A mind-blowing 500 million Stories are posted on Instagram daily.
Whether you are a part of the 50% of brands who’re already creating Stories, or the other 50 % who should definitely be thinking about it, you are probably questioning: how do you keep your content fresh and exciting?
One way is to ensure your Stories are interesting and interactive by including functions like Polls in Instagram stories that permit viewers to engage with your content.
When you are looking for some inspiration, we have rounded up 7 great methods brands using Polls in their Stories.
1. Make a quiz
Media large Buzzfeed is probably greatest known for their quizzes, as anybody who has discovered what type of sandwich they’re could attest. So naturally, Buzzfeed News thought to use Polls in Instagram stories to make viewers quizzes in their Instagram Stories too!
Quizzes are not just for Buzzfeed, of course.
Vanity Fair also proved how fun the quiz format could be once they created a Royal Wedding quiz to prepare audiences for Meghan and Harry’s nuptials.
The quiz was fulfilling all on its own (did you know daffodils are an emblem of Wales?) and also complemented their extensive Royal Wedding coverage.
That is the secret to a great quiz: ensuring it contributes to your overall content strategy. The content should align with your other posts and your brand identity.
“Which Hogwarts House Do You Belong In?” can work for Buzzfeed, however, it may not be a great fit for you.
2. Show off your product catalog
“Show, don’t tell” is an important rule in storytelling, and for good reason. Why tell audiences about all of the amazing products you provide when showing them off makes a bigger impact?
IKEA USA used Polls in Instagram stories to show followers their range of kitchen choices and asked them to vote for their favorites. This strategy can work for all types of products, whether you make dog-patterned sweaters or sweaters for dogs (as long as you have no less than two products to compare).
It’s particularly useful if you want to enhance the visibility of a product line or a special promotion.
In IKEA’s case, they were promoting an upcoming sale on their kitchen lines. The Polls drew audiences in and were followed by a discount code and more information about the sale.
This sort of product poll also gives valuable insight into your customers’ preferences.
That brings us to another intelligent use of polls in Instagram stories…
3. Do customer research
Do you ever wish you had a crystal ball so you can see what your customers really want?
Well, the next best thing is Instagram Poll. It’s an easy type of customer research that permits you to ask your viewers important questions, while still offering them quality content!
For instance, the swimwear brand Mimi Hammer used Polls in Instagram stories to ask clients what swimsuit designs they preferred.
Although they were essentially making a customer survey, Mimi Hammer still used high-quality visuals to frame the questions. It doesn’t matter what your Poll is about, you need to always maintain your brand’s visual consistency and embrace striking pictures to catch your audience’s attention.
4. Drive traffic to your website
Is getting audiences to click on through to your site one of your social media goals? Polls in Instagram stories might help you direct audiences to your website t!
Elle Magazine did this to great effect with their Polls about Netflix rom-com To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. In a cute series of Polls, they teased the content of their article on the film and provided incentives to swipe up and read it in full.
Even those who had not seen the movie may participate in the Poll, making it inclusive of their full viewers.
5. Encourage social responsibility
Audiences (especially millennials) expect brands to share their values, like sustainability, giving back to the community, and honesty. Polls in Instagram stories are one method to share your company’s values and encourage followers to take action on important causes that you both care about.
Refinery29 did this well once they encouraged their followers to register to vote in the November 2018 midterm elections. They ran several Stories reminding audiences about key dates and deadlines and added Polls asking whether they’d registered yet.
Right here, the Poll encouraged audiences to vote by offering a reality check on how many of their peers had already registered. (Gentle peer pressure is an effective tool!)
It additionally made it clear that Refinery29 cares about civic engagement and democratic process, and they believe their followers share that value.
Your company might need to keep away from getting into social and political issues altogether, however, when you decide to engage, listed below are a few tips from a successful case study.
6. Educate your followers
Chances are a part of your organization mission is informing your audience about your services, products, or mission.
Education is a vital part of your content strategy, and Polls could be a valuable educational tool.
Meditation app Headspace knows a lot about this: a giant part of their work is educating users about mindfulness and reflection. To that end, they used Polls in a series of Stories teaching audiences about mindful eating.
The Poll additionally served as an introduction to their blog content on the same subject, and viewers can swipe up after participating in the Poll to learn more.
7. Just for fun
Sure, it’s vital to set targets and track your metrics. However, do not forget that the reason your viewers is on Instagram is that they enjoy it.
Sometimes, you could keep it easy and just attempt to have fun with your Stories too!
Break up a long series of Story posts with a fun Poll to maintain audiences from zoning out, as MOMA did with their #ArtSpeaks collection.
Or pose a silly question to complement a humorous caption, as REI did with this dad joke. (These are additionally nice examples of the way to use the “Slider sticker” in a similar method to Polls.)
You could also dig into important subjects… like Grub Street did, with their donut flavor Poll.
However, you decide to use them, Polls are a simple method to connect with your Instagram followers and boost your Stories.