How to Make Instagram Polls to Engage Your Followers + 6 Poll Ideas

How to make really engaging Instagram Polls for your audience? Read our blog post!

How to Make Instagram Polls to Engage Your Followers + 6 Poll Ideas

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Instagram users so often feel overwhelmed by all the content they see on social media. That’s why you need your materials to stand out from the crowd. But how? Well, with Instagram polls! They are a dream solution if you want to engage your followers and make them more interested in your messages. But, after all, this type of content can also make people bored if you use them too much or in an inappropriate way.

So, where is the gold standard? How to create attractive polls and make them play for your side? What are some great poll ideas? We will give you answers to these questions, so stay with us and keep reading!

What is an Instagram Poll

In essence, an Instagram Poll is nothing more than an interactive sticker you can include in your Instagram Stories to ask questions. Just like any other story, it disappears after 24 hours, as do the results. In comparison to the many features of social media platforms, polls really provide a huge boost in audience engagement.

2017 was the year Instagram launched its poll feature. Today, they are an integral part of the platform's Stories section. In addition, this option is constantly being developed - as part of the update, the poll option was improved in the Stories section and in the Chat as well.

So, by using Instagram Stories polls, you can interact with your followers by just asking them questions and receiving their responses. Is it that simple?

Yes!

That's why this feature is ideal for learning something from your audience or highlighting a product or service without appearing too promotional. And it doesn't require too much effort. This quick interaction can help you, for example, enhance your content strategy by collecting valuable feedback and measuring interest for upcoming campaigns.

Your Instagram followers will enjoy your Instagram polls, whether they're just for fun or to conduct informal research. What's more, you can make your study visually friendly by customizing them. Just personalize both questions and responses, and choose a background from your camera roll or take a new photo.

Afterward, you can see how your followers voted, including:

👉 the percentage result

👉 how many people voted for each option

👉 and which followers selected which choice.

Once you collect responses, you can share the results with your audience so they can see the final outcome.

How To Create Polls on Instagram

It's time to find out exactly how to publish polls on your Instagram. So, let's not wait any longer!

#1 Create a Story

First, you need to create a new Story. To do this, click your profile icon at the top-left of the screen or just swipe right. Then, you will be able to take a picture or choose a ready-made one from your gallery. Just remember to give the Instagram app the option to access your photos and your camera.

#2 Choose the Poll Sticker

If you've already determined your background, it's time to choose a poll feature. To do so, click on Sticker. And then, from many different options, select Poll.

#3 Define the Question and Answers

Immediately after that, a poll sticker will appear on your background. And now you can act. Let your imagination carry you away - ask your question and specify two (or more) possible answers for it.

You can also add some text to your Stories in addition to the poll. Place the sticker in the desired location, and that's basically it - you've just created your first Instagram poll, and in how much? In a few seconds? If you like the effect, share your Story. Your viewers can now give their votes.

#4 Monitor Poll Results

And now you can monitor your Instagram Poll results. As soon as you share your poll, your followers will vote, and you can see real-time statistics.

You can now view the results of your Instagram poll by going to your own story and tapping the "Seen by" button. This button can show you:

📩 how many viewers viewed your message,

📩 how many people voted on your poll,

📩 who selected a specific option.

If you recently conducted such research, your followers may be interested in the choice with the most votes. The way you can share them is so simple - just click the "Share Results" button another Story will be created. You have 24 hours to publish outcomes, so as much time as your Poll is open.

Why using Instagram Polls is Beneficial

We know Instagram Story Polls can build engagement, but that's not their only advantage. So what else can this research do?

1️⃣ Get to know your audience better

With polls, you can learn a lot about your audience - who they are, what they like, what they are interested in, what they lack, etc. This can be very helpful if you want to build a new product or introduce a new service that your audience needs. It can also be beneficial if we are talking about learning about your target audience or loyal customers and distinguishing them from other followers.

2️⃣ Get real-time feedback

But polls also make it easier to get valuable feedback, and they can give you some crucial insights. Such an initial study on Instagram will help you discover, among others:

✨ pain points,

✨ point out the pros and cons,

✨ tell you what your audience expects from a new service,

✨ show you where your product has flaws

✨ and where you're doing great.

Of course, this is all at a very basic level, as you can't draw too many insights from polls, but it's always a great start.

3️⃣ Improve your social media performance

Last but not least, you can use polls to improve your social media activity and find out what to post so that your followers are interested in your content. For example, you can use this research just to learn how to perform better on Instagram. A simple poll, " Would you like to see here more: a) memes, b) videos of how our team works,” will handle this task. Experiment and provide the audience with what they expect.

