How do I run a poll by text?
Short answer
To run a poll by text, put a question and lettered choices on screen, give people a keyword to text or a QR code to scan, and let them reply with a letter. A text poll tool counts the votes and shows the results live. With Textiful, the poll is a step in a capture flow, so the same conversation can ask for an email after the vote.
Updated November 3, 2026
To run a poll by text, put the question and lettered choices on screen, give the room a keyword to text or a QR code to scan, and let people reply with a letter. The poll tool counts the replies and shows the results as they come in. On Textiful, a poll is a step inside a capture flow, so the same short conversation can ask for an email after someone votes.
What does a text poll look like from the audience?
Someone in the third row sees this on the screen:
Which session should we add next year?
A. Pricing workshop · B. Live teardown · C. Founder Q&A
Text TALKS to 33777 or scan the code to vote.
They text TALKS, get the question back, and reply B. The vote shows up on the results screen right away. If your flow asks for an email next, they get that question after the vote.
How do you set one up in Textiful?
- Start a flow from the "Poll the audience" template, or add a poll question to any flow.
- Write the question and choices. Keep the choices short enough to read from the back of the room.
- Pick the trigger. A QR code is free. A keyword on 33777 or 55444 works for people too far back to scan. One keyword is included on your plan; more are $10/month each.
- Decide the rules. One answer per person is the default. Turn on vote changes if people might change their mind during a debate.
- Open the results page on the screen behind you. It updates in real time and shows counts and percentages only, never names or phone numbers.
- Close the poll by hand or at a set time. The results freeze when it closes, and the page can show a winner or tie banner, with optional confetti.
How do I show live poll results on screen? covers the projector side in more detail.
What makes a text poll work in a room?
- Say the keyword out loud and leave it on screen. People in the back can't always read a slide, and some can't scan from where they sit.
- Give them a reason to vote now. A countdown on the results page helps. So does reading the results out as they move.
- Ask something the room has an opinion on. "Which of these did you struggle with most?" gets more votes than a quiz question with a right answer.
- Ask one thing at a time. Across Textiful flows over 90 days in 2026, one-question flows were completed 89.5% of the time and two-question flows 83.1%. If you add an email question after the vote, keep it to that.
Text poll or a polling app?
A polling app or web link can show richer question types, and it works for international audiences. A text poll asks the least of the audience: no download, no URL, no account, just a text to a number they can see. Textiful's short codes are set up for US mobile carriers, so a text poll fits US audiences.
The other difference is what's left afterward. A standalone poll gives you a chart. A Textiful poll also gives you the contacts who chose to share an email, sent to your email tool or CRM, Zapier, or a webhook.
How does Textiful help?
Live polls come with every plan, alongside capture flows that collect an email in the same conversation. You pay per conversation, one per person who starts your flow, whatever they answer. See pricing.
Try it at your next event → Start a free trial
Questions people ask
No. They vote from their phone's texting app, either by texting your keyword or by scanning a QR code that opens a pre-filled text.
A letter, like A or B, or the answer text itself. Textiful forgives one-letter typos, so a near miss still counts.
By default it's one answer per person. You can turn on changing a vote if the question calls for it.
Not with Textiful. A Textiful poll starts when people text in from the room, so everyone who votes chose to take part.
Keep exploring
Live poll
A live poll is a question put to an audience in real time, with answers collected from people's phones or devices and results shown as they come in, often on the screen behind the speaker. It's used for audience participation, quick feedback, and group decisions during talks, classes, services, and shows.
ReadAudience response system
An audience response system (ARS) is a tool that lets everyone in a room answer a question at the same time and shows the combined results to the presenter or the whole audience. Early systems used handheld clickers; most now run on attendees' phones through a web page, an app, or text messages.
ReadText-to-join
Text-to-join is a way to sign up by text: a person texts a keyword to a short code, or scans a QR code that opens a pre-filled text, and answers a question or two to join a list, get a download, or register for something.
ReadConference lead capture for event organizers
Conference lead capture happens in a dozen rooms at once: the main-stage poll, the breakout session survey, the sponsor's giveaway. Textiful gives each moment its own QR code or keyword, asks a question or two by text, and sends the answers and contacts where your team works.
ReadHow speakers collect audience emails after a talk
The way to collect emails from your audience after speaking starts at the beginning of the talk: tell the room the slides are coming, so they can put their phones down. On the last slide, ask them to scan a QR code or text DEMO to 33777. Textiful asks for an email, sends the deck, and adds the contact to your email list.
ReadWebinar audience engagement by text
Webinar audience engagement by text puts the phone next to the laptop to work: viewers scan a QR code on your slide or text a keyword, vote in a live poll, and give an email in the same conversation. You screen-share the results page, and every voter lands in your list.
ReadReady for your next event?
Try Textiful free for 14 days. Set up a QR code or keyword in minutes and see who shows up.