Run a Poll on Facebook for Your Business

By Marsha Collier from Social Media Commerce For Dummies

Facebook has so many valuable tools for business. One easy-to-use social media commerce tool is polling, or in Facebook parlance, Ask a Question.

At a very basic level, Facebook is the most popular application ever. With a billion people who know how to use it, the ability to access information is much better because it's easier to get to it.

As a small business, use your agility as an advantage; you can act on these opportunities without being weighed down by big business restrictions. Your social media network should consist of current customers, prospects, and industry influencers.

To initiate a poll on your Facebook page, do the following:

Sign in to your Facebook business page.
In the Update Status box, click the plus sign (+) next to Event, Milestone.

The screen shown in the figure appears.
Select Question, and type your (brief) question in the box that appears.
Select Add Poll Options, in the lower-left corner.
Select Add an Option, and type an answer to your polling question. Repeat as necessary.

For example, you see two answers for the question.
Select or deselect the Allow Anyone to Add Options check box.

You might get some interesting suggestions if you select this option.
(Optional) To promote the poll, select Promote.
Select Post to launch your question.

The poll appears on your page as a status update. As people vote, the votes for each option tally instantly within the post.