How to Add a Question Box on an Instagram Story

The Instagram Story question box is one of the most effective tools for sparking conversation and building a loyal community on the platform. It’s a simple feature that opens a direct line to your audience, allowing you to answer their questions, gather feedback, and generate an endless stream of content ideas. This guide will walk you through exactly how to add a question box to your Story, how to share the responses, and provide a ton of creative strategies to use it for growing your brand.

How to Add a Question Box to Your Instagram Story: A Step-by-Step Guide

Adding the question sticker to your Story is straightforward. It only takes a few taps to get it live and start collecting responses from your followers.

1. Open the Instagram Story Creator: Launch the Instagram app and either tap the plus icon (+) at the top of your screen and select "Story," or simply swipe right from your main feed to open the Story camera.
2. Create Your Background: Every Story needs a visual base. You can take a new photo, record a video, or upload an existing image or clip from your phone’s camera roll. For a super clean look, you can also use the "Create" mode (tap the "Aa" icon) to get a solid or gradient-colored background.
3. Open the Sticker Tray: Once you have your background, tap the sticker icon at the top of the screen. It looks like a square smiley face.
4. Select the "Questions" Sticker: In the sticker tray, you'll see a variety of options like Poll, Quiz, and GIF. Find and tap the sticker labeled "Questions."
5. Customize Your Prompt: The default text in the box is "Ask me a question." While this works perfectly for a general AMA (Ask Me Anything), tailoring it to a specific topic often leads to better responses. You can tap the text to edit it to something like, "What do you want to know about our new launch?" or "Send me your podcast guest suggestions!"
6. Change the Sticker Color (Optional): Want the sticker to match your brand colors or the aesthetic of your Story? With the question box selected, tap the color wheel icon at the top of the screen. This will cycle through a preset collection of colors for your sticker.
7. Position and Resize the Sticker: You can drag the question box anywhere on the screen. Use two fingers to pinch and zoom to make it bigger or smaller, or to rotate it. Place it in a spot where it's easy to see and doesn’t cover up any important parts of your background image or video.
8. Share to Your Story: Once you’re happy with how it looks, tap the "Your Story" button at the bottom left to post it for all your followers to see. You can also send it to a specific list of "Close Friends" if you prefer.

How to Find and Share Follower Responses

Posting the question box is just the first step. The real engagement happens when you start sharing and answering the questions that come in. Thankfully, Instagram makes this process incredibly simple and protects the privacy of the person asking.

Finding the Responses

Once your Story is live, you can see responses roll in almost immediately. Here’s where to find them:

• Open your current Story by tapping your profile picture on the Story bar.
• Swipe up from the bottom of the screen. This is the same screen where you see who has viewed your Story.
• Any responses submitted via your question box will appear right at the top, above the viewer list. You can scroll through all of them here.

Sharing and Answering a Response

To share an answer, you’ll create a brand new Story for it. This is a brilliant engagement loop because answering questions creates more content for your other followers to see, which often prompts them to ask a question of their own.

1. From the responses list, find a question you want to answer and tap on it.
2. A small menu will pop up. Select "Share Response."
3. This will automatically open a new Story draft. The original question a follower submitted will appear as a sticker on the screen. Importantly, the user who asked it will be completely anonymous, their profile picture and username will not be shown. This encourages more followers to ask questions without fear of being called out publicly.
4. Now, you can design your response. Add a new background photo or video, or use the "Create" mode for a solid color. You then have space to type out your answer using the text tool, record a video of yourself talking, add a relevant image sticker, or even include a GIF.
5. Once you’ve put your answer together, post it to your Story just like any other.

You can repeat this process for as many questions as you’d like to answer. Many creators batch their answers, spending 10-15 minutes a day replying to several questions in a row to create a full Q&A sequence in their Stories.

8 Creative Ways Businesses and Creators Can Use the Question Sticker

The "Ask me a question" prompt is a classic, but the question sticker's potential goes far beyond that. Here are some strategic ways to use this feature to build your community, drive sales, and create better content.

