I started my digital marketing journey four years ago. I kept reading I should consider blogging but they never said how to find topics to blog about.

They only said things like “find topics your audience is interested in” or “write about the things people are searching for”.

It’s great advice. But it’s completely unactionable.

I mean, how do we find these topics? And how do we get the feedback?

That’s exactly what you're going to learn today so keep reading.

About a year ago, I started using polls on Twitter (I was terrible at it). I created my poll, added a nice call to action, and waited.

Nothing happened.

Not a single vote on the poll. I decided to try again, only this time, I chose a different topic. I checked my analytics to see what my audience cared about and made a list of interests.

I figured if it didn’t work, I could try a different topic until I succeeded. There was one problem, though.

I didn’t have a lot of attention on me. And the results I got were a reflection of that. I realized that after a month of testing and failure.

You're going to learn how to make Twitter polls work for you. You are going to learn how to get the attention you need and how to create polls that help you increase engagement.

It’s simple. You choose a topic you like, ask a question, write up to 4 answers, select the poll length, and click on "tweet".

After that, your poll goes to a part of your followers. They will vote and you’ll get feedback. Once it finishes, a new notification will appear in your notifications tab.

When we use Twitter there are some things that usually go through our minds. Some people use the service to stay alert on breaking news, others use Twitter to “keep up with news in general”. Many say to “pass the time”, and a few use the network to second-screen during live events.

Knowing this, we can create polls that leverage those topics to engage our audience. For instance, let’s say that Twitter released news about changes to the platform. We can create a poll asking people for their opinion.

Twitter polls work because we want the feeling of importance (to give our opinion). They leverage fear, curiosity, and/or entertainment to get our attention. You'll learn how to create an effective poll in the next section.

Before we get started, there’s something you need to know. If your account is new or you have NO engagement on your Twitter account, you’ll have to promote your polls.

If you have some attention on you, then consider skipping the “promotion” step.

We fail because we start things with a blindfold. Your research will determine the success or failure of your polls so never skip this step. Here’s how to do it:

The next steps depend on what you want.

Variation.

The first thing you need is the list of Twitter search operators you’ll use. Here’s a short list:

Click the following link if you want to read the full list of TSOs.

Here’s how to use them:

By now you should already have a list of searches in your Google doc. You are going to use them to find conversations on Twitter.

Your message will prompt people to either leave or vote. Make sure to make it brief, effective, and familiar. As a general rule, consider the following:

Here’s an example of a message that would resonate with my audience:

It depends on the device you are using (mobile or desktop) but the process is similar.

At this point, you should already have a few active searches on TweetDeck. What you’ll do now is analyze your results. Engage with the content that shows up and ask for people to vote on your poll. I call this method TOM (Twitter outreach model).

One of the best ways to engage with content is to ask and answer questions. This is a skill like any other and you must develop it. Here’re a couple of articles to help you ask the right questions:

After you engage with people, make sure to ask them to vote on your poll. Do this in a follow-up tweet. Not in the same one. Here’s a template you can use:

Twitter polls can be a great addition to your marketing arsenal. Not only are they good to engage your audience. They can also get you valuable feedback. As Jim Trinka and Les Wallace said:

“Feedback is a gift. Ideas are the currency of our next success. Let people see you value both feedback and ideas.”

Having said that, give your content the best chance to succeed. If you don’t have a lot of attention on you, make sure to promote it.

Before I let you go, let me ask you a question:

What’s your favorite way to engage your audience?

Let me know in the comment section below.