LinkedIn has over 740 million active users so it stands to reason that you want to try to convert some of those people in that vast network into clients. One way to do that is with LinkedIn polls. Right now, LinkedIn polls are getting great engagement but it’s important that you craft a question just right and for the right reasons.
My latest poll on LinkedIn has had over 27,866 views. I’m not telling you that to brag but to illustrate the success that LinkedIn polls CAN achieve. However, not all LinkedIn polls are born equal. There are polls that absolutely bomb, which is a shame because sometimes the questions being asked are great.
LinkedIn polls can get astounding engagement, but it’s not as easy as just putting anything up there and hoping it sticks.
There are 5 key things that contribute towards making LinkedIn polls successful.
#1 An engaged audience
Polls are more successful if your audience is already ‘engaged’ with your content. If you already have an audience on LinkedIn who ‘like’ and ‘comment’ on your posts, you’re many steps closer to writing polls on LinkedIn which will get even higher engagement.
To achieve an ‘engaged’ audience, you need a combination of the 3 Cs: Content, Comment and Consistency
Content
Posting helpful, interesting and relevant information on your feed on a regular basis will enable you to build up a strong and loyal following.
Comment
It’s important that you spend time commenting on other people’s posts. If all you do is post, how do you think anyone will know you are there? You need to reach out to say ‘hello’ to get people to ‘reach in’ to you.
Consistency
Showing up consistently on LinkedIn is one of the most important things you can do to build your presence on the platform. Don’t just ‘show and go’. Chat with people, make friends and make real connections.
#2 Your LinkedIn poll question
What you ask is going to be the key to whether people are interested enough to take time to answer it – or not.
Make it relevant
Yes, it’s super quick to ‘tick a box’ but why would anyone bother to answer a question that didn’t interest them? Making sure your question is relevant to the people you want to attract is essential. If, for example, you were working with women in their 40s, you might not want to ask a question about the latest iPhone. Or if your audience was generally in their 20s, talking about old-style landlines would likely fall on deaf ears.
Make it interesting
It may be relevant to ask if you prefer tea or coffee when you wake up in the morning, but is it interesting enough for people to answer, or for them to be interested in what others have to say on the matter? Don’t just write a LinkedIn poll for the sake of it. Asking something controversial, something that really IS a deal-breaker is more likely to get your replies buzzing and increase that all-important engagement on LinkedIn.
Stay on brand
A poll asking which political leader should win the current election is probably going to spark a debate. But if you never talk about politics, don’t try it now. It won’t align with your usual messaging. Going ‘off-piste’ in this way will surprise your audience and it could make them feel insecure about you. If your LinkedIn audience expects you to behave in a certain way, don’t behave differently.
#3 LinkedIn poll question framing
Don’t just dive into the question. Put a little bit of context around it.
Build a story
Keep it short (remember it’s a poll, not an article). But tell a bit of a story as to why you’re asking the question. It will help your audience feel more engaged with the question. It will take their head to the right place to enable them to be thinking about what it is you’re asking.
Use a strong ‘hook’
Even though polls are short, it’s still important to have a strong opening sentence to draw people in.
Use white space
Space out your text so people can read it faster. It sounds weird but it’s a psychological ‘trick’ that works.
#4 Continue the conversation
Keep the fire burning
Have you been in a conversation that has just gone on and on and on? It only takes one person to keep it going. When you reply to the comments with questions, ask people to go deeper on their answers, or comment in an open way. That way you could keep that discussion going for days. This will not only keep your audience engaged with your content, but it will also encourage the algorithm to keep pushing your post back into people’s feeds and increasing its reach even further.
Return the favour
If someone has taken the time to answer your poll, hop over to their feed and see what they’ve been posting lately. A comment on one of their posts will show you’re interested in them and the relationship will start to build. Who knows that person could be your next client?
Tag Someone
Don’t be a ‘spammy tagger’ (my term: meaning to tag people in just to get them to look at your post). Only tag someone in a post if you really think they would be interested in reading it. If you know of someone who would love to join the conversation, it’s worth ‘inviting’ them by tagging them in the post, as they may have something really interesting to contribute.
#5 Share your LinkedIn poll results
If people have bothered to vote and also add a comment, it’s likely they would be genuinely interested in the results of your poll. So, when your poll is finished and LinkedIn have told you the results, share them in another post.
You don’t have to talk about how many people voted if you don’t want to but the percentages will be of interest to some. If you think certain people would be particularly interested to know – i.e. by their comments on the initial post – tag them in (but avoid spammy tagging of course).
And finally…..
If you want more of my LinkedIn tips, please come and follow me on LinkedIn or message me and let’s have a chat about how I can help you get more business using LinkedIn!