1. Host a Classic AMA (Ask Me Anything)

The AMA format is popular for a reason: it's a fantastic way to build a personal connection. If you're a founder, coach, influencer, or artist, this gives your audience a chance to learn about your journey, opinions, and daily life. It tears down the wall between you and your followers, making your brand feel more human and approachable.

Example Prompt: "I'm the founder of [Your Brand]. Ask me anything about startups, marketing, or my dog, Frank!"

2. Gather Customer Feedback and Testimonials

Why pay for focus groups when you have a direct line to your customers? Use the question box to gather valuable feedback and collect powerful social proof you can use across your marketing.

Example Prompts:

• "What's one thing you LOVE about our [Product Name]?" → Share the positive responses as testimonials.
• "What feature should we build next for our app?" → Get genuine user feedback to inform your product roadmap.
• "How did you hear about us?" → A lightweight way to see which marketing channels are working.

3. Fuel Your Content Strategy (Audience-Led Q&As)

Stuck on what to post next? Let your audience tell you. Use the question sticker to source ideas for your next blog post, Reel, or YouTube video. This not only solves your content block but ensures you’re creating content your audience genuinely wants.

Example Prompts:

• "I'm filming a new YouTube video tomorrow. What topic do you want me to cover?"
• "Doing a finance Q&A. What's your biggest question about investing?"
• "Thinking of my next recipe blog post. What dish do you want to learn how to make?"

4. Bust Myths and Address Sales Objections

Every industry has common misconceptions, and every product has common sales objections (it's too expensive, too complicated, I don't have time, etc.). Use the question box to invite these doubts so you can address them head-on and position yourself as a trusted authority.

Example Prompts:

• "What's the #1 myth you've heard about vegan cooking? Let's bust it!"
• "Wondering if our software is right for you? Ask me anything holding you back."
• "Why do you think you can't start your own business? Share your fear and let me help."

5. Turn the Tables: Ask Them a Question

It doesn't always have to be about you! Flip the dynamic and use the question prompt to get your audience’s recommendations, tips, or opinions. This shows you value their input and helps create a strong sense of community.

Example Prompts:

• "Tell me your favorite small business to support!" → Share and tag the businesses they recommend.
• "What's the best book you've read this year?" → Compile a community reading list.
• "I'm stuck in a creative rut. What's your top tip for finding inspiration?"

6. Product and "How-To" Demonstrations

Invite users to ask how your product works. This is a more interactive and authentic way to create tutorials than a polished, pre-filmed video. Simply use a photo of your product with the question sticker on it.

Example Prompt: "Got questions about our new espresso machine? Ask away and I'll film the answer!"

7. Promote A Live Session or Event

If you have an upcoming webinar, Instagram Live, or event, you can use the question box to pre-collect questions from attendees. Answering a few of them ahead of time builds hype, and having a list of questions ready ensures you won’t have awkward silence during your live session.

Example Prompt: "Going LIVE tomorrow at 2 PM PST to talk about SEO. What do you wanna know? I'll answer these live!"

8. Have Some Fun!

Not every sticker needs a grand marketing strategy behind it. Sometimes, just having a little fun is the best way to connect. Use prompts that are funny, trendy, or lighthearted to show off your brand's personality.

Example Prompts:

• "Send me your hottest take. No judgment."
• "What's an unpopular opinion you'll defend to the death?"
• "Describe your weekend using only emojis."

Final Thoughts

Adding a question box to your Instagram Story is a simple yet incredibly effective way to increase engagement, connect with your audience on a deeper level, and gather priceless insights for your brand. By moving beyond a simple "ask me anything" and strategically framing your prompts, this little sticker becomes a powerhouse for building community and driving your content forward.

As you get more comfortable using features like the question box, planning out your content helps keep that momentum going. At Postbase, we designed a simple visual calendar to help us schedule all of our content - from Instagram Stories and Reels to TikToks and Threads - in one seamless flow. Having that bird's-eye view makes it so much easier to plan weekly themes like "Q&A Tuesdays" and see exactly when and where you're engaging your community, without having to jump between spreadsheets and apps.