Mastering LinkedIn Polls and Surveys for Better Lead Generation

This article is part of the comprehensive guide on Mastering LinkedIn Lead Generation: A Comprehensive Guide. Read our related content on Creating Engaging LinkedIn Video Content, Maximizing LinkedIn Events for Lead Generation, Personalized Lead Generation Through LinkedIn Stories, Building a Lead Generation Focused LinkedIn Newsletter, Leveraging LinkedIn Live for Real-Time Engagement, Effective Follow-Up Strategies on LinkedIn, Collaborating with LinkedIn Influencers, and Optimizing for LinkedIn’s Algorithm.

Key Takeaways:

• LinkedIn polls and surveys drive engagement and lead generation by transforming passive content consumption into an interactive experience.
• Planning, crafting compelling questions, promoting effectively, and analyzing results deeply are crucial to leveraging LinkedIn polls and surveys.
• These tools provide valuable insights and offer an opportunity to demonstrate thought leadership and foster deeper connections with your audience.

Have you ever wondered how you can break through the noise, engage your network, and turn engagements into leads? 

Enter LinkedIn polls and surveys—a seemingly simple tool that can unlock insights, spark conversations, and showcase your thought leadership. In this article we cover everything you need to know about them. 

The Value of LinkedIn Polls and Surveys

At first glance, LinkedIn polls and surveys might seem just another way to engage your audience. 

However, they offer much more. These tools are not just engagement levers; they are bridges to understanding your audience’s needs, preferences, and pain points. Compared to other content types—like articles, videos, or standard posts—polls and surveys invite active participation. 

They transform passive content consumption into an interactive experience, making your audience feel heard and valued. This engagement lays the groundwork for more meaningful conversations and, ultimately, lead generation.

Setting Up Your LinkedIn Polls and Surveys

Planning Your LinkedIn Polls and Surveys

Before jumping into the creation process, clarifying your objectives is crucial. 

What do you aim to achieve with your poll or survey? Are you looking to gather market insights, test product concepts, or understand industry trends? Knowing your objectives will guide your question formulation.

Additionally, having a deep understanding of your audience is key. Tailoring your questions to the interests and challenges of your audience ensures higher engagement and more valuable insights.

Here are four questions and ideas that you can use:

• Trends in Decision-Making: “What do you think will be the biggest change in B2B buying behavior next year?” This question aims to understand evolving trends in customer decision-making processes, helping sales professionals anticipate changes and adapt their strategies.
• Technology Adoption: “Which sales technology do you believe is the most underutilized in the industry today?” 
• By asking this, you invite opinions on technological tools, potentially uncovering insights on tools that could revolutionize sales strategies or improve efficiency.
• Challenges in Sales: “What is the biggest challenge facing sales professionals in your sector today?” This open-ended question encourages respondents to share their personal or observed challenges, providing qualitative insights that can inform strategy, content creation, and more.

Creating Engaging LinkedIn Polls

Crafting engaging LinkedIn polls involves more than just throwing a question into the digital universe. It’s an art. The right question, asked in the right way, can spark meaningful conversations, uncover valuable insights, and draw people to your profile and message. 

Here’s how you can get started:

1. Navigate to the Post Creation Tool: Go to your LinkedIn home page. There, you’ll find the option to create a new post. Click on it to begin the process.
2. Select the Poll Option: Among the various content types you can create (like posts, photos, or videos), you’ll find the option to create a poll. Choose this to move forward with crafting your poll.
3. Craft Your Question: This is where your creativity comes into play. Write a clear, engaging question that invites your audience to think and participate. Ensure it aligns with your objectives and is relevant to your audience.
4. Add Options: Provide multiple choices for your poll’s respondents. LinkedIn allows you to add up to four options. Make them concise, clear, and distinct from one another to cover a range of potential opinions or answers.
5. Set the Duration: Decide how long you want your poll to run. LinkedIn allows you to choose a duration from one day to up to two weeks. Consider your audience and the topic’s relevancy when deciding the length.
6. Share It: Once your poll is ready, share it with your network. You can also add additional context in the post accompanying your poll to explain why it’s important or to encourage participation.

