When you run a business, customer feedback is essential.
Timely, relevant feedback not only helps you make data-driven decisions— it also shows customers that you listen to them, increasing loyalty and trust.
One of the fastest, most effective ways to gather feedback is through SMS polls. In this article, we’ll look at the benefits of using SMS polls and how to create polls that resonate with your target audience.
What is an SMS poll?
An SMS poll (or text message poll) is a way of gathering audience responses by asking recipients short, simple questions via text message.
Let’s say you operate a cleaning service and want to gather feedback to see if customers are happy with your service. You can send a text message asking them to rate the service they recently received.
If they respond with a low score, you can send a follow-up SMS asking for more information.
Benefits of using SMS polls
Sending SMS polls is easy, even if you’re not tech savvy—all you need are your customers’ mobile phone numbers and a good SMS provider platform.
If you’re still not convinced, here are some additional reasons why you should factor text polls into your communication strategy.
Real-time feedback
Most people read and respond to text messages within a few minutes of receiving them.
This makes SMS polls perfect for time-sensitive campaigns or real-time events. For example, you can message attendees at a sporting event and ask them to vote for their MVP of the match.
Increased engagement
People receive several emails a day, making it more challenging to get their attention. Conversely, they don’t receive as many text messages.
As a result, they’re more receptive to the texts they get, meaning they’re more likely to participate.
Cost-effective
SMS polls aren’t as expensive to run as you might think, making them a cost-effective method of gathering opinions. Different providers offer different pricing plans to suit all needs and budgets.
The overall cost of your campaign will depend on the SMS marketing provider you choose, how many texts you need to send, and which country you’re sending your messages from.
Available anywhere
You don’t need a WiFi or mobile internet connection to send or receive text polls, meaning you can get valuable feedback wherever your customers are.
Informed decisions
You can use text messages to reach large audiences and collect substantial data. This makes it easy to identify trends and gather the information you need to improve your services.
Improved customer relationships
Sending SMS polls boosts customer satisfaction by showing customers that you listen and act on their feedback.
This leads to improved levels of trust and customer loyalty.
How to create text polls in 7 easy steps
Ready to start using text message polls in your marketing? Here’s how to plan, implement, and analyze your first SMS poll in 7 simple steps.
Step #1: Identify your goal
The first step is to determine what you want to get out of running an SMS voting campaign. This will help you decide who to target. Then you can write questions that your audience will want to respond to.
It will also help you determine the metrics to gauge if your text voting has delivered the right results.
For example, your goal could be to:
- Carry out market research
- Segment your existing customer marketing database
- Boost customer engagement
- Launch a new product or service
- Increase sales
Step #2: Determine your target audience
While it may be tempting to send your text poll to everyone on your marketing list, you’ll get optimal engagement if you send it to the right people.
Consider who will want to have their say. For example, if you want to run a poll alongside a presentation at an event, you’ll need to send your text to event attendees.
Or you may want feedback from your most frequent customers. In this case, you can use segmentation to identify the people who buy from you most often.
Remember that you can’t text people without their express written consent, and you must make it easy for them to opt out. This can be done by clicking on a link in your SMS message or replying with a specific word or phrase, like STOP.
Step #3: Decide which type of poll you want to use
There are 2 different types of poll questions you can ask your audience.
Close-ended questions provide respondents with a fixed set of answers. For example:
“Do you like hot fudge on your ice cream? Yes or no.”
Close-ended questions are easier to understand and reply to, which can lead to a higher engagement rate. It is also easier to track responses. However, respondents can’t expand on their answers.
Open-ended questions are ones where respondents are free to respond with an answer of their choice. For example:
“Which flavor of ice cream is your favorite?”
Open-ended questions require more effort to respond to, which may mean a lower response rate. However, they provide far deeper insights.
The right choice will depend on your goals and your target audience. Of course, nothing is stopping you from using both types of questions.
Step #4: Create your questions
After you decide what type of questions you want to use in your text poll, you need to write them.
First, decide how many questions you want to ask. While more questions can provide you with more insight, you will need to send more text messages, which will increase costs.
Plus, there is the chance that the more questions you ask, the less engaged your audience will become. Ask enough questions to get the data you need—no more.
Each SMS message has a limit of 160 characters, so keep your questions as short and straightforward as possible.
Along with your question, you may also want to include additional information, like a link to your website. We also recommend providing clear opt-out instructions for future text polls.
Step #5: Set up your campaign
To make it easy to administer your text polls and manage responses, we recommend using an SMS provider platform.
These platforms make sending a text message as easy as sending an email campaign. Specify which subscribers you want to contact, enter your SMS copy, and add any personalization you want to use.
Most platforms let you send a preview SMS so you can check that you’re happy with it before sending it to audience members.
Step #6: Send your poll
When sending your poll, it’s vital to send it at the right time to boost engagement.
It may be that this is predetermined for you, for example, if you’re at a live event, or you want to reach out to a customer who has just used your services.
However, if your poll questions aren’t time sensitive, it’s worth looking at your existing data to choose the optimal day and time.
You will also need to consider quiet hours, which vary from country to country.
Step #7: Collect feedback and review your poll results
It’s important to review your poll results. This will let you see if your text poll has been successful, as well as collect valuable insights that will help you improve text polls in the future.
In addition to reviewing your audience’s responses, take a look at the campaign metrics—all SMS provider platforms will supply these. Good metrics to monitor include:
- Response rate: How many recipients reply to the poll
- Time to respond: How long it takes recipients to reply
- Delivery rate: The percentage of messages sent that reach mobile phones—if your delivery rate drops significantly it could indicate that your contact list needs cleaning
- Unsubscribe rate: How many recipients opt out
You can also monitor additional metrics based on the initial goal of your poll. For example, if your poll aims to increase sales, you can measure how many recipients made a purchase.
Key takeaways
- What is an SMS poll? An SMS poll lets you engage customers by asking them questions via text message. Your audience can then text back with a response.
- SMS polls are fast and efficient: Text message polls are ideal if you need instant feedback. They allow you to send and receive a message in just a few seconds.
- Recipients need to opt in: Customers must give express written permission to receive SMS texts, and you must provide an easy way to opt out.
- Make your poll as easy to understand as possible: Use simple wording and keep the number of questions to a minimum.
- Monitor your metrics: Your response rate will show you how engaging the questions you send are. A low delivery rate may mean your contact list is out of date.