When you create a PickFu poll, you have the option to poll your own audience or pose the question to the PickFu Panel. The PickFu Panel is comprised of U.S.-based respondents that are paid to answer your poll questions and have signed a non-disclosure agreement. Your own audience is anyone you choose to invite to answer your poll.

Process: Poll the PickFu Panel

To poll the PickFu Panel, create a new poll using the blue button at the top of the page or this link. Then choose how many people you want to respond to your poll.

The minimum number of respondents is 50, and depending on your plan, you can poll up to 500. You then have the option to add audience targeting, which limits respondents to the demographic traits that you choose. For instance, you may only want to poll college-educated women. You may choose up to four targeting parameters.

Once your poll is published, the PickFu Panel will start to answer immediately. Depending on the size of your respondent pool and the options you choose, your poll could be complete in as little as 15 minutes.

Process: Poll your own audience

To poll your audience, use this link. You can poll up to 500 people max.

You have the option to ask for respondents’ demographic information and email address, meaning that after your audience votes in your poll, they will also be asked to submit whatever information about themselves that you choose.

Simply share the published poll link on your social networks, via email, or however, you communicate with your audience. Once your poll is published, it will stay open for two weeks, during which you can receive up to 50 responses.

One of the most attractive features of polling your own audience is you can do so absolutely free.

On the other hand, one benefit of using PickFu’s panel is they are unfamiliar with your project and come to your poll with fresh eyes. By introducing feedback from people outside of your existing audience, you may gain new perspectives and uncover blind spots in your thinking that may not have been as apparent at the outset of your project.

Another limitation of polling your own audience is that respondents are self-selecting. Because participation in your poll is optional, only your most motivated audience members will click through to answer.

The feedback you get may be limited to ardent followers or close acquaintances and may not be representative of your customer base. You should consider this bias when weighing opinions and feedback gathered from your own-audience poll.

Several PickFu customers have run identical polls with their own audience and with the PickFu Panel in order to compare the results.

For example, author Toby Neal tested two cover designs for her book Wired Justice against each other. She received 50 responses in about two hours after polling her audience.

She then ran a similar poll with PickFu’s panel and received 50 responses within nine minutes. In her case, the winner was the same in both polls, but their comments reflected their familiarity with her previous works.

Testing book covers with the author’s own audience:

Testing book covers with PickFu’s panel:

“My fans responded very similarly to the panel, which surprised me,” Neal said.

She added that PickFu is “a quick, easy, affordable way to test a look or concept. I really appreciate the new feature of a free option for my fans to vote on the PickFu site.”