How to use LinkedIn polls to create business leads

We’ve all seen them, lots of us have joined in with them, but just how do you use LinkedIn polls to grow your business?

And have you ever taken part in a LinkedIn poll thinking that it’s anonymous? Then I’m afraid you’ve got that wrong – there’s more to LinkedIn polls than you think.

Stay tuned to find out how to use LinkedIn polls to create business leads, how to structure them, what content is best, how to use them to build your email list, and just how private the responses really are.

1. What a LinkedIn poll looks like and how to set one up

In good old Blue Peter fashion, ‘here’s one I made earlier’. I posted this just two days ago to demonstrate how to create a LinkedIn poll and how to use the information that you collect to the max.

As you can see, even after a short time, 96 people have shared their opinion with me. In fact, I can see that it’s already been viewed over 2000 times!
Not only can people click on a response, but they can also like and comment too. Great news for visibility.
At the bottom of the post, in blue text, you can see the words ‘Hide results’. I’ve not clicked this as I don’t mind my followers seeing the results. But if you want to keep that hidden from your followers, then simply click ‘Hide results’ and all they will see are the response options.

It’s incredibly easy to set up too.

Simply click on ‘start a post’ as you would normally.
Click on the ‘Create a poll’ icon at the bottom of that pop-up box. I’ve circled the icon below so you don’t miss it:

- You’ll be prompted to type in your short question (Maximum 140 characters for a LinkedIn poll question) as well as your responses (Maximum 30 characters for a LinkedIn poll option). You can choose up to four responses.
- Make sure that the question and the responses are relevant to your business and to your ideal customers.
- You’ll also be asked about the poll’s duration. I’d recommend having it live for as long as possible to get maximum reach.

As you can see, it’s not complicated at all:

When you’re happy with your question and response options, give them a read over to double-check it’s all correct as there’s no going back or editing once the LinkedIn poll has gone live!

Once you’ve filled in all the fields, click ‘Done’ and you’ll be taken back to the original post. To give some context to the poll’s purpose, write a clear introduction here.

Finally, add some relevant hashtags and click ‘Post’. Your LinkedIn poll will now be live and your connections and followers will see it in their news feed.

2. LinkedIn poll ideas

Don’t rush creating a poll, planning what information would be really beneficial to your business is key to a successful LinkedIn poll. For example:

Consider having your final response option as ‘Other – please comment’ to encourage comments on the post and increase it’s reach.

- - Spend time matching the questions and responses to your overall business strategy and what you want to achieve.
  - You could ask for feedback on your current products or services to help you improve your offerings.
  - Maybe ask for opinions regarding a potential new product or service to help you meet your customers’ needs and aspirations.
  - If you’re doing a spot of research and need statistics to back up a specific point, then a poll would be perfect.

3. Generate business through LinkedIn polls

Generating leads through LinkedIn polls is where the real value is!

Here’s a screenshot of my poll once again. When I click on the words ‘2,066 views’ I gain a lot of valuable insights into the type of person that the poll attracted; I’ll see their job title, where they work, and more besides.

Now, when I click on the words ‘96 votes’, this will tell me exactly who has voted and what response they chose.

Want to see what that looks like? Here you go, LinkedIn lists all the individuals that have responded and what they voted on (I’ve blacked out the LinkedIn profile picture and names for confidentiality).

So, you see, it’s not anonymous at all, the person who created the post will see the responses. This data and information is only available to the person that created the LinkedIn poll.

Now that we know that this information is available, let’s look at how to use it to our advantage. Let’s say I was running a poll to help me drum up business for my upcoming LinkedIn workshop; I would create a poll asking my followers if they’d ever received LinkedIn training.

My response options would be something like:

Yes, I’ve had training.
No, but I’m self-taught.
No, it’s not relevant to what I do.
No, but I probably need it.

After the poll, I can then identify everyone who chose the last option and send them a friendly private message asking if they’d be interested in my workshop.

4. Growing your email list using LinkedIn polls in 2022

To build your email list, offer something of value for free. I’ve done this before, and the results were amazing. I asked my followers if they’d like a free PDF highlighting 5 Facebook mistakes that reduce the reach of posts. Those who responded positively received a follow up message from me asking for their email address. I was then able to fulfil my promise and send them the free PDF, whilst asking them if they’d like to be added to my mailing list.

5. Need more LinkedIn Poll content ideas?

I recommend that you head to LinkedIn and search for #LinkedInPoll for some inspiration. Scroll down to see if any are relevant to your business, and check to see which ones are attracting a lot of attention.

6. How often should you post LinkedIn Polls?

I’d suggest creating polls when you have a specific business objective in mind. You should be using a mix of content for your LinkedIn posts to keep your connections interested. Don’t do too many polls as your followers will start suffering from poll fatigue.

Further LinkedIn reading

If, like me, you love data, head to my blog, ‘LinkedIn Analytics and What They Mean’.

LinkedIn workshop coming up soon

My next workshop is the ever popular LinkedIn workshop. It starts on 28^th June and runs over four consecutive days. For just an hour a day – plus a spot of homework – you’ll be growing your business in no time.

After the workshop you’ll have a completely transformed LinkedIn profile that attracts your target audience and gets those business enquiries rolling in. Get ready to be super busy!

To view the jargon-free workshop’s full itinerary and to book your space head to my website now. It’s limited to just 10 people so don’t delay. Head to website.

To view all of my upcoming workshops, head over to my website today.