in to an account if none is there already.
- On the top, look for the icon with three little people, click on it, and select “Your Groups.”
- Or choose on the three parallel lines on the top right of the screen. Tap “Groups.”
- Choose the group where the survey will be and tap “Write something…”
- Click on “Poll,” write the question, set up the options, and post.
How to Create a Poll on Facebook From Personal Accounts
It’s somewhat limited to make a poll from a personal account in 2023. People can’t do it from their newsfeed or timeline. They can only do it in a story or in a group, as explained in the section above. Here are the steps for creating a poll on FB’s stories.
- Open the Facebook app and click on “Create a Story” at the top.
- Choose between the options that will pull up “Poll.”
- Find “Ask a question…” and write what the survey will be about.
- Modify the options by clicking on each one if the question isn’t for “yes or no” answers.
- Click “Done” and “Share to Story.”
Facebook allows users to use pictures or just choose between different colorful backgrounds.
How to Create a Facebook Poll From Pages?
Facebook offers its user the option of creating pages. They are for content related to businesses or services, and anyone can set up one. Here are steps on how to create a Facebook poll in 2023 from any page.
- First, the account should be a manager of the page to be able to make a poll.
- Go to the page and choose “Write a post.”
- Between the post types, select “Poll.”
- Customize the questions and answers.
- Set how long the survey will be live.
- Share it.
How to Do a Facebook Poll on Events?
Facebook events are a feature that users can use to interact with their friends or audience. Events are calendar-based, and anyone can start a public or private one. This is a feature that other platforms like Instagram or Twitter don’t have.
The creator can invite friends, groups, or people from a page.
Here are the steps on how to do a Facebook poll on events in 2023.
- On the event page below the event description, click on “Create Poll.”
- Customize what the survey will be about by adding the question.
- The answers can be text or pictures and GIFs. Images and GIFs are best to engage the audience.
- Add as many answers as needed. There are no limited options for surveys on Facebook events.
- By default, users can choose multiple answers. Modify these on the configuration.
- Post the survey or schedule it for later.
Tools to Make a Poll on Facebook That Engages Your Audience
Polls are a powerful digital marketing strategy if done right. But businesses don’t have to break their brains open to build compelling questionnaires. These are three tools for making a poll on FB highly engaging.
Facebook Business Manager
Facebook Business Manager is a resource available for business accounts. It provides different features that help manage pages. Managers can create different pages, see statistics about their pages, and more.
Business Manager helps admins in creating a poll, managing it, and engaging with their audience. They can make a poll and post it right away or schedule it for later. The survey will appear on the news feed of all the people subscribed to the page.
Facebook Audience Insights
Questionnaires won’t be beneficial unless they can see the results. That’s what Facebook Audience Insights resource is for. It gives insights not only on people who follow the page or interact with the page’s content but also on all Facebook users.
SurveyMonkey
SurveyMonkey is another tool to create surveys. It has more options because the user designs the survey on the website. One can use its Facebook Collector for personal accounts or Web Link Collector for pages.
Using this tool, people can share polls even on their news feed, which is not possible using Facebook alone. Anyone can use SurveyMonkey by creating a free account.
Advantages of Using Polls on Facebook
Anything that allows companies to engage their audience is a must-have to any marketing strategy. Polls are one of the social media resources to do this. Here are some of the advantages of using them on Facebook compared to other platforms like Instagram.
Content Creation
One of the benefits of social media polls is more content generation to drive more engagement. The polls itself are content, and their results will serve to understand what type of content the audience wants to see.
Community Growth
Polls also encourage the creation of communities, as users can comment and see what other people are discussing. It can spur debates, and more users will get interested in the post.
They give a chance to the company to interact with its audience, so it’s important these days to know the complete process of poll creation in 2023. The community will know the brand is listening and want to know what they have to say.
Showing the results of the poll later will also show the community that the company is trustworthy. And do it even when the results are negative for its products.
Feedback on Products and Services
Businesses can create Facebook polls to know what their community thinks about its products or services. They can ask for opinions or choose between many options.
Either way, they give an idea of what the community thinks about the brand. For example, companies can use them to know what their audience will prefer to see in the future. It is a cheap and straightforward way to get insight.
Customer’s Opinion in Real-time
Because the questions are made in real-time, companies can know what their customers think in a matter of hours. Most polls don’t last more than a few days. So, the results of them reflect what the customer thinks and wants right now.
What is a better way to know what the customer wants than asking them? That’s why polls have so much power. Companies can get insights even for users that aren’t in their audience, and it doesn’t require any extra effort.
Increased Traffic
It isn’t a secret that social media platform’s algorithms reward the users that post content often. In other words, the more content a business publishes, the more followers or subscribers will interact with it. And from more interaction comes more possibility of them seeing the company’s posts between thousands of others.
