How To Do A Poll In WhatsApp

Ever wanted to know what a particular group of people want, think or do – but haven’t had a convenient way to ask them? Enter: WhatsApp polls.

WhatsApp polls are great for finding out all kinds of information, from conducting free market research for your small business to checking when your extended family are free over the holiday season. With just a little know-how, you can start using polls for all kinds of purposes, whether with your friends and family, or clients and colleagues.

Let’s take a closer look at WhatsApp polls, from exactly how they work, to the best ways businesses can use polls in their marketing strategies.

What is a WhatsApp poll?

Polls allow you to ask questions and get real-time answers from a group of people on WhatsApp. They’re easy to use and quick to set up.

When you set up a poll, you can type in the question that you want to ask in your own words. You can then specify what the answer options should be, and whether participants will be able to select more than one option, or only one answer at a time.

Poll results update in real-time as participants cast their votes, so you can quickly and easily see what the winning answer is.

How to make a WhatsApp poll

It’s quick and easy to make a WhatsApp poll, and the process is the same whether you are using an Android device, iPhone, the Web and Desktop WhatsApp app, or WhatsApp Business.

How to create a poll on Android, Apple or Web & Desktop

1. Open the WhatsApp app and go into the chat that you want to post the poll in.
2. Choose Attach, then choose Poll.
3. Type your question into the Question field.
4. Type your answer options into the Options fields. You can reorder these by tapping and holding on them, then sliding them up and down.
5. You can toggle the Allow Multiple Answers setting on or off. If it is on, participants will be able to vote for more than one answer. If it’s off, they’ll only be able to choose one.
6. Choose Send to create your poll and share it with the chat.

How to vote on a poll on Android, Apple or Web & Desktop

1. Open the WhatsApp app and find the chat which contains the poll.
2. Tap or click on the options that you want to vote for. If multiple answers are enabled, you’ll be able to select more than one option. If multiple answers are disabled, you can tap and click again on a selected answer to deselect it, then select another answer if you want to.

Can you use WhatsApp polls on WhatsApp Business?

Yes – you can share polls the same way through WhatsApp Business. WhatsApp Business is the professional version of WhatsApp, designed with the needs of small-to-medium businesses in mind.

What are WhatsApp polls useful for?

WhatsApp polls can be a useful tool in lots of different situations. Here are some things that WhatsApp polls can be used for:

• Narrowing down options. Perhaps you want to find out which restaurant is most convenient for your group of friends, or ask your colleagues which activity they’d prefer to do for the Christmas party? If you’re a small business selling a service, you might want to find out which day is most popular for a regular event with a particular demographic? Polls are a great way to get quick results that you can act on, fast.
• Generate excitement. Polls are a fun way to create a buzz around an announcement or a new launch, and most people love participating in them. Ask your audience to guess what your news is, or when it will drop.
• Conduct market research. Not sure what your next offering should be? Perhaps you want to find out what your customers most value about your product or service? Polls are free, easy to use, and most people love to be able to have their say at the click of a button – so you’re likely to get some good engagement rates, too.
• Getting feedback. Finding out what your customers are thinking is invaluable when it comes to honing your business strategy, and polls can help you get inside their heads. Ask your customers for their opinions, including what you’re doing well, what you could do better, and what they’d like to see from you in the future.

Top tips for creating good WhatsApp polls

Polls are a fantastic way to interact in real-time with your customers, but there are some best practice guidelines. Try these tips to help you make the most of polls:

• Make questions clear. If your audience is confused by the wording of your question, they probably won’t interact with your poll. Read the question over a few times and sense check it with a team member to ensure it’s clear and easy to read.
• Limit answer choices. It’s difficult to make a choice if there are too many items to go through. Make each answer unique and avoid repetition or overlap within the answers. Try to keep to a maximum of six options where possible, so your users don’t get frustrated by the amount of time they spend scrolling.
• Use polls sparingly. While most WhatsApp users enjoy interacting with polls, they’re likely to tire of it if you send them every day. Each audience is different, but on average, it’s a good idea to limit polls to once per week so as not to overload your contacts.

Get started on WhatsApp Business with a virtual number from YourBusinessNumber

Look, we know it’s difficult these days to draw the line between work and play – especially when so many of us use one mobile phone for both business and personal use.

That’s why we’ve created a solution to allow you to harness all the benefits of WhatsApp Business, while protecting your privacy and personal time.

With a second virtual phone number from YourBusinessNumber, you can set up both WhatsApp Messenger and WhatsApp Business on one mobile phone. That means all your work messages will be safely stored in the Business version of the app, while your personal contacts are kept in your private WhatsApp account.

What’s more, you’ll benefit from all the amazing tools that are included in WhatsApp Business, like automation, categorisation, business profiles and catalogues that can help your company stand out from the crowd.

Sounds good? We’d love to have you join us. In just a few clicks we’ll get you set up with your brand new unique mobile phone number that you can use to verify WhatsApp Business. And with low-cost, flexible monthly contracts, you’ll stay in complete control while enjoying your new business phone number.

So what are you waiting for? Generate your new WhatsApp Business number today and harness the power of this great messenger platform for your business.