If email marketing is all about making a connection with the people who receive your email, then there is no better addition to your email than a poll. What better way is there to find out what your readers are really looking for than to ask them?

When it comes to small business, the more you know about the people you are marketing to, the more successful your business will be. So you want to add a poll to your next email marketing newsletter? Here’s what you should know.

It’s All in the Subject Line

Email marketing, while seemingly complex, is really very simple to get right. You need to know your audience, you need to give them content that will get them excited and you need to have a killer subject line. Of these three things, nothing is more important than the subject line. If you have a bogus subject line, one that looks too spammy ($$$DEALSDEALSDEALS!!!) or even worse, no subject line at all, your email isn’t going to get opened. If your email isn’t opened you’ve already lost.

Pump up your poll in the subject line. Get them excited. If your readers know that taking the poll is in their best interest, they’ll be sure to take it.

Set a Realistic Close Date

You don’t want your poll to be open forever, but then again, you don’t want to close the poll before everyone who wants to take part can put their two cents in. Use the habits of your readers to your advantage and make sure to give everyone enough time to take part.

Give Them Options (but Not Too Many)

Make sure to keep the available options for answering the questions in your poll to a minimum. Three seems to be the magic number, four if you include an “other” option. And speaking of that ever popular “other” option, if you choose to include it among the answers to your poll, give the people who take your poll a chance to explain why they chose it.

Keep It Short

The whole point of an email marketing poll is to let your audience know that you are interested in what they have to say, and to use that to make their experience with your business more efficient and enjoyable. What polls are not meant to be is long and boring. People should have fun taking the poll and it should be over quickly. Keep it short to ensure that people don’t give up on it halfway through.

Don’t Forget to Be Polite

You already showed your customers that you care about what they think by including a poll in your newsletter. Now take it to the next level. Each and every person who takes your poll should be thanked for their contribution. Even better, give everyone a coupon or discount for products or services. The information you get from the polls will be well worth it and rewarding your customers for taking the poll will only up their loyalty.

Remember that email marketing is all about connecting with the customer and proving to them that your company not only offers value but cares about what their customers think. Follow these simple tips and you’ll be on your way to increasing sales.