Polls are better than other types of posts because they are created for interaction. And the results are even better if it encourages people to share it. That’s why it’s so important to know how to start a poll on Facebook in 2023.
Divide Your Audience
When a business uses social media polls, it can later use the results to segment its audience. It can single out different groups for each answer, depending on what each user answered.
Send Users Into a Sales Funnel
A sales funnel is a path a customer follows before becoming a conversion. Polls can serve as sales funnels by being the first interaction a user has with the brand.
They can also guide the user into buying a product after asking about their opinion. A business can give the user different links depending on what they answer on the poll. They can also redirect them to different pages based on the user’s answer.
Inventive Ideas to Create a Poll on Facebook
Creating a poll is easy enough that anyone can do it. But the ones that drive engagement is the challenging part. Here are some inventive ideas to create a poll that will catch your audience’s attention.
Curiosity Is Your Friend
When it comes to increasing interaction, expectations are marketing’s best friend. Give the audience a peek of what is coming next and ask their opinion by daring to create a poll on FB. Curiosity is a strong feeling, and most users will answer just to know the results.
Use Your Creativity When You Do Polls
When thinking about what to ask viewers, it is important to be creative. Creative questions will engage more users by making them laugh or really think about their answers. And mix creativity with the type of polls that are more successful.
Ask Controversial Questions
Edgy questions can be humoristic or controversial. Users will more likely respond to either option. It is even more true if the questions are controversial. It will encourage debate, and users will probably share it with their followers and friends.
Give Power to Your Audience
Something that customers love is to feel that their favorite brand cares about their opinion. Using polls is a great way to give the community power and decide on things like colors or features. They will feel like they influence the end result of the product.
Use Current Events
Include current events to increase engagement. For example, Vanity Fair used polls to drive engagement to their coverage of Megan and Harry’s wedding. The surveys consisted of quizzes about the Royal Family. It can be anything that is happening and on everyone’s minds.
Ask About Hot Topics on Your Sector
It is the same principle as using current events. If a business asks about hot topics from its industry, its audience will be interested. For example, a tech company can ask about what their followers think about the NeuraLink chip.
Best Practice for Creating a Facebook Poll
The process of creating a poll is pretty simple, but for some people, it may be hard to understand. Here are some tips anyone can follow to design a good questionnaire.
Keep It Simple
Ask short and simple questions that anyone can understand. Users only spend a few seconds seeing a post. Make it easier for them by creating a poll that they won’t need to look at twice to answer.
Ask Direct Questions
Most social media platforms allow polls with simple answers with just two options. And Facebook isn’t much different. It allows for more options, but it is better to ask questions with yes/no questions.
Make Poll Answers Clear
Try to write answers that don’t overlap. For example, if it is asking the user’s opinion, give two options that are complete opposites. That way, the user won’t think both answers are similar, and they could both be true.
Add Visual Resources
Most platforms let users attach pictures and GIFs. But Facebook allows customizing the answers to be pictures or GIFs too. Visual resources make polls more appealing, and users will be more likely to interact.
Repeat Participation
A business can allow repeat participation or not, depending on what it wants. If it wants to know its audience’s opinion, it is better to block it, so the results are accurate. But if the goal is to increase engagement, the more a user participates, the better.
Share Results
An important part is to show results when the survey is over. Many users participate out of curiosity alone and showing results no matter the outcome shows users that the company is transparent and takes their audience seriously.
FAQ Section
Did Facebook Get Rid of Polls?
Facebook did not do it; they modified the feature. It eliminated polls from the main page for individuals. It means users with personal accounts can’t put polls on their news feed. But they can still do them in stories and on the news feed of groups, or on pages or events.
Can You Make a Facebook Poll With Pictures?
Facebook allows users to put polls on stories with a picture as a background. For pages and events, users can add pictures from their computers or phones to customize the answers to the poll. And they can also attach GIFs from Facebook integrated Giphy library instead of images.
How Do I Put More Than Two Options on a Facebook Poll?
Polls on Facebook are customizable, but they are limited depending on the type of account they are created from. On personal accounts, users can only make polls on their stories and only with two options. But Facebook pages and events can have more than two options.
Here is how:
- After clicking on creating a poll, as explained in the sections above, customize the question that will be asked.
- Select “Add option” if more options are needed.
Would You Try Polls?
Polls are an excellent feature to drive engagement with a business audience. They can be a powerful digital marketing resource if used correctly. It can be used to get the customer’s feedback on the existing products and get a deep understanding of what they want.
Also, anyone can post a poll and get insights from its results. It doesn’t bring any extra costs, just the effort and time to design one, but engages the audience and brings new customers to the community.
What do you think of polls on Facebook? Leave comments below if you have used them or participate in one before!
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