Instagram has a released a new feature which rivals a Twitter feature that I love: Instagram Poll Stickers.
Now you can add a question, with two answer options, to your Instagram Story image or video. Your followers simply tap on the answer they’d like to choose.
In this post we’ll go over how Instagram Poll stickers work and look at six ways you can use them for your brand or business.
Instagram Poll Stickers Breakdown
An Instagram Poll sticker is really simple to add to your Instagram story – simply capture or upload your image, video or Boomerang to your story as you normally would, then click the sticker icon on the top right (it looks like a sticky note) and choose the sticker that says “Poll”.
You’ll be able to tap on each side of the poll sticker to change your options.
To see your poll responses, swipe up, as you would to get the stats for any regular Story post.
You’ll be able to see who participated in the poll, along with their response. You can also click through to the story section which includes the post to see a simple percentage breakdown (which appears under the poll options in the sticker).
Now that you know how they work, here are six ways you can use Instagram poll stickers for your brand or business
Just for Fun or General Feedback
Instagram Poll Stickers can be a great way to add an extra element of interaction to any Instagram Story. You can ask a simple “yes” or “no” question after you go live (such as “Should I go live more often” or “Did you enjoy today’s live session”). You can also ask brand-related questions just for fun.
For example, a restaurant can position two favorite dishes against each other – think ‘Pizza vs Tacos’ or ‘Coffee vs Tea’. You can also position polls to reflect lifestyle content to get to know your audience a little better, which leads us to…
Audience Insight
Although Instagram Poll stickers only give you the ability to add two answer choices to your polls, you can ask questions to gain information about your audience and their preferences.
For example, if you create online courses, you could ask “What kind of learning materials do you prefer?” with the options of “Written” and “Video Courses”. Now you’ll have a better idea of how to structure your next course so you can sell more of them.
Instagram Polls can also a good way to gain insight into your audience’s lifestyle, so you can craft content, images and videos that will resonate with them (leading to more interaction – yay).
Let Your Audience in on Choices
In the past, I’ve mentioned how letting your audience in on company choices is a great way to drive interaction with your social media followers. Using the Instagram Poll sticker gives you an easy way to let your story viewers choose between two elements.
For example, you can have your followers choose between two flavors for your next special, two different packaging styles for a re-brand, or even between two prizes for an upcoming contest.
Letting your audience choose – and following up with the popular vote – will show that you’re listening, which can deepen the customer-client relationship, and eventually increase sales (because you’re giving them exactly what they asked for).
Quizzes
Okay, maybe a two option poll isn’t the most elaborate quiz, but you can still get creative with this option.
Add an Interactive Element ( and Bring More Exposure) to a Hashtag Campaign, Event Coverage or Location
Live tweeting is one of my favorite ways to boost brand exposure and interact with potential followers during events and hashtag campaigns – and Twitter Polls are usually part of my strategy. Now, Instagram Poll stickers can provide that element of interaction using Instagram.
Combine a poll sticker along with a hashtag sticker, or hashtag within the caption text, to drive event interaction.
You can also combine the poll sticker with a location sticker for more local exposure for your brand or business – remember location stories are sometimes pulled into the larger stories in the explore feed.
In Combination With “Swipe Up” Links
If your account has over 10,000 followers, you have access to the “See More” link feature on Instagram Stories. It could be fun to add an Instagram Poll sticker to your “Swipe Up” post, or to feature a poll after the “See More” post based on the information on the link you lead followers to.
Hopefully this post has your wheels turning on how to use Instagram Poll stickers for your brand or business. Maybe in the future Instagram will add more than two options for polls, but this is a fun new feature to add to your Instagram marketing strategy.
This post was first published on Dhariana Lozano’s blog.