Picture this. In the year 2022, 560 Billion texts were sent out each month worldwide, 18.7 Billion texts a day, 913,242,000 texts are sent every hour, 15,220,700 every minute, and there has been an increase of 7700% in the number of monthly texts being sent in the last decade alone!
Those are a lot of texts, so it's no wonder that Businesses, Research organizations, Governments, Social-centres and other organizations leverage the power of text messaging every day.
In this article, we are going to tell you about how you can create and use SMS polling to gather consumer feedback, research, competitive intelligence and demand forecasting data by leveraging the power of text polls. So let's get into it!
What is an SMS poll?
SMS polls are a type of survey or poll that is conducted via text message. They allow you to quickly and easily gather feedback or opinions from a group of people by sending a question or series of questions via SMS. Participants can then respond to the poll by sending a text message either as a numerical option or as a verbal answer to the question being asked.
There are several tools and services available that allow you to create and conduct SMS polls. Some of these tools are standalone platforms, while others are integrated into messaging apps or other communication tools.
To create an SMS poll, you will typically need to create a list of questions and then use a tool or service to send the poll to your participants. You can then track responses and analyze the results of the poll. You can also customize the appearance of the poll or add additional features such as multiple-choice questions or image options in some tools. We will discuss how to do all using TXTImpact's polling and survey tool below.
Types of SMS Polls
Businesses Polls: Companies may use SMS polls to gather feedback from customers, conduct market research, or gather opinions on new products or services.
Research Polls: Researchers may use SMS polls to gather data for a study or survey.
Personal Polls: Individuals may use SMS polls to gather opinions or feedback from friends, family, or other groups.
Political Polls: Political campaigns generally use SMS polls to determine the level of support among voter groups for a candidate or an issue.
Contest Polls: SMS polls are the go-to polling method for TV shows and competitions.
SMS Polls are divided into two categories:
Outbound Polls:
An outbound SMS poll is a survey or poll that is sent to a group of people via text message. The poll typically asks a series of questions and allows the recipient to respond by selecting from a list of options or by typing in their answer.
Here is an example of an outbound poll:
"Hello! We hope you're having a great day. We'd love to get your feedback on our product/service. Would you be willing to take a quick survey?
Please respond YES or NO."
If the recipient responds YES, they will receive a series of questions related to the product or service, along with a list of options to choose from or the ability to type in their own answer. The survey may include questions such as:
- How satisfied are you with the product/service?
- How likely are you to recommend the product/service to a friend or colleague?
- What improvements would you like to see in the product/service?
The survey may also include an optional section for open-ended feedback, allowing the recipient to provide additional comments or suggestions.
Once the recipient has completed the survey, they may be asked to confirm their response and provide their contact information for follow-up or to be entered into a prize drawing.
Inbound Polls:
An inbound SMS poll is a poll that is received by a person via text message and requires the recipient to respond by selecting from a list of options or by typing in their answer.
Both outbound and inbound SMS polls can be used to gather valuable insights and data from a target audience, and are a convenient and efficient way to reach a large number of people in a short period.
Here is an example of an inbound poll:
"Thank you for visiting our store today! We'd love to hear your feedback on your shopping experience. Please take a moment to answer a few questions by selecting the appropriate option below.
- Was our store clean and well-organized?
- Yes
- No
- Was our staff helpful and friendly?
- Yes
- No
- How likely are you to shop with us again?
- Very Likely
- Likely
- Unlikely
Thank you for your feedback. Your responses will help us improve the shopping experience for all of our customers.
To opt-out of future surveys, please reply STOP."
In this example, the recipient receives a text message with a series of multiple-choice questions related to their shopping experience. They can respond to the poll by selecting one of the options provided.
Inbound polls can also include open-ended questions that allow the recipient to type in their own answer, or they may include a link to a longer survey that can be completed online.
How to Create an SMS Poll using TXTImpact
#Step 1:
Login to your TXTImpact account. If you don't have one, get one today!
#Step 2:
You will see your account dashboard
#Step3:
Scroll down to Polling and Survey and click on the Text-2-Vote option
#Step 4:
Part 1
Select the shortcode, the SMS account that you are planning to conduct the poll from, the SMS campaign name, and the keyword that you would want your participants to text along with their options.
Select the response options (you can set it as an alphabet or as a number), for example, if you are conducting a contest poll for a singing competition you can type in the response options as follows:
Option 1 Option Title: Michael Jackson
You can add as many response options as you want.
Now you can select a start and end date and time for your poll.
Part 2
As you scroll down, you will come across the following options
Maximum Votes allowed: How many votes can a person cast? 0 means unlimited votes whereas 1 means they can vote just once and so on.
ReEntry Duration: Time the user needs to wait to vote again, 0 means they can vote just once, and 1 means they can vote again after a specific period.
Restrict Votes: You can restrict the voting to a particular lead list within your account, just select the audience you would not like to participate in the polling by clicking on the drop-down menu.
Voting Questions: Write a catchy question that will make the voter interested to select an option
Voting Response: Write an automated response to a voter once they have participated in the poll
Part 3
Scrolling further down we can write a pre-populated message for the following:
An invalid message
A Voting has ended message
A Voting has not started message
A Restricted voting message
A Help message
An opt-out message
Part 4
Click on the save the poll button
#Step 5
Now it's time to sit back and let TXTImpact's advanced analytics do all the heavy lifting and track your results. Click on the POLL RESULTS button at the top right-hand corner of the dashboard to view the results of the poll so far.
SMS Polls Guidelines:
Here are some thumb rules to keep in mind when designing a text poll:
Make sure you have permission to send SMS polls to the recipients. It is important to obtain explicit consent from individuals before sending them an SMS poll.
Keep the poll concise and to the point. SMS polls should be brief and easy to understand, as people may not have a lot of time or attention to spare.
Provide clear instructions on how to participate in the poll. Make sure the recipients know how to respond to the poll and what options are available to them.
Consider offering an incentive for participation. This can help increase the response rate to your poll.
Make sure the poll is compatible with all types of mobile devices. Some older phones may not be able to receive or respond to SMS polls, so consider offering alternative ways to participate.
Protect the privacy of the respondents. Be transparent about how the data collected from the poll will be used and ensure that it is kept confidential.
Analyze the results of the poll and use the insights gathered to inform your decision-making or improve your products or services.
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Check out the other articles from Txtimpact to turbocharge your SMS marketing efforts:
1. https://www.txtimpact.com/blog/sms-ideas-to-increase-revenue
2. https://www.txtimpact.com/blog/why-smb-owners-prefer-text-survey
3. https://www.txtimpact.com/blog/text-vs-email-marketing-which-give-better- results
4. https://www.txtimpact.com/blog/how-to-use-business-text-messaging-to-increase-customer-satisfaction
5. https://www.txtimpact.com/blog/how-to-create-personalized-sms-marketing-campaigns-using-zipcode