How to Create a Survey on LinkedIn

LinkedIn polls are one of the fastest and most effective ways to understand your audience, increase your reach, and generate authentic conversations on the platform. More than just a simple feature, they are a powerful tool for market research, content planning, and community building, all wrapped into one interactive post. This comprehensive guide will walk you through exactly how to create a survey on LinkedIn, share best practices for making it engaging, and show you what to do with the insights you gather.

Why Should You Use LinkedIn Polls?

Before jumping into a step-by-step tutorial, it’s worth understanding why LinkedIn polls, also known as surveys, deserve a spot in your content strategy. Simply put, they work. The platform’s algorithm tends to favor content that keeps users engaged, and interactive posts like polls are designed for precisely that.

Here are a few quick benefits:

• Boost Engagement and Reach: Polls are low-friction. It takes just one click for someone to participate, which is much easier than writing a thoughtful comment. This initial engagement signals to the algorithm that your content is valuable, often increasing its visibility in the feed.
• Gather Real Market Insights: Need to know what your customers are struggling with? Curious about which content format they prefer? Instead of guessing, you can ask them directly. Polls provide instant, cost-free market research from the exact people you want to reach.
• Source New Content Ideas: A well-crafted poll can become a goldmine for future content. The responses can inspire blog posts, videos, or carousel posts that directly address the interests and pain points of your audience.
• Start Genuine Conversations: The poll itself is just the beginning. The real magic happens in the comments section, where you can ask follow-up questions, tag voters, and transform a simple survey into a meaningful conversation.

How to Create a Survey on LinkedIn: The Step-by-Step Guide

Creating a poll on LinkedIn is a straightforward process available on your personal profile, Company Page, or in groups. You can create polls on both the desktop version and the mobile app. Here’s how to create a survey on LinkedIn.

Step 1: Start a New Post

Navigate to your LinkedIn homepage and find the post creation box at the top of the feed that says "Start a post." Click on it to open the full post editor.

Step 2: Find and Select "Create a poll"

In the pop-up window, you'll see a series of icons at the bottom for adding different types of media. Click the three dots icon ("More") on the right, which will reveal several additional options. From this new menu, select the bar chart icon labeled "Create a poll."

Step 3: Write Your Question and Options

A new window dedicated to poll creation will appear. Here’s what you need to fill out:

• Your question: This is the core of your poll. Make it clear, concise, and easy to understand. You have a character limit, so get straight to the point.
• Options: You can add between two and four possible answers. Like your question, your options should be short and distinct. Click on "Option 1," "Option 2," etc., to add text. If you only want two or three options, simply leave the others blank.

Pro Tip: The best questions are often simple and highly relevant to your target audience's daily professional life or challenges.

Step 4: Set the Poll Duration

Next to "Poll duration," you can choose how long your poll will remain active. The options are 24 hours, 3 days, 1 week, or 2 weeks. A shorter duration like 24 hours can create a sense of urgency, while a longer one like 1 week gives more people a chance to vote.

Step 5: Write Your Post Copy and Add Hashtags

Once you’ve set up your poll question, options, and duration, click "Done." This will embed the poll into your post. Now, it's time to write the accompanying text that appears above the poll. This is your chance to:

• Add Context: Why are you asking this question? Give your audience a reason to care and participate.
• Encourage Discussion: Explicitly ask people to expand on their answers in the comments.
• Add Relevant Hashtags: Include 3-5 relevant hashtags to expand your post’s reach beyond your immediate network. Think about terms your target audience would follow.

Step 6: Post Your Poll

Proofread everything one last time. Once a poll is published, you can’t edit the question or the options, so make sure there are no typos. When you're ready, hit the "Post" button!

Strategies for Creating Polls People Actually Answer

Knowing how to create a poll is one thing, knowing how to create one that drives incredible engagement is another. Here are some proven strategies to make your LinkedIn surveys a success.

1. Keep Your Question Focused and Simple

Avoid compound questions or ones that require deep, complex thought. The beauty of a poll is its simplicity. Focus on a single topic, and write your question in a way that someone scrolling through their feed can understand it in three seconds or less.

Weak Question: "Considering recent advancements in AI and automation, what’s your primary marketing strategy for leveraging generative tools for content while also maintaining brand authenticity?" (Too complex and jargony)

Strong Question: "How often are you using AI tools in your marketing workflow?" (Simple, direct, and relates to a common professional activity)

2. Craft Clear and Distinct Options

Your poll options should be mutually exclusive whenever possible, meaning that a voter’s choice clearly fits into one category. Overlapping or confusing options can discourage people from voting. If you feel that your options don't cover all the possibilities, that's a perfect opportunity to use your post copy to invite a discussion.

Weak Options for "What’s your biggest sales challenge?":

• Prospecting
• Finding Leads
• Closing Deals
• Other

Strong Options:

• Finding qualified leads
• Initial outreach / getting replies
• Closing the deal
• Other (tell me in the comments!)

3. Use the "Comments" as an Answer

One of the best ways to drive engagement beyond a simple vote is to dedicate one of your options to the comments section. Using an option like "Other (comment below)" or "It's complicated, see comments" actively directs people to add their two cents. This boosts your comment count and provides you with richer, qualitative data you can’t get from the poll alone.

4. Don't Just Post It and Forget It

The first hour after your poll goes live is important. Actively engage with early commenters to spark conversation and signal to the algorithm that your post is fostering community interaction. Thank people for their votes and ask follow-up questions to dig deeper into their reasoning.

What to Do After Your LinkedIn Poll Ends

The biggest missed opportunity for most people who use LinkedIn polls is failing to follow up. The end of the poll isn’t the finish line, it’s a springboard for more valuable content and deeper connection.

1. Share and Interpret the Results

A few days after your poll closes, create a new post sharing the results. Don't just post a screenshot of the percentages. Add your own analysis and insights. What do you find surprising? What do the results say about a trend in your industry? Why do you think a certain option won?

This follow-up post does two important things:

• It closes the loop for everyone who participated, showing them that their contribution was valued.
• It positions you as a thoughtful expert who can interpret data and provide valuable commentary, not just ask questions.

2. Let the Answers Fuel Your Content Calendar

Your poll results are a direct message from your audience about what they care about. Use that information!

• If your poll was about challenges, write a detailed article or carousel post that offers solutions to the most voted-for challenge.
• If your poll was about content preferences, start creating the type of content that won. For example, if "short-form videos" was the winning option, treat that as a mandate to start making more of them.
• If a specific comment sparked a great debate, use it as a talking point for a new post, giving credit to the person who made the comment.

Final Thoughts

Creating a survey on LinkedIn is a simple technical process that unlocks a powerful and versatile tool for any professional. By asking a great question and pairing it with a strategy that extends beyond the vote itself, you can boost engagement, conduct real-time market research, and become a trusted voice in your industry.

Once you’ve gathered insights from a poll - a winning content format, a common industry roadblock, or a new customer pain point - the next step is turning it into a consistent stream of content. We built Postbase to make that part easy. You can use our visual calendar to plan your poll, schedule the follow-up posts analyzing the results, and map out the new blog posts or videos the insights inspired - all in one place alongside your content for every other social platform.

```