A promotional text tells your audience what you want them to do. A market research text asks them what you should do. That shift, from pitching to asking, is where a text thread becomes a real two-way conversation.
When you ask subscribers to help pick your next flavor, your next playlist, or the guest at your next event, every reply is a vote, an opinion, or an idea you can act on. The people who answer get a say in what you build, and that sense of influence earns loyalty that another discount code can't.
With Community surveys, every reply lands on the profile of the member who sent it, and the results are counted for you. You see what your audience chose, and you can text them the outcome while the decision is still fresh.
Why run market research by text?
A question sent by text reaches people in the app they already check, and it gets answers straight from the people who buy, watch, and show up. You skip the survey link, the login, and the email that never gets opened.
Answering takes a second. The question lands in the same app where your audience texts friends and family. A vote is a number, an emoji, or a single word.
Decisions get real input. Instead of guessing which flavor, setlist, or store hours will land, you ask the people who will live with the choice.
Members feel heard. Being asked to help decide makes a subscriber part of what you're building, not just a name on a list.
The math is done for you. Skip exporting replies to a spreadsheet and tallying them by hand. Community counts every answer as it comes in and puts the results on one screen: your response rate, replies per option, a breakdown chart, and who answered by location and age. You can see what your audience picked at a glance and share the outcome right away.
What makes a text market research?
The framing does the work. A market research text tells subscribers what their answer will influence, then shows them what happens next. The payoff is influence, recognition, or an incentive.
| Typical promo text | Market research text | |
|---|---|---|
| What you say | "Here's what we want you to do" | "Help us decide" or "Your opinion shapes this" |
| What the subscriber gets | A deal or an announcement | A say in the outcome, plus recognition or a reward |
| What happens after | The thread goes quiet | You text back what the community picked |
The strongest research texts follow one formula: a clear Stake, a short set of tappable Options, and a Payoff that tells members what their answer gets them. Here’s an example:
"We're deciding which flavor to launch next. Vote now: 1 Mango Chili / 2 Brown Sugar / 3 Lemon Basil. Results coming Friday."
- Stake: "We're deciding which flavor to launch next." The subscriber knows what the answer decides.
- Options: Three choices, each answered with a single digit.
- Payoff: "Results coming Friday." The promise to share what the community picked closes the loop.
Be upfront about what you're asking and why, and keep it short. People will answer one or two questions in a row, so save the long survey for another channel.
Sample "help us decide" votes
Single-tap preference questions earn the highest response rates. Members pick a number or an emoji, and you get a clean answer to sort them by. These are one-tap questions where the subscriber's pick has a visible effect: a roster, a launch, a screening guest. Here are some examples:
Sports
"All-Star voting is officially open and we need YOU to help send [Team] to [City]! Who are you voting for? Reply with your pick! [Four player names]"
Film and entertainment
"Are you Team [Character A] or Team [Character B]? Reply with your choice for a chance to see [Film] this Sunday with some very special guests."
Business
"Are you Team [Big Game] or Team [Winter Games]? Reply with your pick and you'll be entered for a chance to win a $100 [Restaurant] gift card for the ultimate watch party at [Center]!"
"One of these three retired menu items is coming back for a limited run, and you pick which. 1 Smoky Pimento Melt / 2 Honey Chili Wings / 3 Cherry Cola Float. Voting closes Sunday. We'll text you the winner first."
"Our new mascot needs a name and you get the final say. Vote: 1 Waffles / 2 Biscuit / 3 Pickles. The winner goes on every cup this spring, and we'll credit the community vote on the label."
Music and live events
"We're booking one more stop on our fall tour and you decide where. Vote: 1 Nashville / 2 Denver / 3 Chicago. We'll announce the winning city here first, and voters get early access to tickets."
The same setup works for a creator asking which unreleased clip to drop first, or a retailer asking which of two jacket colors should go into production.
