Nickelodeon was looking to tap into the discussions that teens were having online in a fun and personable way. We had noticed that every year certain holidays, relatable moments, and other trends would bubble up. These were great moments for Nickelodeon to naturally become a part of the conversation. Polls presented a great opportunity to increase the brand's Instagram engagement and give our fans the opportunity to express their opinions.
We began by researching the abundance of holidays (everything from Christmas to Doughnut Day), looking at various trend trackers, and listening to fan comments. Through this we were able to sketch out a calendar of weekly polls that we felt the Nickelodeon audience could relate to, as well as leaving room for any trends that might pop up unexpectedly.
We also worked with our design team to create a custom poll template that encouraged fans to vote by commenting with fun, relevant emojis. We tried out a variety of poll styles including static JPGs and an assortment of video templates, making little tweaks throughout the year to smooth out the user experience and encourage more engagement.
Each poll utilized Nickelodeon characters (animation and live action) to describe the poll options and was nestled in a border that matched the network's on-air style guide. The polls were funny, seasonal, and occasionally resulted in an on-TV pay off that could be viewed through an TV bumper or within a show like the Kids' Choice Awards - giving fans the pleasure of seeing their votes actually count for something.
The polls were a huge success! In the beginning of the year, when we first started testing, our polls were receiving an average of 27K engagements and 204K impressions per post. By the end of 2017 we were getting an average of 51K engagements and 340K impressions per post - an 85% increase in engagement and 66% increase in impressions!
