How to Make a Free Email Poll
Start With Customizable Email Poll Templates
Create email polls that people love answering by using our fully optimized templates.
View more poll templates
Make an Email Poll From Scratch
With our online poll maker, your poll will be up and running in no time.
Create an email poll
Create an email poll using this creation form. Add your question/answer options, some cool images, and click ‘Publish’.
Copy the poll link
Click on the ‘Embed & Share’ button and then on ‘Copy Link’.
Add the poll to your email
Paste the link into the body of your email or create a visually appealing linkable image. This simple tweak can help increase click-through rates since people are more likely to click on an image that catches their eye.
7 Tips for Creating Effective Email Polls
Master the art of email polling with our tips that will help you boost response rates and gather valuable insights.
1. Choose the Right Question
The questions you ask will determine the success of your poll, so take care in crafting them. Choose clear, well-defined statements and avoid vaguely worded questions that could confuse respondents. Tailor the questions to your audience’s interests, pain points, or curiosities.
For example, if you want employee feedback on remote work policies, ask “On a scale of 1 to 5, how would you rate the ease of balancing work and family responsibilities while working remotely?” instead of the vague “How is remote work going?”.
Need inspiration for effective poll questions to engage your audience? Check out our 100 poll questions to get your creative juices flowing.
2. Be Inclusive With Your Answer Choices
When writing answer choices in opinion polls, aim to cast a wide net so all viewpoints feel heard. Avoid bias and include options others may pick, too. Diversity in perspectives leads to better choices.
Spice up your poll by allowing voters to choose multiple answers instead of a single answer or suggest their own.
3. Write an Engaging Message
Your poll’s email isn’t just a delivery vessel – it’s the curtain-raiser to your poll. Craft a teaser email message that sparks interest, a sneak peek that makes them eager to click and share their thoughts. Explain what you need help with and why their input matters. Make it fun and people will want to get involved.
4. Add Visuals
Colorful visuals can increase people’s motivation to interact with your content by 80%. In the world of email polls, the right images can help keep people engaged where plain text might lose them. Create interactive polls by using high-quality relevant images, GIFs, videos, and emojis in your question-and-answer options. Don’t forget to choose a color theme that makes your poll stand out and look inviting.
5. Send Your Email Poll at the Best Time
The right timing can make all the difference. Send your poll when your audience is most likely to be checking their email, ready to click and engage. Avoid super busy days or holidays when inboxes overflow.
6. Offer an Incentive
Entice participation by offering participants an incentive, such as an exclusive coupon or a chance at winning a prize. It’s a great way of motivating fence-sitters to share their two cents and add excitement to your poll. Just make sure the rules are clear upfront to avoid confusion or frustration later on.
7. Test Your Poll Before Launch
Before you press the ‘send to all’ button, send your poll to a small group first to ensure everything’s running smoothly. If you need to make changes after sending your poll, no worries— you can always go back and tweak things, even after it’s been published and sent.
Benefits of Email Polls
Wondering if you should give email polls a try? Keep reading to discover why they can be a game-changer in understanding your audience and guiding your decisions.
Real-time Poll Feedback
Email polls are a valuable tool that helps you instantly see what’s trending with your audience—whether it’s a new idea, an upcoming project, or a topic that’s generating interest. They provide a great way to get real-time, quick answers that can help guide decisions based on your audience’s needs and concerns.
Increased Engagement
Involving your audience in decision-making not only fosters a sense of community, but also boosts their enthusiasm for your brand or content. Allowing people to express their opinions through online polls gives them a sense of being part of the discussion. With increased engagement comes a boost in both click-through rates and responses, setting the stage for future interactions.
Quick & Budget-Friendly
Email polls are an efficient way to gather quick opinions without a hefty price tag. Traditional market research methods often involve focus groups or hiring external agencies – all of which can drain resources and time. In contrast, email polls require minimal investment, both in terms of time and money.
In fact, you can create unlimited free email polls in only a minute with Opinion Stage’s free plan. You can start right away without any initial costs, and there’s no limit to how long you can use the service.
FAQ
How many questions should an email poll have?
There’s no rule, but remember that simplicity is golden. Simple polls with one to three questions often do the trick, keeping participants engaged without overwhelming them. The questions should also spark curiosity and be easy to answer on the go.
What types of questions work best in email polls?
When creating interactive email polls, think about using question formats that get people to give short but thoughtful answers. Multiple-choice, yes/no, and scaled questions tend to get the best responses.
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Multiple Choice Questions: Participants can choose from provided options, making it quick for them to respond while still offering a variety of responses.
- Yes/No Questions: Yes/no questions work well for email polls since people can just give a quick yes/no answer, allowing you to easily gauge how they feel about something.
- Rating Scales (e.g., 1 to 5): These allow for efficient answers by simply selecting a numeric value to express their opinion or feedback.
- Open-ended Questions: Open-ended questions are like the “tell us what you think” type. People can share their thoughts in their own words, which can be really eye-opening. Just keep in mind, because it takes a bit more time to type out a longer response, not everyone might jump in with a lengthy answer.
How often can I send email polls?
While there’s no magic number, it’s a good idea not to bombard your audience. Aim for a balance – offer valuable polls without feeling like a constant presence in their inbox.
How long should my poll be open?
The sweet spot is usually a few days to a week. It’s long enough to capture a variety of poll responses without dragging on and losing momentum.
Can I see my poll's results in real-time?
Yes. With our poll maker, you can track the poll votes in real time by checking the automated campaign reports.
- Performance reports will teach you about your poll’s exposure and engagement.
- Answer reports will show you the breakdown of answers to your question.
- Response reports will display all the voter data you’ve collected including timestamps and contact details from lead forms (if collected).
You can export all of this information to a CSV/XLS file for advanced analysis.
How do I properly thank participants?
Do you want to make your participants feel truly appreciated? Here are 3 ideas to get you started.
- Share Findings: Once your poll wraps up, analyze the responses you’ve received. Look for trends, anomalies, or other notable conclusions from the collected data. Then, share the highlights of what you’ve learned from their input in a brief follow-up email. This closes the loop by showing how their participation directly contributed to your understanding, which helps maintain transparency and trust.
- Express Appreciation: Add a heartfelt thank-you message at the end of your poll to genuinely thank participants for their time and valuable input. Don’t forget to highlight the significance of their opinions and how they’re helping to shape big decisions.
- Offer a Small Thank You: Offer a little token of appreciation, like an exclusive coupon, to make the participant’s time and input even more rewarding. It’s a small gesture that goes a long way.
How secure is the data collected from email polls?
All polls and data created with Opinion Stage are stored on multiple Amazon AWS servers located in different geographic locations to ensure high availability and excellent performance. We constantly monitor our service with professional tracking tools to make sure there are no performance issues or glitches.
See our privacy policy for more details.
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