Summary: Online polls help to improve a business in several ways. These easy to use online tools help gather information and build awareness, image, and brand presence; as well as gathering data and creating an environment of participation.

Four Good Reasons to Add a Poll to Your Website
There are four primary reasons for using online polls, all of which can substantially improve your business in different ways.

The first reason for using a poll is to gather important information from your customers regarding satisfaction, desire for new features or new products, and popularity of certain items. The second is to create a positive image for your company. By taking a poll you say to your customers that you care enough about them to find out more about what they want. The third is to gather customer contact information and metrics for marketing purposes, and the fourth reason is to create an environment of customer participation.

The most basic online polls simply gather information about whether a customer is satisfied, and these have become quite common as a pop-up option during a Web session, or as a request for participation after an in-store experience. From a customer service perspective, satisfaction surveys can be quite useful in gathering information about what works and what needs improvement.

Aside from the information gathered, online polls create a positive image. Consumers love to be able to contribute and offer advice and complaints, and appreciate the opportunity when it is offered. Additional image-building from online polls comes from the time spent on the Web site taking the poll, and positive messages that can be built into the process. When a business requests participation after an in-store experience, the online polls drive additional traffic to the business Web site as well, which will give the participants an extra opportunity to be presented with marketing messages and positive reinforcement.

When administering the poll, it is possible at the same time to gather information about customers, including email addresses and contact information that can be used to deliver further marketing messages on an opt-in basis; and it can also be used to gather metrics that can be used for market analysis—such as the customer’s age, sex, occupation, income bracket, and geographic location.

And finally, the environment of participation should not be overlooked. Online polls transform the customer into a part of the company in some ways, giving them an opportunity to provide feedback. Online customers especially have become accustomed to a more participatory experience beyond the basic transaction, and the online polls provides that. Often, online polls may not even focus on gathering specific product information, rather, they are provided “just for fun” solely for the purpose of getting people to interact with the Web site. Consumers love to participate and vote in online polls of all sorts.