How to do a voting poll on instagram story


How to Drive Engagement with the Poll Sticker on Instagram Stories

Instagram Tips & Resources


By Alyssa Gagliardi

Updated on October 12, 2022

5 minute read

Superstar engagement + data galore = Instagram polls.

Published March 8, 2022

Instagram Poll stickers are one of the easiest ways to engage your Instagram community.

From collecting feedback to gauging interest for an upcoming launch, the quick interaction can help inform your content strategy.

We’re breaking down how to use polls on Instagram Stories, plus five fresh ideas to drive engagement.

What Is an Instagram Stories Poll?

Instagram Poll stickers are pretty straightforward: they let you poll your audience on your Instagram Stories. 

Simply ask a question and share up to four different options for your community to choose from. 

You’re essentially collecting data and driving engagement in one go. It’s a win-win. 

FYI: Later is a social media management tool trusted by over 4M businesses, creators, and social media managers. Sign up for free to plan and automatically publish your social media posts today:

How to Add an Instagram Stories Poll Sticker 

It's quick and easy to add a poll to your Instagram Stories. Here's how to do it:

  1. Click the "+" icon at the top of your Instagram Home feed and select "Story."

  2. Next, tap the large white circle to take a photo (press and hold to film a video), or select existing media from your camera roll.

  3. Locate the sticker icon (a smiley face) at the top of your screen to open the Instagram Stories sticker tray, and scroll until you see the "Poll" sticker.

  4. Tap “Ask a Question…” above the poll to type your question. You can also select the color wheel at the top of the screen to customize the sticker.

  5. Tap each answer to edit the different options users will be able to choose from.

  6. Once finished, tap "Done" in the top right corner to exit the poll editor.

  7. Press and drag to move the sticker, or use a pinching motion to resize it.

  8. Post your Story and let the responses roll in.

How to See Poll Results on Instagram 

Once your Instagram Story is live, you can check the results of your poll by swiping up on the published Story and selecting the eye icon.

Simple as that.

Start scheduling your Instagram Stories in advance with Later today — available on all paid plans.

5 Ways to Use Instagram Polls to Increase Engagement 

Here are five ways to boost engagement using Instagram Poll stickers:

  1. Promote a Blog Post, Article, or Guide

  2. Create Suspense for an Upcoming Launch or Collab

  3. Gather Feedback from Your Community 

  4. Play a Game of "This or That"

  5. Educate Your Community

Idea #1: Promote a Blog Post, Article, or Guide

Recently dropped a blog or informational guide? Create a fun quiz about the topic using the Instagram Poll sticker.

Once you’ve got them hooked, round off your final Story with a link sticker inviting your audience to learn more.

By creatively introducing your audience to your content, you’re bound to drive more traffic to your site. 

DID YOU KNOW: You can also drive traffic to your blog or website by popping the link in your Instagram bio using Later’s Linkin.bio tool.

Idea #2: Create Suspense for an Upcoming Launch or Collab

If you have something exciting in the works, teasing the news with an Instagram Poll can help build excitement.

For brands launching a new product, try sharing a photo or short video with a poll asking your community if they want to see more.

If you’re a creator teaming up with another creator for a collab, create a poll inviting your community to guess what you’re working on together.

TIP: Add a countdown sticker to your Instagram Story so followers get a notification when your launch or collab goes live.

Instagram Polls are a fun and informal way to learn what your audience wants.

From gauging interest about new content ideas to collecting feedback on a potential partnership — let them know you value their opinion. 

For example, creator Jaclyn Forbes shared an Instagram Story asking her followers if they were interested in shopping her outfit. 

When 92% of voters tapped “yes”, she posted Stories with links to shop her OOTD. 

The takeaway? Give your followers the reins and let them guide your next post. 

Choose one: scheduling your posts in advance, or posting on the fly?

Everyone loves a lighthearted poll, and a game of "This or That" is the perfect avenue to learn more about your audience. 

Simply poll two similar options and invite them to choose their preference:

Curious about your community's skincare routine? Ask them if they prefer sheet masks or clay masks.

And if you're wondering whether they think pineapple belongs on pizza, ask them in a poll (for the record. .. it doesn't).

How much does your community know about you and your niche? Test their knowledge with a handful of polls.

