Authentic audience feedback is priceless. With these highly coveted insights, you can improve your products and services, strengthen customer experiences, and discover new ways to keep people engaged with your brand.
The only challenge is that it can be incredibly difficult to attain.
Focus groups can be expensive to organize and host, email surveys disappear into jam-packed inboxes, and most people screen marketing calls. So, how can you gather the opinions you need?
Sending a well-timed SMS poll is one of the most effective ways to reach your audience and get quick feedback. Best of all, these text polls are a lot easier to create and send than you might expect.
Here’s everything you need to know to get started:
Create an SMS Poll in Minutes
If you’ve ever developed and managed a large-scale survey or customer poll, you know how challenging it can be to gather meaningful data. Even when you keep it short and easy or offer incentives, it can take weeks (and several nudges) just to get a handful of responses. From survey fatigue and time constraints to feeling like feedback won’t be taken seriously, there are plenty of legitimate reasons people avoid them.
Fortunately, SMS polls (also called vote-by-text or text-to-vote campaigns) have better outcomes. This is partially because people are significantly more likely to open and respond to text messages than emails. SMS boasts a 98% open rate compared to 25% for email — and more than quadruple email’s average response rate. (Check out these and other SMS marketing stats here.) But it’s also because, when done well, an SMS poll can be incredibly enticing.
How text polls work
Creating a text poll is extremely easy — especially with a user-friendly mass texting service like TrueDialog.
Here’s how to create and send a poll via text in just four steps:
- Decide on the type of poll you want to send
For example, with TrueDialog, you can choose from yes/no, multiple choice, or open response formats. You can set up a single-use poll or create one to automatically trigger every time a contact completes an action (for example, completing a purchase or attending an event).
- Write your poll question(s) and response options
Prepare your poll by compiling a question (or multiple questions) and response choices. Keep in mind that response options will function like keywords. For example:
☕Need a caffeine boost? Tell us where to add our next campus coffee cart!
Reply A for Library
B for Student Center
C for the Quad
- Choose your contact list
Deliver your poll to everyone, or choose a specific audience segment. For example, if you want feedback on a new software feature, select all customers who have engaged with that feature in the past two weeks.
- Send your poll
You can send the poll immediately, schedule it for later, or set it up to automatically send after a contact takes a specific action.
Real-time results and automation
Depending on which business texting platform you use to create and send your SMS poll, you should also be able to review poll results as people answer. Additionally, some platforms make it easy to set up a custom automation.
For example, if you use TrueDialog, you’ll benefit from native integrations with leading CRMs and marketing software like Salesforce or HubSpot — where you can build SMS steps into your workflows and customer journeys — or you can leverage our powerful SMS API for more unique workflows (I.e., if you want to trigger a poll text when your software platform logs a sale).
Why Use SMS Polling for Your Business
Despite SMS polls’ ease and high engagement rates, some organizations still default to sending polls and surveys via traditional channels like email.
If you’re still not convinced it’s time to leverage SMS polling, here are a few more reasons:
- Fast and direct engagement
People almost always have their mobile devices within reach and check them often.In fact, some smartphone users check their devices hundreds of times per day. That, combined with the fact that you can send texts instantly (especially if you use a platform like TrueDialog with direct carrier connections), means your contacts will see your poll in seconds.
- High response rates
Super-fast sends via a high-engagement platform can also translate into better response rates. This is especially true when you strategically send (or trigger) polls to reach contacts at a critical moment. For example, people will likely be more responsive when they’re already engaging with your brand (such as amid an event or after an appointment).
- Real-time insights
Sometimes, you don’t have weeks or months to make a decision — you have to act fast. With real-time data, you don’t have to wait because you can monitor audience sentiments as they come in. This is especially useful for rapidly identifying and resolving a negative customer service interaction or gathering preferences for an upcoming event.
Use Cases for Text-to-Vote Campaigns
Here are a few popular use cases for sending an SMS poll, with examples:
Event live voting
A vote-by-text campaign during an event gives attendees an opportunity to participate and have their say. For example:
🏀 Who’s your MVP tonight?
Reply A for #10 Davis
B for #22 Lopez
C for #7 Carter
D for #18 Walker
Customer satisfaction feedback
Sending a text poll can help you quickly measure customer satisfaction after an appointment, purchase, or client support experience. For example:
Hi Andrew! Thanks for reaching out to our team!
How would you rate your tech support experience today?
A for Excellent
B for Satisfied
C for Needs Improvement
Product or service insights
From a software company beta testing a new feature to a bank releasing upgrades to its member app, businesses can use an SMS poll to determine whether they’re hitting the mark or need to iterate further.
For example:
Hi Debra! 👋 We noticed you’ve been using our new AI chatbot. Based on this feature, would you recommend our platform to a friend?
Please respond YES or NO
You can send a follow-up to gather richer insights if someone responds negatively. For example:
We’re sorry to hear that! We always want to make sure we meet your expectations. Can you tell us a little more about your experience?
Event planning input
Whether it’s a well-timed post after an event or a quick check-in beforehand, a text poll shows attendees you value their input and want to deliver the best possible experience.
Thanks for attending tonight’s campus workshop! 🤗
Which topic should we tackle next?
A for Resume Tips
B for Study Skills
C for Mental Health Resources
Internal team surveys
It can be difficult to get fast responses from employees via email, but a brief poll can help you collect the data you need to make a timely decision.
Hi team! We’re booking the company holiday party 🥳
Which date would work best for you?
A for Friday, Dec. 5
B for Saturday, Dec. 6
C for Thursday, Dec. 11
Built for Scale: Why TrueDialog’s SMS Platform Stands Out
Knowing how to create a poll in text message format is valuable knowledge, but the SMS solution you use can have a massive impact on your engagement rate and overall success. To help, here are a few things to look for from your platform:
High-volume delivery
When it comes to SMS marketing, you need a solution that can grow with your organization — but some providers don’t have the infrastructure to support large sends. In those cases, you’ll have to deal with batching, delays, and even message failures — which can impact how well your polls perform.
That’s why it’s wise to choose a solution designed for enterprise-sized needs. For example, TrueDialog has the functionality to send thousands or even millions of messages at once.
Security and compliance
A great SMS platform will help you follow industry regulations, protect customer data, and build trust with your audience. Unfortunately, not all solutions prioritize regulatory compliance or data privacy to the same degree.
Because we work with highly regulated industries, the TrueDialog platform supports CTIA and TCPA compliance, meets SOC 2 Type II standards, maintains a TX-RAMP certification, and leverages ISO 9001-certified infrastructure.
Flexible SMS Poll Pricing for All Business Sizes
Pricing is one of the leading considerations in any tech investment — especially amid an era of budget constraints. But when you evaluate a business SMS platform’s pricing range, remember there’s more than meets the eye.
For example, some providers charge markups on carrier pass-through, an additional fee for each user, or expect you to pay for third-party software to integrate their platform into your tech stack. With TrueDialog, you won’t have to worry about these sneaky costs. Plus, we include plenty of premium-level features at every package level so you can grow without restriction.
Ready to Launch Your First SMS Poll?
From creating interactive experiences that drive engagement to identifying the weak spots in your offering so you can make improvements and leapfrog your competition, there’s no shortage of ways to benefit from sending polls via text.
Ready to take the next step toward sending your first SMS poll? Request a demo to see our platform in action.
