A report from LinkedIn detailed a new feature that will allow marketing group administrators to conduct polls of the groups membership and aggregate the data automatically.

Ian McCarthy, principal product manager at LinkedIn, reported on the company’s blog that using LinkedIn Groups to ask questions centered on a specific industry is an effective social media marketing strategy. The new LinkedIn polls feature will make it easier for businesses to get insight from their contacts on social networks.

According to McCarthy, LinkedIn group members have asked for a tool to generate conversation and engagement for some time. The polling tool makes it simple to pose questions to professionals brands hope to do business with and aggregate feedback to update offerings, promotions and content accordingly. Plus, the polls feature will help marketers create conversations with business buyers.

For marketers, social media marketing can become problematic without a clearly defined method of collecting data and measuring effectiveness. As platforms unveil new tools to get feedback from users, marketers will be able to make strategic decisions regarding their campaigns as well as their product and service developments moving forward.

The implementation of social media marketing has helped countless businesses improve their web presence and establish themselves among a larger audience. Brafton reported earlier this month that 52 percent of businesses using social media marketing believe it has positively impacted their company. With just 17 percent of businesses using social reporting that they’ve fully integrated it into their operations, it’s likely that the percentage of companies with positive experiences will grow. 

Joe Meloni is Brafton's former Executive News and Content Writer. He studied journalism at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has written for a number of print and web-based publications.