For example, if you’re a sneaker brand, quiz your followers about different shoe styles. 

Bonus points if you plug your products too!

Gamifying the education process can help generate engagement and conversations in your DMs. Plus, it creates another way to interact with your followers.

And there you have it!

Whether you’re looking to build brand awareness or learn more about your target audience, creating polls are a great engagement-driver.

So, are you ready to experiment with Instagram Poll stickers?

We have a feeling you're voting "Yes."

ICYMI: You can plan, schedule, and publish your Instagram Stories in advance with Later. Create an account today

About the Author

Alyssa Gagliardi

Content Marketer

Alyssa is a Toronto-based creative writer and Content Marketer at Later. If you can’t reach her, she’s probably glueing gems to her face or thrifting. Keep up with her nonsense on Instagram – @alygeethnx.

Plan, schedule, and automatically publish your social media posts with Later.

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a Complete Guide to Polling Your Followers

  • To make an Instagram Poll, start by creating a new Story post by swiping right on Instagram's home screen.
  • Ask a yes or no question or any question with two options, then share the poll to your Story.
  • View the results of your poll at any time within 24 hours of posting by swiping up on the Story slide.

Whether they're just for fun or for informal research purposes, Instagram Polls are a fun way to interact with your Instagram followers. You can customize the question and the two responses (or stick to a straight-forward yes or no) and choose a background from your camera roll.

Once responses start rolling in, you can see how your followers voted, and even get a breakdown on how many people voted for each option and who exactly voted for each. After you collect responses, you can share the results with your followers so they can also see how people voted overall (but not who voted for what).

Here's how it's done.

How to create an Instagram Poll on your Story

1. Open the Instagram app. Tap your profile icon at the top-left of the screen or swipe right to add a Story. 

If you don't have any live Stories, you can create a new one by tapping your profile icon. Abigail Abesamis Demarest

2. Take a photo by tapping the circle on the bottom of the screen or choose a photo or video from your camera roll to post by tapping the small picture icon at the bottom-left of the screen. You can also tap the "Aa" Create icon to pull up a blank background.

Choose a blank background or a photo from your camera roll as the backdrop for your poll. Abigail Abesamis Demarest

3. Tap the Stickers icon, which looks like a square smiley face, at the top of the screen to pull up a menu of post additions.

Tap this icon to add a poll, location tag, GIFs, and more. Abigail Abesamis Demarest

4. In the pop-up menu, tap the Poll icon to ask a question with two answer prompts. To ask a sliding scale question, tap the Sliding Scale icon, which should be located next to the Poll sticker option.  

Select "Poll" or the sliding scale from the list of options. Abigail Abesamis Demarest

5. Tap the Ask a question… field, then type your question or a quick phrase on whatever topic you want people to vote on. For a regular poll, tap the Yes and No boxes to change the responses, or keep the boxes as-is if that works for your question. For a sliding scale poll, select an emoji to add to the sliding scale. 

You can edit all three fields in a poll. Abigail Abesamis Demarest

6. When you're finished editing the question and response fields, tap Done.

7. Tap Your Story to share your poll with all your followers, or Close Friends to share the poll with your Close Friends list. You can also search for a friend or choose one from the Suggested list to send the poll via direct message. 

Once your poll is ready to be posted, tap "Your Story" to share it with all your followers. Abigail Abesamis Demarest

How to view and share results of your Instagram Story Poll

1. To view the results of an Instagram poll you've created, open the Instagram app and tap your profile icon at the top-left of the screen to view your Story.

2. On the Story slide with the poll, you'll see the overall results. For more information on how many people voted and what each person voted for, swipe up on the Story slide or tap Seen by on the bottom-left of the screen.

After people start voting on your poll, you'll see the overall results on the Story slide. Abigail Abesamis Demarest

3. To share the results of your poll to your Story, tap Share Results, then select Your Story or Close Friends.

You can see a detailed view of the poll results, with an option to share them. Abigail Abesamis Demarest

Ideas for Instagram Polls For sliding scale polls, you can customize the emoji used. Abigail Abesamis Demarest
  • This or that: Give your followers two options and ask them to choose which one they prefer. Poll your followers about fun, random topics or ask them what types of content or formats they prefer on your feed.
  • Yes or no: Ask a yes or no question to gauge how your followers feel about specific topics. Again, you can go the random route or ask more curated questions to gauge interest in specific subjects when it comes to your content.
  • Sliding scale: Rather than a straightforward yes or no, or having to choose between two different options, a sliding scale allows your followers to choose where they fall on a sliding scale in response to your question.

