SMS Poll Voting Using Twilio Add-On Will Increase the Effectiveness of Your Website
This post discusses how to engage your users by getting creative with SMS poll voting using Twilio Add-On.
We’ve been talking in our blog about tactics for engaging your audience and users. At the base level, forms are a tool of engagement. They are essential to an effective website. Having the most powerful form builder Formidable Forms in your arsenal enables you to build better forms and manage your data. Creatively applying Formidable’s functionality will help you increase your website’s effectiveness.
Engage In Conversation With Users
As an engagement tactic, the use of website polls can be implemented immediately. Formidable makes this easy for you. Polls are valuable in the same way a conversation is valuable. In conversation, you engage someone and listen and learn about them.
Same is true with a poll.
Conversations can be opened or closed. Your user has opened the conversation simply by being there. What you do next can either further the conversation or close it.
Further the conversation by asking a question.
How to Strategically Choose Your Poll Questions
Just as in brick and mortar sales, the strategy employed in your engagement question matters.
Just because a user has shown up doesn’t mean they are a captive audience. Don’t bore them with a trite “May I help you?” kind of question.
As Seth Godin says, the “May I help you?” kind of question allows the user to politely but irrefutably say “No, thank you”.
In a poll, a “May I help you?” kind of question could look like example #1 below:
What did you come here looking for today?
a. Mountain bikes
b. Road bikes
c. Bike accessories
d. To learn about cycling
Ask instead the kind of question that begs to be answered and opens the conversation for you to be able provide valuable content in return.
Thus example #1 becomes this in example #2:
I am a:
a. Mountain biking badass. Give me a climb on technical singletrack
b. An ace roadie. Unlike a mountain biker, I can never conquer a hill. I can always go faster.
c. Hard core bike geek. Think you’ve got something to show me? I’ll show you.
d. Unashamed newbie. Fred or Wilma. The big question is “Should I shave my legs?”
Ask your question in an entertaining way. Example #1 was designed to find out about the user. However, it was asked in such a way that it was easy to say “No, thank you. I’m just looking.”
Example #2 was designed to elicit the same information about the user. But it was asked in a way that it was irresistible to read and answer.
Use the Twilio Add-On to Formidable to Take Your Polling to the Next Level.
Formidable’s Twilio Add-On makes polling more convenient, fun, productive and engaging by allowing users to vote on polls via SMS text message. Twilio Add-On essentially enables entries to be created from SMS texts.
In addition, you can send a customized reply text, letting users know their vote has been received and directing them to wherever you’d like to send them next.
Possible Uses for Twilio SMS Text Polling Add-On
Text Polling at Conferences
SMS text polling works very well to increase engagement at events, services and conferences. Something to consider when sponsoring events is to utilize your sponsor slides and social media mentions for polling attendees. Put your text-to number on overhead screens and ask engaging, strategic questions. Polls at events will increase engagement and authority of your brand.
Use Twilio Add-On to Collect Email Addresses at Conferences
Ever wanted to give workshop attendees a digital copy of your presentation slides? Ditch passing the pen and clipboard and instead have attendees text their email address to your text-to number. The URL to download presentation materials can be included in the reply SMS text you have set up. Or you can follow up with attendees at their email addresses later.
Gauge Members’ Preferences at Worship Services and Events with Text Polls
Spice up pre-service slides at worship services with thought-provoking polls on anything from preferred service start times to topical interests.
SMS Text Voting to Poll Association Members
Membership associations are constantly serving the needs of their members. Good associations anticipate trends and stay in front of them. How to know what’s trending with your members? Polling, of course. Poll at every membership event.
Use Twilio Add-On for Real-Time Lead Generation
Additional awesomeness: Twilio Add-On gives you the ability to collect email addresses for list-building and lead generation. Incentivized offer sign-ups are easy with this add-on.
Got a hot piece of content that you just know your prospects would value? Want to be seen as the go-to brand or organization for expertise and authority in your field? Post your text-to number anywhere your prospective audience is and offer your sweet content to anyone who texts you their email address. Have your content available for download or perusal at a URL given in your reply SMS text. Or follow up with a personal email.
The Twilio Add-On creates entries from texts, regardless of what field you are saving the value into. That value can be a unique email address or an answer to a poll.
Conditionally Send SMS notifications
Formidable’s Twilio Add-On allows you to use conditional logic to send SMS notifications to whomever you choose. Multiple recipients are allowed. SMS notifications can be enabled to be sent when form entries are created or updated or when a PayPal or Stripe payment are received (when used in conjunction with Formidable’s PayPal and Stripe Add-Ons).
Requirements for Using the Twilio Add-On
Formidable Pro must be installed and active. You will need Formidable’s Twilio Add-On. The Twilio Add-On can be purchased as part of the Small Business License Package, or separately as a single add-on.
You’ll also need a paid Twilio account and you’ll need to get an active phone number through your Twilio account. Twilio allows you to sign up for a free trial account and get a single phone number with that trial. Twilio provides both a trial and live Account SID and Auth Token. Testing can be accommodated with the trial credentials.
Here’s how it looks when signing up for Twilio.
For simple integration with the Twilio Add-On, choose the second option “Add Twilio as a Plugin.”
Your Twilio account dashboard allows you to obtain a phone number that is Voice, SMS and MMS capable before you have added a credit card for payment.
You can use live credentials in your trial account without payment. Twilio says: Note that you can send some free messages and make some free calls without adding a credit card, but there are restrictions to what you can do and a promo message is included in each call/message sent during trial.”
To upgrade from a trial account and remove Twilio’s promo message, you will need to add a pre-payment via credit card into your Twilio account. A $20 prepayment is the lowest amount you can add.
How To Set Up Your Poll Form with the Twilio Add On
Download and install the Twilio Add-On. Instructions are found here. Copy and paste your test or live Account SID and Auth Token from your Twilio console into the Global Settings of Formidable.
Create your poll form. In this example I've used favorite things about fall.
After your form has been created, find the SMS request URL in the Global Settings screen of Formidable. Get your form number from your newly created form. You'll need it to be able to insert it at the end of the URL as shown below with the orange arrow.
In your Twilio console, copy and paste your SMS request URL in the Messaging area.
Users can text either text the number position of the choice in your form, or the word itself. For example, take a poll about favorite colors and the choices are Red, Green, Pink, and Blue. If the answer to the poll is that the user's favorite color is pink, then the user can text any of the following: 3, Pink, pink, PINK. This vote will be applied to all fields in the form, so a text field may be good to add as a catch-all.
Votes show up in the Entries area of Formidable, listing the mobile number from which the text vote was sent as the IP address.
Users receive a confirmation SMS text. To remove the Twilio promo message and customize your notification, you'll need a paid Twilio account.
This is how it looks to the voter when your Twilio account is in trial mode.
Enjoy your Convos with Your Audience
Possibilities for SMS text polling with Formidable's Twilio Add-On are endless. You'll have access to the mobile numbers of the people who have voted. Permission-based marketing etiquette dictates that obtaining permission to use those mobile numbers is essential to a respect-based relationship with your users and audience.
Remember that you can use your form to collect email addresses in the same way; permission-based marketing etiquette applies here as well.
Have you used Formidable's Twilio SMS text polling? How can you see it being used to work for you? Share your ideas below. We'd love to see what you're doing with Twilio.
The post SMS Poll Voting Using Twilio Add-On: Engage Your Audience appeared first on Formidable Forms.