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Do you ever sit there and think, ‘do other people think/do/say the same things that I do?’ sometimes, you can find out the answer by asking people you know, but other times, the questions are just too embarrassing and personal to ask others. At times like these, you may long for a way of asking other people. Or, you might have a website that is relatively unknown – people never arrive at the site, and you just want to attract more people to it. In both circumstances, a public opinion poll can help you in your endeavor.

 Polls are an extremely important tool in the modern internet age. They allow us to establish what other people think about a given subject, and to understand a little better about other people and their opinions. For people that run a business, a public opinion poll can be invaluable, because they allow us to gain insight into our customer’s minds, and hopefully, allowing us to understand what our customers want. It can also teach us how to deliver to our customer the things that they want.

 There are many different reasons for people hosting a public opinion poll, and below, we are going to have a look at the various situations in which people use them:

  People use them to find out how people on their social network sites think. This was all the rage a few years ago when people ran polls all the time asking their friends a huge range of questions. Today, it appears to have made a comeback, and this is especially true of sights that allow the respondents to answer anonymously. After all, we may not want to share our opinions with everybody, but we may not mind people knowing what we think as long as they do not know that it is we with that particular opinion. In other words, anonymity allows people to be much more frank and open.

People use them to find out what other people think of a certain subject. For example, say you are really into physics and you keep up with all the latest developments. Perhaps you would like to know if other people believe that the Highs-bosom is in fact the ultimate particle, or whether we are going to go further down the rabbit hole. An online poll will help us to get the answers to some of these more obscure questions. They are especially suitable for people who do not have friends or families with the same hobbies – very few people are intelligent enough to have a good understanding of physics (the author of this article being someone who has no idea how it works!).

       Businesses use them to gauge the opinions of their customers and their potential customers. By understanding what their clients need and want, they can deliver these things much more easily.

The internet is replete with blogs competing for attention. It seems that nowadays, everyone wants to be a blogger. We don’t all make it, though, and some of us are better than others are. Those that succeed tend to have ‘hooks’ that keep people entertained and engaged with the content. One of the best hooks used by successful bloggers is the opinion poll. Allowing people to contribute to the blog, rather than have it as a one-way information distribute r, means people enjoy the blogs better. Below, we are going to explore the area of online opinion polls in more depth.

 If you read many blogs, then you will already have noted that many of the best blogs allow for discussion. They will have comment sections where people can talk about the content that they have just read. The best blogs, though, also allow people to express their like or dislike about the content that they have seen. These sites offer a free poll, because making people pay for such a service is very off putting – so that’s a bonus. If you blog a lot, then you will notice that there are rather many polls to fill in, and do you know why? Because they work! They keep people engaged and interested in the blog, and as a blog writer, there is nothing more rewarding.

  What are the Advantages of Using/hosting an Online Poll?

  A more naturalistic online environment. In everyday life, humans interact. I talk to you, you talk back to me; but with the advent of technology, communication began to be singular. The computer/TV/radio/etc. talked to you, but you didn’t talk back. With the advent of online polls, though, this trend is reversing (obviously, it is not just online polls that are reversing the trend, but online discussions and social media sites, too). It means that communication becomes much more humanistic.

 Because the online environment is becoming increasingly interactive, with all parties being involved, it is fostering a greater sense of community. Within the next twenty years, there will be a firm collective of people who feel themselves a part of a global village, and these changes are happening now.

 You can learn about the types of people who are visiting your blog. If you are part of a business and you are looking to sell your products, then understanding the types of people who are visiting your website can help you to improve your marketing strategy and consequently help you to make more sales.

 How Do You Create A Poll that People Will Participate In?

When you create a poll, you need to ensure that people are actually going to be interested in taking it:

 Offer a free poll. If people have to pay to poll then they are unlikely to take part.

  Keep the questions relative to the discussion. If people are reading your blog then they must be interested in the subject, therefore, it makes sense that they will be interested in questions related to the topic.