How to send an Instagram Poll via direct message

1. Open the Instagram app on your device and tap the Messages icon in the top-right corner. 

2. Select a recent conversation or tap the New Message icon in the top-right corner. 

3. On the message screen, tap the blue camera icon next to the textbox at the bottom of the screen. 

Tap the blue camera icon to take a picture and add a poll to it. Grace Eliza Goodwin/Insider

4. Take a photo or select one from your camera roll, and tap the Stickers icon, which looks like a square smiley face, in the top-right corner of the screen. 

5. Select Poll in the pop-up menu. 

6. A poll box will appear over your image — type your poll question into the Ask a question section, and tap inside the Yes and No boxes to change the answer options.  

7. When your poll is ready, tap Send at the bottom-middle of the screen. 

Note: When you send an Instagram Poll through direct messages, the poll is not interactive, meaning the recipients will not be able to answer the poll by selecting an answer option in the image. They will have to give their answers via a separate message beneath your poll message. 

Abigail Abesamis Demarest

Abigail Abesamis Demarest is a contributing writer for Insider based in New York. She loves a good glazed donut and nerdy deep dives into the science of food and how it's made. 

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How to make an Instagram poll - all the ways - Instaplus.

me Blog

When Instagram introduced the Instagram Stories feature to its users, many did not take it seriously. However, over time, it turned out that Stories are viewed more often than the main feed. Now stories are not only a temporary opportunity to expose what you would not like to publish in the profile gallery, but also the main tool for interacting with subscribers. In this article, you will learn how to make an Instagram Stories poll and evaluate the results.

Contents of the page

Poll function on Instagram

Surely each of us has been in a situation of difficult choice at least once in a lifetime. Most often, we turned to friends for help and advice. It was this idea that prompted Instagram to create a new polls feature. This is a small addition that can be found in the sticker section in the story design menu.

The first survey type was added back in October 2017. Polls help not only diversify user stories, but also improve interaction with subscribers, win over and give more importance to their opinion.

Instagram did not stop at one type of poll. The popularity of the new feature grew, gradually new ways of interacting with subscribers through stories began to be added. Today, apart from voting, there are:

  • Questions.
  • Emoji rating.
  • Quiz.

How to make a poll on Instagram - all the ways

In order to create each of the polls in the story, you need to select any photo or video from the phone gallery, or take a picture of something immediately in the story mode. Then you need to go to the add stickers section and select any of the polls.

The voting (polling) function allows you to find out the opinion of subscribers exclusively among two options: YES and NO (by default). You can also provide your answers to the question. In the “Ask a question…” field, you need to write a question, and if the answers to it are other than “yes” / “no”, then by clicking on the answer options, we change them to the ones you need. We click in the upper right corner “Done” and publish the story!

The "Questions" function is perhaps one of the most popular and frequently used among social network users. You can ask a question and get a detailed answer or invite subscribers to ask you questions of interest. Questions and answers are not anonymous.

When editing a question, you will see a rectangle with a template inscription: “Ask me a question” (which you can change if you wish) and an answer box that is activated after the story is published. Question length is limited to 80 characters including spaces. You can also change the color palette of the question box here. Choose the design to your liking, click “Done” and publish stories!

Emoji rating looks like a rating scale. Followers can rate your photo, video, or story question by dragging the emoji to a specific level. The further it is, the higher the score.

When you select the emoji rating function, a rectangle appears in front of us with the inscription: “Ask a question . ..”, where you can write something (the maximum number of characters is 90 with spaces). You can leave the field blank (when publishing, no text will be visible). Even in the rectangle is the emoji scale itself, under which there is a ribbon with a selection of different emoticons. With the help of the plus sign “ + ”, you can add your own emoticons, if desired. At the very top there is also a palette with which you can choose the color of the scale.

A quiz is a question with two to four possible answers, one of which is correct. The user independently prescribes both the question and the answers, and for the subscribers - to guess the correct option.

