December 15, 2014

How Polls Can Supercharge Your Social Media Marketing

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last decade, you are probably very familiar with social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and the dozens of others. It seems like a new site pops up every other day. Nevertheless, Social Media Marketing (SMM) is an important tool in the web marketer’s toolbox, but many have no idea how to use it. Should you post every day? Once a week? What do you post? Does it have to be a funny cat video to be popular? In reality, there is no single answer to the best way to engage your audience in social media. But, one very effective means of reaching your audience and inviting them to interact with you is by creating polls.

Why Is Social Media So Important?

The first thing you need to understand is why social media is so important. One big reason it matters is because of its influence on search engine results. The more a topic is discussed in social media, the more relevant search engines perceive it to be to the relevant keywords. Thus, from a strictly SEO perspective, social media can help boost a site’s rankings organically, driving more traffic simply from search results.

But, more importantly, social media is a way to directly interact with potential customers. You can put your brand in front of your target audience everyday, and your messages will appear in their feeds or on their walls. Your message will slowly seep into their consciousness every time they visit their favorite social site (which for millions of people is several times a day). And, you will soon have the same kind of brand recognition as any marketing giant with a multi-million dollar budget at an infinitesimally smaller price.

Why Polling Is a Good Idea

The problem with much social media marketing is that it is done poorly. Many use a generic blurb about something of minimal interest to anybody but the company posting it, so the intended audience spends as much time thinking about it as any of the dozens of other distractions they overlook on the page. While any appearance on their page can have some impact on brand recognition, there is a much bigger impact if the audience is actually involved. If they actually take note or, better yet, take the time to interact with the posting in some way, you are making a much deeper impression on those people. There are a few ways to do this, but polling is a great option.

Why? First, your poll is likely to look different than every other blurb on the page, so it will naturally be eye catching. Just as posts with pictures tend to draw more attention than those without, posts with interactive elements like a poll tend to draw even greater interest. Audience members will feel a connection with you, because you are showing an actual interest in their opinion. If they find the poll truly interesting, they may follow up to see the results. And, if your poll is interesting enough, they might share it with others. That kind of social sharing is priceless and hard to achieve with passive posts containing nothing but photos or written updates.

How to Construct a Poll for Maximum Results

The poll needs to be interesting, eye-catching, and fun or engaging. Of course, the poll should be very short and to the point; probably just one to three questions. Any more and you risk losing interest. If it is possible to inject humor into the questions, do it; this will increase the likelihood of your audience sharing the poll with their friends. Try to make the questions relate to your business in an obvious manner so your message is not lost. And, try to post your polls at times when people are more likely to see it in order to maximize your audience engagement.

Get Started With Polling Today

If your social media campaign is lagging, try taking a new approach. Polling can engage your customers in ways that static posts never could. Of course, Miami web marketing company Absolute Web Services will be happy to help you get started creating your online poll campaign.