However, as we mentioned, setting the pool up is just the first step. Here are four tips on how to create better polls:

• Be Timely and Relevant: Align your poll topics with current trends, events, or widespread discussions within your industry. This increases the likelihood of engagement as it taps into what’s already on people’s minds.
• Encourage Discussion: In your poll post, invite your audience to comment with their thoughts or explain their choices. This not only boosts engagement but also provides deeper insights into your audience’s perspectives.
• Follow-up: Share the results in a new post once your poll concludes. This could be an analysis of what the results mean, how they surprised you, or how they align with industry trends. 
• Visual Appeal: Even though LinkedIn doesn’t allow images directly in polls, you can use visuals in follow-up posts discussing poll results or posts promoting the poll.

Designing Effective Surveys

To distribute your survey effectively through LinkedIn, consider using one of these tools, each of which offers unique features and integrates smoothly with social media platforms:

• SurveyMonkey: A popular choice for creating a wide range of surveys, SurveyMonkey offers robust question types, templates, and analysis features. You can easily share your SurveyMonkey survey on LinkedIn by posting the link in a post or in your profile bio.
• Google Forms: For those looking for a free, straightforward option, Google Forms provides a simple interface for survey creation and real-time data analysis. Share your Google Form on LinkedIn by including the link in your posts, encouraging your network to participate.
• Typeform: Known for its user-friendly design and engaging respondent experience, Typeform allows you to create surveys that feel more like conversations, which can lead to higher completion rates. Like the others, share your Typeform survey on LinkedIn to reach your professional network directly.

Promoting LinkedIn Polls and Surveys for Maximum Reach

Maximizing the reach of your LinkedIn polls and surveys isn’t just about posting and hoping for the best. It’s about proactive promotion, strategic engagement, and leveraging the full spectrum of LinkedIn’s networking capabilities. 

Implement these strategies to amplify your polls and surveys:

1. Leverage Your Existing Network: Start by sharing your poll or survey with your connections via a post. Encourage them to participate and share the poll or survey within their own networks. 
2. Utilize Relevant LinkedIn Groups: Sharing your poll or survey in LinkedIn groups related to your industry or topic can significantly extend your reach. Tailor your introduction to each group’s focus and norms to encourage participation. 
3. Tag Influencers and Thought Leaders: When your poll or survey covers topics of interest to specific LinkedIn influencers or thought leaders, tagging them can not only draw their attention but also prompt them to share your content with their followers. 
4. Engage with Every Comment: Active engagement—replying to comments, answering questions, and sparking discussions—can significantly increase a poll or survey’s visibility on LinkedIn. 

Analyzing Poll and Survey Results for Insights

To go beyond the surface and truly understand what your LinkedIn poll and survey data are telling you, consider these three tips:

• Segment Your Data: If possible, segment your results by demographics, job roles, or other relevant criteria. This can help you uncover nuanced insights and understand how different segments of your audience may have distinct preferences or opinions.
• Compare with Historical Data: If you have conducted polls or surveys in the past, compare your new results with historical data. This can reveal shifts in opinions or trends over time, offering valuable insights into how your audience’s preferences are evolving.
• Leverage Qualitative Feedback: Don’t overlook open-ended responses or comments. Qualitative feedback can provide context to the quantitative data, revealing the ‘why’ behind the numbers. 

Conclusion

LinkedIn polls and surveys are instruments for understanding, conversation, and lead generation. By planning carefully, crafting engaging questions, promoting effectively, and analyzing results deeply, you can turn these simple interactions into powerful insights and connections. 

FAQs: LinkedIn Polls and Surveys for Engagement and Leads

What are LinkedIn polls?

LinkedIn polls are a feature that allows users to create and share questions with their network or within groups, offering up to four answer options. They’re great tools for engagement and insight gathering.

How can LinkedIn polls improve lead generation?

LinkedIn polls can spark conversations, deepen connections, and provide insights into your audience’s preferences, aiding in more targeted lead-generation efforts by engaging your audience with relevant questions.

What are some best practices for creating LinkedIn polls?

Best practices include keeping questions clear and concise, relevant to your audience, offering balanced answer options, and promoting your polls across your network and relevant LinkedIn groups for maximum engagement.

Can surveys be linked to LinkedIn?

While LinkedIn does not directly support surveys, tools like SurveyMonkey, Google Forms, and Typeform can be used to create surveys that you can share on LinkedIn through posts, messages, or in your profile.