When you add a quiz, you will see a rectangle with an editable caption: Guess what I like. If you wish, you can ask absolutely any question. The maximum number of characters is 50 including spaces. You also need to fill in the fields for answer options. The minimum allowed number of answers is two, the maximum is four. There is also a color selection option at the top of the menu, just like in previous polls.

How to see the results of voting

After publishing a story, there is an interest to know the results of the created polls. To see them, you need to open your history and swipe up. A panel will open with all the answers.

In the list of those who voted in the "poll" function, sometimes it is not visible which person voted for what, so you need to scroll to the bottom of the list and click on the "all" button. Then the full list of voters will open.

In the case of "Questions", in addition to the panel with all the answers under the history, notifications will also come with each new question.

Emoji and quiz scores can be viewed like survey results. The ratings answer panel will show the average result of the scale among all votes, in the case of a quiz, a list of answers and the number of votes for each of them will be displayed.

How to share results

Like a normal story, a poll post disappears after 24 hours. But that doesn't mean you can't share the results afterwards. Since each published story is saved in the Archive (the button in the form of a clock opposite your nickname in the profile), they can be reviewed again and again.

To share the results of the survey, you need to open the desired story and swipe up. There you will find the blue "Share Results" button. After clicking, this story is duplicated with the final results of the survey.

Unfortunately, there is no such option for evaluation with emoji and quiz yet, but you can share answers to questions. To do this, you also need to swipe the story up, after which a list of all answers will open. By clicking on any of them, the option "Share answer" appears. After clicking, the story editing menu will open with the selected question. The background can be made plain or upload a photo, video (where you answer the question).

One caveat: you will know who sent questions, but after posting the answers, your subscribers will see them as anonymous questions.

Tips for conducting effective surveys

Very often, subscribers automatically scroll through stories or are too lazy to answer surveys. This can happen if the topic does not interest them or too much text is stuck.

What can be done to increase the engagement of followers in Instagram stories? To begin with, you need to publish them regularly - several times a day. So the account will not disappear from the story feed of your audience. In addition, with each new publication, the coverage of the previous story will grow.

It is recommended that you set up a story asking you to vote before creating a poll. Emphasize that it is important for you to know the opinion of subscribers. Thus, people will feel a little guilty if they don't answer a question even when asked to. As practice shows, this works - subscribers will more often leave answers in voting.

Another simple tip is to post interesting, catchy, or even provocative content before the survey itself. Thanks to this “trick”, more people will be involved in stories. The chance that they will read or be interested in the rest of the stories, or answer the survey, increases.

It is also important to take into account the time of publication of stories. If you post them at night, the number of views will be much less, and because of this, in the morning your stories will be replaced by new ones and go to the end of the feed. Therefore, it is best to publish stories in the morning, afternoon and evening - when users are most active.

Instagram Poll Ideas

To keep your audience from getting bored with your stories, here are some ideas to keep them interested:

  • Find out more about subscribers by voting.
    You can ask them about things like where they are, what they like, their preferences, and more. This is a great way to get a better idea of ​​what your audience really looks like.
  • Struggling with blog content ideas? Why go far if the answer is right under your nose. You just need to do a poll on Instagram about what else they would like to see or read on your profile. Both you and your audience benefit as your blog now has new post ideas and followers feel important and important in the process of creating content for your profile.
  • Create entertaining content with polls.
    Arrange interesting or even educational quizzes. For example, knowledge of films or series, actors or musicians, geography or history. In general, anything! And the prize for those who give more correct answers can be announced likes or comments.
  • Have you ever wanted to ask your subscribers a question, but would like to include more than two answer options? Now this is also possible! Get creative with the emoji slider to give your followers more choice, moving away from the standard yes/no questions! By adding text next to the slider, more responses can be created because users can drag the slider left or right and release next to the desired answer.
  • Take subscribers for shopping.
    Remember those Youtube videos where bloggers buy loads of clothes from various online stores. Why not ask your followers to help you shop by voting in a poll? This is a great way to get your audience interested in content like this.

Polls are a great way to increase the engagement of your blog followers. Since the social network introduced the first basic survey, a few more interesting audience interaction features have been added. The more people interact with the stories, the more they will engage and become your most loyal followers.