Sample open-ended questions for co-creation
Open-ended questions work when you want your audience to help develop an event or idea, like a playlist, an episode, or a celebration. The strongest ones give the answer somewhere to go, like a promise to share listener stories on air. Here are some examples:
Podcast
"Hi from [Show]. Tomorrow, we're discussing [a court case being heard this week]. [One sentence on what is being proposed.] What do you think about changing [the principle]?"
"Hi from [Show]. Around 60 percent of our clothes are made with synthetic fibers. How do you feel about that? Do you prefer cotton, linen, or wool? Do you think the quality of clothing is getting worse? Send us a message or a voice note and we'll share your stories on the show soon."
Music
"[City] has always had a sound of its own. Which songs of mine (solo, [Band 1], or [Band 2]) feel most tied to [City]? Send the tracks that you think feel most rooted in the city and help curate our next playlist."
"Happy 2 years of [Album]... how should we celebrate?"
Business
"We're redesigning our app and you'll shape it. What's the one thing you'd change first? Reply in a sentence. We'll text you which ideas made the cut and credit the best ones in the release notes."
"We're opening a new location and want your help choosing the neighborhood. Where should we go next? Reply with your pick and why. We'll share the shortlist here before we announce the winner."
Sample polls and rating scales
Yes/no, rating scale, and either/or questions ask for a single word or number, so they hold up at scale. A rating scale shows how hard your audience leans, and a yes/no gives you a clean count to report back. Here are some examples:
Politics and advocacy
"I'm calling on Congress to pass [Bill]. To vote in federal elections, it would require: [three listed requirements]. Do you support this bill? Reply YES or NO."
"[Statement praising a recent national address.] Do you agree with that assessment? 1 Strongly Disagree / 2 Moderately Disagree / 3 No Opinion / 4 Moderately Agree / 5 STRONGLY AGREE / 6 THAT'S AN UNDERSTATEMENT!"
"[Statement praising an agency.] On a scale of 1-10 (10 = THE BEST), how would you rate the job [Agency] is doing at protecting the [location]?"
Product and brand
"We just tested a new [Product] with a small group and now we want your take. How would you rate it? 1 Not for me / 2 It's okay / 3 Good / 4 Great / 5 Take my money. Results go out Friday, and the top-rated version goes into production."
"Quick yes or no: should we keep the store open until 10pm on weekends? Reply YES or NO. We'll text you the decision and the vote count next week."
Patterns worth borrowing
One-tap replies, a clear reward or benefit, and a smaller engaged audience produced the strongest results in Community's data. Here's what that looked like.
- One-tap beats open-ended. Numbered or emoji replies reached 37% to 69% on sends of 3,000 to 33,000 recipients. Open-ended asks of similar size mostly landed at 8% to 15%.
- Size shapes the rate. The strongest response came from sends under 35,000. Sends of 500,000 or more ranged from 3% to 24%, so ask a smaller, engaged segment before your whole list.
- Pair the question with a reward. Shopping center sends that combined a question with a gift card entry reached 8% to 15%.
- Say what the answer decides. Lines like "we're choosing our next flavor" or "you pick the winner" tie the question to a clear outcome.
- Promise the result. "Results coming Friday" or "we'll text you what the community picked" gives members a reason to answer and a reason to stay subscribed.
- Keep the choices short. Most top performers offered three to six options, plus "Other" or "reply with your own" when the list won't cover everyone.
A few things to know before you send
Follow through. If you promise results, send them. Closing the loop is what makes the next question worth answering.
Ask one or two questions at a time. Short beats thorough in a text thread.
Plan for open-ended replies. They need a person to read them, so decide who reads them and how the best ideas get credited before you hit send.
Keep the instructions simple. Tell members exactly what to reply with, whether that's a number, an emoji, or a keyword.
Pick one decision you're facing this month, turn it into a vote, send it to a segment this week, and let your members help you make the call.
Learn more about building surveys in Community with a short video. Or, if you're not a customer yet, book a quick demo to see how it works.
