Targeted public polls are nothing new, but conducting them as part of a social media marketing strategy is gaining traction among retailers. There are a number of nifty apps. (with free and premium service offerings) that allow retailers to conduct polls on Facebook including: Poll , Poll Daddy , Poll for Facebook ; along with the in-house Facebook Page Questions feature.
An example of an interesting research poll on Facebook is this recently issued Starbucks opinion poll (screenshot on the left), featuring the single question: “Does Starbucks offer refreshing drinks?”
Well, what do you think? If you said, “yes,” then you would be 8 points behind the ones who said no, at least according to the results this e-poll populated when we took this survey. 26% said they didn’t know.
Ideally, retailers should use opinion research polls to understand some element of consumer opinion in relation to the company product, experience, etc. goals and use that information to improve. However, for this to be effective, poll research needs to be conducted in manner which is clear to the customer, which means questions shouldn’t be ambiguous or fuzzy. Many who answered the aforementioned poll with a “no,” were probably thinking Starbucks’ coffee has never been refreshing, unless you vividly recall guzzling down iced talls through the sweltering summer–in which case you answered yes. Refreshing just isn’t what most people associate with their coffee, as the poll results reflect. Maybe the “I don’t knows” are just coming to terms with this, but in general it doesn’t seem to be the best food product descriptor to use.
One has to wonder how this opinion research poll was helpful to Starbucks. Maybe Starbucks’ ad. agency was considering rolling out a 2012 campaign that would promote Starbucks’ drinks as “refreshing,” and this poll gave them a nice baseline on how “refreshing” Starbucks currently is in the eyes of the public . However, more often than not, retailers make the mistake of just putting something out there in hopes of gaining some helpful perspective, and perhaps a bit of residual brand positioning.
For the best results when using opinion research polls, remember to:
- Make your questions clear, and consider the amount of time your audience has to complete it (consumers may respond inaccurately to longer polls just to get it out of the way).
- Poll results should directly support goal mapping and decision making.
- Research polls should be distributed in multiple methods and venues before arriving at conclusive results.
How are Facebook market research polls working for your e-tail store (please answer with a blog comment)?
