Web and Mobile Polling System

Measuring public opinions through polling about a latest computer gadget or a rising Hollywood celebrity is becoming a fun activity. However, businesses see it as a feedback mechanism to know whether their new service is marketable or not and to strengthen their relationship with customers.
In polling, the topic can be a person, an offer, a service, a country, a product or even an idea. It consists of a simple question about the topic, response options and the results. It is like an item of a multiple choice-type of examination.
Nowadays, polling can be done using the internet and mobile devices. Traditional ways include paper-and-pencil system which costs too much and is time-consuming.
In web and mobile polling, respondents can participate anywhere they are and any time they can. They can receive a poll message wherever they are using their mobile phones or their computer.
Thus, a respondent from Australia can answer a poll question even though he is in the western coast of Africa enjoying his vacation. All he had to do is to read his message in his phone or surf the internet.
As a business owner, you can create a simple poll. First, you must create a simple query about your service. For example: “Do you think the ‘Hot and Roll’ video of New Media Services really hot?” or “Rate how good Katy Perry is in endorsing Victoria’s Secrets products.”
Provide response options that respondents can pick their answer from. Easy polls are mostly answerable by yes or no. For queries like “How often do you visit your doctor?” you can use these choices: “weekly”, “monthly”, “yearly”, “once in five three years”. If you want your respondents to rate your service from 1 to 10, you give them options from 1 to 10.
When making a poll question and response options, imagine you are a teacher creating questions for your students.
In special cases, polls do not have responses due to the nature of the query. It can be a fill-in-the-blanks question. For example: “The most hated cellular phone brand is ___________”. Here respondents have the freedom to fill whatever answer they like.
Some polls consist of many queries but most often, they consist of just one simple question.
Once the question and the response options are ready, Information Technology (IT) specialists can now publish your poll at your business website using computer software. They create a poll place in your website where respondents will click their answer.
Others publish their polls in social networking sites because they have no business site. Publishing in most social networking sites is even for free.
Web polling can also be via e-mail. Respondents receive e-mail containing the poll question and response options. The message contains either the poll itself or a link where the poll is published.
For mobile polling, IT specialists still use the computer to forward the poll question and response options to the mobile devices of respondents. It can be a Short Message Service (SMS) message. Included in the message is the instruction on how to answer. It can go this way: “Type NMS(space)(space)Name (space)Address. SEND TO 255.”
In special cases, an operator calls the respondent’s mobile device and orally solicits the answer to the poll question. However, this is prohibited in some countries.
IT specialists use statistical software to gather and measure answers of respondents. They will review the answers and show the result.
Results can either be partial or final, depending on the time when the result is shown. Partial results are shown after a respondent clicks or texts his response. It is the result for the meantime after his answer was counted in.
Results can be sent as computer-generated e-mails and SMS messages. Results can also be published in the business website where the respondents have clicked their answers.
For polls that have social values, results can be shared to the media for public knowledge. In some instances, results are hidden if they give a bad image to the business.
After, the host of the poll and specialists analyze the results and give recommendations for future actions. Say for example, the outcome of a poll says that “95% of the respondents do not like the new Jackfruit pizza flavor”. Thus, business executives should now discuss if they want to slash the new flavor in their restaurant menu.
Web and mobile polling system is a need to create a good relationship with customers. Besides that point, it is easy to conduct. And some social networking sites offer this service for free!

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