                                                  There are many different reasons for running a poll. Businesses will run polls to gauge customer satisfaction, or to establish market forces, or for some other reason. Students will run polls in order to fulfill some coursework assignment, or to complete their dissertation. Individuals may run polls to find out what others think of a subject. In short, there are many reasons people use polls. Below, we are going to look at the various types of poll and consider their response rate.

 Polls Done By Mail

Polls done via the mail are relatively unresponsive. For every 100 polls sent to potential respondents, only five will come back – on average. This can be very expensive, particularly given the cost of postage today, which has increased by more than 100% in the past 10 years, and which is only set to get higher as Royal Mail becomes privatised. When doing a mailing poll it is important to include a freepost return envelope, as people will not spend money on a stamp to return a poll, unless there is some kind of incentive. You can also have trouble with accurate responses – some people will purposefully answer wrongly to skew results.

 Polls Done By Telephone

Telephone polls have a slightly higher response rate than polls done by mail. For every 100 customers contacted, you will probably get to speak to between 15 and 30, depending on your manner. This is good, but the process is costly. You need to pay for the phone lines, for phone calls, and for somebody to operate the phones (- if you do not plan to do it yourself). The response rate is good, and you are likely to get an accurate response.

Polls Done By Canvassers

Canvassing is probably the best way to get a response. Most people are not rude enough to dismiss people face-to-face, although they will have ready excuses. However, if the poll seems interesting, then you will be able to stop a fair few people. Furthermore, it is much harder for people to lie when answering face-to-face, that is, unless you are asking personal questions, in which case they may be reluctant to answer you directly. It can also be expensive because you may have to pay someone to do the canvassing for you.

 Polls Done Online

Online polling allows you to reach a huge number of people. The way in which we rate response rates online is different to the other types of response, where we know how many people see us/answer the phone. Here, it is much more difficult to gauge, and the only way to do so is to gauge the number of respondents, which depends on how well the poll is marketed. Some free online polling websites are highly visible online, and so they reach a large number of people. With these free online polling sites, there is a very high response rate. Online polls are also much more cost effective than the other types of polls mentioned above; many are free.

                       Understanding their customer base is essential to the success of any business. The way in which businesses gauge this is via market research. If you are new to this area of business, then you may find it a little confusing, but don’t worry, because below, we provide a brief guideline to market research and how businesses are able to gauge opinion via various different methods.

 What Is Market Research?

The first thing we need to address is what we mean by ‘market research’. Market research is simply the study, research and collection of information about the market in which a business operates. For example, a company in the printing industry will need to research the different types of print available, how people use the different types of print, which types of people/organisations require which services, etc. Understanding the market in which your business operates is paramount to success.

 Understanding your market also understands your customers and their needs. This is the key to success: to give customers what they need when they need it and at a price that suits.

 How Do You Find Out What Want?

Clearly, the only way to find out what your customers want is to ask them. There are a number of different ways in which you can ask them:

 Polling: a common tactic used by market researchers is polling. They carry this out in many different ways. For example, some may create a poll that people can take online. Others may create a poll that people can send through the mail (-usually with a freepost return envelope, people do not want to pay to tell you what they want). Polling can be a little hit and miss, because respondents may not be honest, or the researcher may be asking the wrong questions, but it is a matter of trying and testing to find our which method works best.

 Exhibitions: a good way to find out about the industry, rather than the customer, is to attend exhibitions that relate to the industry. For example, if you work in print, you would attend print exhibitions and industry shows. These offer fantastic networking opportunities, too.

 Copying: clearly, you cannot plagiarise other people’s ideas, but you can look at the market, see what’s working, and design your product in a similar vein, or better yet, in a way that improves, or offers something different, to other products on the market. It is important that you do not rip off your competitors designs though, because that is illegal.

 Product demonstrations: if you already have a product then you can create a special event to showcase your product to your potential customers. Invite people along free of charge and show them how your product works, next, open the floor up to questions and answers – you will get invaluable information using this method.