To Poll or Not To Poll, That is the Question. Or is it?
Phil Gerbyshak
Helping Sales Professionals and Sales Leaders Reclaim Their Confidence and Their Energy!
Nearly every day when I come to LinkedIn, I see a poll near the top of my home feed.
Today’s first 2 polls in my feed:?
When will you retire from work??
What's a thoughtful work/career question to consider asking your CEO when you're able to secure time with them??
On the surface, the second question looks a lot more thought-provoking than the first. I mean come on, including "what’s a thoughtful question" just pulled me right in.?
But then I thought about it. And I realized most people don’t.?
Most people don’t WHAT?
Most people don’t think about it.?
They just answer a poll because they can answer it quickly.?
Or they don’t respond because it makes them think about it.?
Those who do think about it probably HATE the first poll. They think people are wasting their time with these polls, and that polls are horrible and evil on LinkedIn, and someone even suggested in a recent comment that we should “Charge people $10 for creating a poll to make sure they are thoughtful when creating a poll.”
And I thought more about it, and I came to this conclusion: Most people don’t come to social media for deep thoughts - but they do want to share their opinion.?
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What’s the lesson here??
Include the option of “I hate polls. Show me the results.” in all your polls. The average response rate of people on social media is 1%. Only 1% of people react, comment or share anything at all. In a recent poll I did, I offered an option of “I hate polls. Show me the results.” That poll got a 2.31569% response to view percentage, with about half of the respondents saying they hated polls but wanted to see what others said. I recommend including that option in your polls as it will expose your poll to more people because EVERY response feeds the algorithm?
Don’t write an ebook when a poll will do. Some people want to participate, but we make it hard for them to. We take 90 days to craft a beautifully typeset and graphically gorgeous 26 page ebook about something that could be answered in a poll.?
Don't write a poll when an article is needed. If you want or need to express more, you can get a quick opinion with a poll. But if you want to share something more meaningful, don't just craft a poll, write an article. Or do a video. Or sometimes, an ebook IS the right answer.
Recognize and respond to those who do participate. People want to participate, but they feel like nobody cares what they have to say. The 1% who does participate never hear anything back from those who asked the question, so they don’t feel recognized or appreciated. Many never comment back, don’t ask more questions. When we show we don’t care about them, they stop caring about us and our content.
“To poll or not to poll,” that is the question??
YES TO POLLS! If you are willing to connect with those who participate in a poll, and ask a meaningful question that isn’t TOO meaningful, I say poll away.?
NO TO POLLS! If you are just looking to game the algorithm with a "What's your favorite sandwich item?" and you don't work in the food and beverage industry, please stop!
What do YOU have to say about this?
Leave a comment, or send me a private message. I promise I’ll respond!
? Demystifying Franchise Buying | Author & Strategic Advisor | Over 24 Years Experience | Franchise Research Authority | Franchise Industry Writer | Classic Rock Lover
3 年Poll: Did you like Phil's article. A. Yes! B. Kind of. C. I skimmed it. D. I like Phil, so of course I read it!
Value-Based Selling Coach | Developing Top 10% Performers | Strategies for Must-Win Complex Sales
3 年Great post Phil. I agree with your sentiment and your 'I hate polls' suggestion is innovative. My two cents is that some polls are just inane and I must say I am surprised at the response they get. They're safe I guess. Something more thought-provoking poses some risk I guess. You're nailing your colors to the mast with an opinion. Some people can see that as a risk.
Helping Creators Transform Blogs and Newsletters Into Revenue Streams Through Audience Growth, Content Strategy, and Creative Development of Opportunities for Monetization
3 年I submit that the Polls were created by LI because it uses the number of clicks on the platform as a basis for establishing the value of, and what it can charge for various paid-advertising functions. . The answer buttons on Polls offer a quick, easy, and mindless way for readers to "participate" or engage, which is what most users want. Writing a post or, worse, a long-form article takes too much time and effort. . Not so with point-and-click Poll responses. They appear to afford a high user return on effort. And Polls make LI happy because it does not track the quality of responses, only the raw number. And the LI watchword is, therefore, the more the better. Easier means more. More means better. Polls are easy to answer. So Polls have positive value ... for LinkedIn. . Just not for the rest of us. As they litter our feeds like the droppings of Canada geese, obscuring and distracting from whatever little meaningful content might otherwise be found there. And continuing to lead LinkedIn down the garden path of Insipidipity. Cheers!
Career & Job Search Strategist, Former Retained Executive Search, "Recruiting Insider".
3 年Sadly, here's the deal: For those of us who haven't joined pods (which I know aren't Linkedin sanctioned but exist), or have purchased followers (for a mere 1k, I can buy 50k!), or spent hours on TikTok...polls are the only way to be heard above the noise of those who have.