How do I poll my patrons? – Patreon Help Center

Polling via posts is a great way to get feedback from your patrons, and an opportunity for them to feel heard. Whether you need feedback on works in progress, are testing out new benefit ideas, or want to get patrons' votes on something; polls are a simple way to engage with your patron community in a meaningful way.

How to make a post to poll patrons
Checking your poll results
Frequently asked questions

How to make a Polls post

Step 1: While logged in to your creator account, select the New option from your Posts section.

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Step 2: Choose to make a new Polls post. You can select the Polls button to do this.

Step 3: Add a title to your poll, and let your patrons know what you want their opinion on.

Step 4: Add your poll options in the poll option selection textbox — add a minimum of 2 poll 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. To remove additional poll options, click the “X” next to that option.

Step 5: Adjust your Poll settings if needed. You can set a cut-off date, and time for your poll. You can also limit responses to one per patron. This means that patrons can select only one option. If you don’t set a limit of one response, patrons can select as many poll options as they’d like.

Step 6: Add any relevant Tags! Tags are an easy way to organize posts for patrons to find all content of one subject. Recommended Tags: Poll, Past polls, or a tag that pertains to what they're voting on (i.e. Illustrations).

You can add up to 50 Tags per post, however, we recommend keeping it simple, as all Tags will show as listed on the Posts tab of your page.

Step 7: Choose who can access your Polls post. If you want the poll to be open to all patrons, even those with a custom payment (not in a Tier), select “All patrons.” You can also leave the poll as public, for so all of your page visitors can cast their vote.

Creators in our Pro, and Premium platform plans can also limit the post to patrons in particular Tiers (paying a specific amount). To do this, choose “Select tiers,” and deselect any Tiers who will not have access to the Poll post.

After choosing who can access your poll, you have the option to set early access to the post for patrons before it becomes public, or add teaser text for social sharing. If shared, potential patrons will access your teaser text, and can participate in the poll once they’ve joined your page.

Step 8: Once you're happy with your post, use the blue drop-down menu button in the upper right to save your work as a draft, schedule publishing for a later time, or publish now.

Checking your poll results

As patrons vote on your poll, you’ll find a vote count on the right side of that poll option. The winning option will be highlighted in blue as the votes come in.

Click on 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 response they chose and a “0” for options they did not choose.

FAQ

Q: 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. Creator’s have had success with Google forms, and Typeform.

Q: 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.

Q: 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. That said, they cannot find the option to Download results, only you as the creator can check who voted for what.

Q: 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
The date and time they selected the response
1 = a vote, and 2 = not a vote

Q: 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.

Articles in this section

How to make a Polls post

Checking your poll results

FAQ

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