6 Instagram Poll Ideas

Now that you know how fast Instagram Polls are done, let us give you some ideas for building engaging Stories with their use!

#1 Make a Suspense

If you have some secret, then build suspense! For example, if you:

  • have something exciting in the works that you want to showcase,
  • are going to work with a well-known influencer,
  • want to launch a big promotion or a new product,

with an Instagram Poll, you can build intrigue and excitement. For instance, you could try sharing a photo or short video that doesn't say too much and is mysterious. In a poll, you can ask your community if they want to see more. If they do, you'll find out from this short poll!

#2 Prepare a Small Quiz

You can also build a mini-quiz using polls. This will be a very quick entertainment that won't require much time and attention from the user, so your watchers may be tempted.

What about asking straightforward questions and conducting random and fun quizzes? Or maybe something more demanding and running quizzes featuring your brand? This would further increase awareness of your company, but the choice is up to you!

#3 Bet on Education

Well, instead of something funny, you can also think about educating your followers. You always have the opportunity to share a chunk of your knowledge with your audience. Maybe they even expect it? Not everyone may be interested in your products, but after all, they may be looking for business advice, some tips, best practices, etc. In any case, you can make your audience grow if you take this step.

For example, you might ask, "How do you think KPIs are key performance indicators?" a) yes b) no c) I don't know. Make a couple of such polls, add them to Highlight Stories, and you already have a mini knowledge base.

#4 Generate New Ideas

How about asking your audience what they want to see on your profile? Throw around ideas, ask if they like them or not, and implement solutions. Such user-generated content can positively impact your social media content marketing strategy and show users that their voice has a real impact on what you post. So use polls to turn your Instagram followers into brand advocates.

#5 Promote Your New Content

Do you have a new blog article you want to show off? Or do you think your latest post on Instagram will be very helpful to Instagrammers? You can then create a poll and ask, "Did you see our last article/post? a) yes b) I'm about to check it out!"

Promoting your content this way can bring you more engagement, and it doesn't cost you anything. So make your standard content stand out by using stories and polls. This will help you promote your brand while you're at it.

#6 Provide Soft Selling

And, of course - by using polls, you can also conduct soft selling. CTA messages still work, but it's nothing new anymore. Meanwhile, polls can introduce variety and thus can make your audience more curious. For example, you can use a poll in one Story and ask, "Have you seen that we have a dog day promotion for you? a) not yet b) well, sure - I saw it first! c) are you guys having such a promotion?!".

And in the next Story, you can put a link to the site or just the information that the link is in your bio. And there you go, whoever is interested will visit your site.

Instagram & FeedHive

Instagram can be a great tool in the hands of more than just professionals. If you use it well, it will provide you with opportunities for your business growth.

And it doesn't have to be a daunting task if you will take advantage of FeedHive!

Such an advanced social media management tool as FeedHive will make working with Instagram (and more platforms) smooth, fun, and, most importantly, efficient.

Instagram Polls are not the only source of valuable data, and FeedHive won’t let you miss a single one. Through analytics, you will understand how growth and engagement correlate and will also identify patterns and new opportunities to better connect with your followers. You'll also have a clear overview of all your channels. And if you run out of ideas for Stories or posts, you can use our ready-made templates at any time.

And that’s not the end, as our system, powered by artificial intelligence, will also allow you to:

✔ create, schedule, and publish Instagram carousel posts,

✔ prepare and schedule your Instagram Reels,

✔ find the best time to post,

✔ recycle best posts,

✔ preview Instagram Grid.

You can try it all for free for 7 days. After that, you can use one of the four available price plans. Prices start as low as $15 per month (with an annual subscription) or $19 per month (with a monthly subscription).

We all know that Instagram is a space where a lot of insight can be found - from posts, Polls, Stories, or even Reels. So start using FeedHive to keep all this vital information in one place.

Over to You

Polls from Instagram can be your aid package if you just know how to use them well. We hope that thanks to this article, you will finally learn how to take advantage of them and, therefore, you will improve your social media performance.

If you need any help with your socials, feel free to use FeedHive - a professional social media manager that can handle all of your problems and will solve them for you. Log in or create an account here.

How to Make Instagram Polls to Engage Your Followers + 6 Poll Ideas

Megan Pierce

Content Marketer

Creative SaaS content marketer and link builder. Sharing tips on digital marketing and social media.