Whether you need feedback on works in progress, are testing out new benefit ideas, or want your patrons to help you narrow down a decision, polls are an easy way to engage with your community in a meaningful way and give patrons a voice.
In this article, we’ll go through these things:
How to create a poll
- While logged in to your creator account, click on the Create button from the left sidebar navigation or from your creator page
- Select the Polls button to start your poll post
- Title your poll and let your patrons know what you want their opinion on
- Click into the Poll option textbox to add your first option — add a minimum of 2 options so that your patrons have something to vote on
- You can add more options by clicking Add an option button. With a limit of 20 poll options per post, you can give patrons a wide variety of things to choose from
- Click into the Poll settings to set an end date and time for your poll, and indicate whether or not you want to limit responses to one per patron. If you don’t set a limit of one answer, patrons can select as many poll options as they’d like
- Finish crafting your post with tags, set access, click the Publish now, or use the drop-down button to Schedule a later publishing date. If you aren’t ready to go live, you can simply exit the post creator, and we’ll auto-save your draft for you
You can remove additional poll options, click the “X” next to that option.
Checking your poll results
As patrons vote on your poll, you’ll find a vote count on the right side of that poll option. We’ll highlight the winning option as the votes come in.
Click on the Download the results button for a CSV list of who voted on which poll option(s). If you allowed patrons more than one response (vote), then you’ll find a “1” for each answer they chose and a “0” for options they did not choose.
FAQ
What if I want to have more than 20 poll options?
A: If you’d like to offer more than 20 poll options for your patrons, we recommend sending them a link to a 3rd party survey form. Creators have had success with Google forms and Typeform.
Can I set early access for a specific Tier and then have it become available to a lower Tier?
A: Currently, the early access feature can only be set to release publicly after the early access time has passed.
Can patrons check the results?
A: Yes. Patrons who have access to your poll will also be able to find the poll count as you do. They cannot find the option to download results; only you, as the creator, can check who voted for what.
What’s included in the CSV list when I Download results?
A: When you download the results of your poll, you’ll find the following:
- Patrons’ profile names
- Patrons’ email addresses (Note that, for public polls, non-patron email addresses will remain hidden)
- The date and time they selected the response
- 1 = a vote, and 2 = not a vote
What should I poll my patrons for?
A: Here are some examples of how creators have used poll posts in the past:
- What I should draw next
- Choose my next character (Cosplay)
- What should I vlog about next?
- What song should I cover next?
- Help me make a playlist!
- Which benefit would you rather receive?
- Pick your T-shirt size! (Note that your Downloaded results will not include shipping addresses, for this, you can utilize a combination of a poll post and your Relationship Manager.)
— get creative! Patrons love engaging with your work and feeling heard.