How to make a poll in Stories on Instagram ➔ ideas for stories

Menu

Content

  • 1 How to create a survey on Instagram
  • 2 Ideas for a survey on Instagram Storis
    • 2.1 General survey
    • 2.2 Assignment poll
    • 2.3 EDUCATION Poll
    • 2.4 Motivation or Surgery

Pants in the Instagram-a good method engage the audience in communication. First, they are used for variety. Standard content is boring, while questions increase the interest and engagement of subscribers.

Second, to find out something or ask for advice. For example, "Which picture do you like more?" or “Will a certain topic of articles be interesting?” and others. You can ask anything on Instagram, because people like to express their opinions on the Internet. Why not take advantage of this?

Another reason for using engagement surveys on Instagram is to engage and encourage action. For example, you can take the account of a store that sells outerwear.

How to create an Instagram Poll

By posting multiple photos of coats, you can ask your followers which one is more interesting. Then you can post information about the discount on them. This will attract the audience and increase the chance of acquisition.

The survey tool is found in Instagram Stories stickers. Step by step how to add to stories:

  1. To post in Stories, you first need to select a photo or video for the background. Or you can take a photo or shoot a video through the Stories functionality.
  2. Then upload it and add the "Survey" sticker.
  3. Next, write a question. If your question does not fit completely in the field of the sticker itself, write it separately using the "Text" function.
  4. Add answer options. Only two are allowed. You can enter no more than 15 characters in the answer option, it is allowed to add emoji.

Other elements can be added to the sticker in the Story: emoji, gif, hashtag or location.

If there is no such sticker in the Stories functionality, update the application to the latest available version.

All replies are displayed in the Stories statistics within 24 hours of posting. There you will also see who exactly voted for a particular option. You can track the effectiveness of surveys on the LiveDune service. It will allow you to track the change in Stories reach.

  • If you are conducting a survey in Direct, you need to go in and find the plus or pencil symbol at the top right, select users and click Next.
  • Then you need to select a photo using the icon at the bottom left and follow the same steps as when creating polls in stories. After that, it remains only to send and wait for answers.

there is no automatic calculation and analytics on the answers, you have to process everything manually.

Instagram Stories Poll Ideas

There are many tools on Instagram to increase the engagement of your followers. Through polls, you can find out the opinion about your content, what excites followers, and get to know new readers.

General survey

The most common type of survey suitable for getting to know your followers on Instagram. Examples of such questions are:

  • “Have you read a book…”,
  • “Where do you prefer to relax: on the sea or in the mountains?”,
  • Do you like rain? etc.

Evaluation survey

This type of survey is created to send or receive an assessment of any opinion from subscribers. Assessment surveys are very similar to general questions, but differ in wording. For example, the evaluation question is:

  • “Is my rubric useful…?”,
  • “Which camera is better…?”,
  • “What to tell in the next post about business?”.

To arouse more interest on Instagram, you can use a provocation. But be careful: not everyone likes such tricks.

Educational survey

They are great for educational blogs, such as language blogs. Examples of such questions are:

  • “Where is the emphasis placed correctly: cakes or cakes?”,
  • “What is the term for ...?”,
  • “Do you know about life hacks for our products?”.

Through educational questions on Instagram, you can tell your followers about new features of your products or additions to your services.

Motivational or heating survey

Most applicable for online store accounts to encourage the target audience to buy. Also applicable for warming up on Instagram before selling info products. There are several options for using such surveys.

The first option is to post a series of questions with different types of products like “What do you like more: model 1 or model 2”. After voting and choosing the leading positions, you can announce the sale of these products at a discount.

The second option is suitable for increasing engagement and coverage on Instagram. For example, the first stories with the question: “Would you like a raffle?”, Then the question “What would you like to raffle?” is posted. (with answers, for example: robot vacuum cleaner or phone).

After collecting the voting results, set the start date and conditions for the draw. To make you happy with the results of your activity, read our article on how to run a contest on Instagram.

Thus, conducting polls on Instagram is a great way to remind followers about yourself and attract their attention. The Instagram algorithm is positive about the activity of subscribers on stickers in the Story, and this way you can improve the ranking of the promoted profile.


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