How to Ask a Question on an Instagram Story

Unlock direct conversations with your audience by asking a question on your Instagram Story. This simple sticker is one of the most effective tools for boosting engagement, gathering feedback, and showing the personality behind your brand. This guide will walk you through a step-by-step process of how to use the Questions sticker, share creative strategies for making it work for you, and offer best practices for managing the responses.

First, The Basics: How to Add a Questions Sticker to an Instagram Story

Before you can get creative, you need to know the fundamentals. Adding the Questions sticker is a straightforward process that takes less than a minute. Let's walk through the exact steps.

Step 1: Open Instagram and Create a New Story

Tap the "+" icon at the top of your screen or simply swipe right from your feed to open the Story camera. You can either take a new photo or video right there, or you can swipe up to access your camera roll and choose existing content for your background. An aesthetically pleasing background, a relevant image, or even a short video clip all work well.

Step 2: Access the Sticker Tray

Once you have your background image or video in place, tap the sticker icon at the top of the screen. It looks like a square with a smiling face. This will open up Instagram's full library of interactive stickers, from GIFs to Polls to Music.

Step 3: Select the "Questions" Sticker

In the sticker tray, find and tap the sticker labeled "Questions." It will appear on your Story, ready to be customized. By default, it will say "Ask me a question," but this is where you can start to get strategic.

Step 4: Customize Your Prompt

Tap on the default text ("Ask me a question") to write your own prompt. Your prompt is your call to action - it guides your audience on what you want them to ask or share. Be specific! Instead of a generic prompt, try something more focused that aligns with your goals.

For example, if you're a coffee brand, instead of "Ask us anything," try "What's your go-to coffee order?" or "Ask our founder about our bean sourcing process."

Step 5: Change the Sticker Color

Want the sticker to match your brand colors or the vibe of your Story background? Tap the color wheel at the top of the screen while the Questions sticker is selected. You can cycle through several pre-set color and style options. Choose one that stands out but still looks cohesive with your overall design.

Step 6: Position and Post Your Story

With your prompt written and your color selected, you can now move the sticker around. Drag it to your desired location on the screen. You can also pinch to resize it, making it smaller or larger. Once you're happy with the placement, share it to your Story by tapping "Your Story" in the bottom left corner.

Beyond the Basics: Creative Ways to Use the Questions Sticker

Simply knowing how to use the sticker isn't enough. The real power comes from using it strategically to hit your social media goals, whether that's growing your community, doing market research, or boosting sales. Here are a few proven strategies.

1. Host an "Ask Me Anything" (AMA) Session

An AMA is a classic for a reason. It's the perfect way to build connection and establish authority. Let your followers ask you about your industry, your personal journey, your creative process, or the story behind your brand. This works exceptionally well for:

• Founders and CEOs: Answering questions builds transparency and lets people connect with the human behind the business.
• Experts and Consultants: Showcasing your knowledge by answering industry-specific questions positions you as a thought leader.
• Artists and Creators: Followers love getting a behind-the-scenes look at your methods, inspirations, and daily life.

Example Prompt: "We're launching our new collection next week. Ask our founder, Jane, anything about the design process!"

2. Gather Customer Feedback and Do Free Market Research

Wondering what your audience wants to see next? Just ask them. The Questions sticker is a fantastic tool for gathering direct feedback and understanding your customers' needs and pain points without sending out a formal survey.

• Product Development: "What feature should we build next for our app?" or "Which t-shirt design is your favorite?"
• Content Strategy: "What topic should our next blog post be about?" or "Would you rather see more tutorials or behind-the-scenes content?"
• Service Improvement: "What's one thing we could do to make your experience with us even better?"

This approach not only gives you valuable data but also makes your audience feel heard and involved in your brand's journey.

3. Spark Conversations and Build Community

Not every interaction needs to be about business. Use the Questions sticker to start fun, low-stakes conversations that build community and let your brand's personality shine. These are often the most engaging types of Stories because they're easy for people to answer.

• Universal Topics: "What's the best movie you've seen recently?" or "Share your favorite emoji right now."
• Relatable Scenarios: "What's your go-to song for a productivity boost?"
• Niche Interests: "Debate time: is a hot dog a sandwich? Share your reasoning."

When you share the replies, you create a sense of shared experience, making your profile a fun place to hang out, not just a place to be sold to.

4. Educate Your Audience (And Position Yourself as an Expert)

Turn the tables and use the question prompt to test your audience's knowledge or debunk common myths in your industry. This is an engaging way to deliver educational content without being preachy.

• Myth Busting: A personal trainer could ask, "What's the biggest fitness myth you've heard? Let me debunk it for you."
• Quizzes and Trivia: "Guess which year our brand was founded!" Then you can share answers and a little company history.
• "Fill in the Blank": "The most important part of a good skincare routine is ________."

When you share the answers, you can add your expert commentary, providing value and reinforcing your credibility.

Now What? How to Manage and Respond to Questions

Asking the question is just one half of the equation, how you follow up is just as important. Thoughtful replies show that you're listening and value your audience's input.

How to See the Responses

You can find the answers to your question by viewing your own Story and swiping up. You'll see a list of viewers, with all the responses to your sticker compiled at the top of the viewer sheet. From there, you have a few options for how you can respond.

Option 1: Share the Response Publicly to a New Story

This is the most common and effective way to respond. When you tap on a response, a "Share Response" button will appear. Tapping this creates a new Story draft with the original question and its answer framed in a sticker. The user who submitted the question will remain anonymous to the public, only you can see who asked.

Tips for sharing responses:

• Add Context: Don't just post the answer sticker on a blank background. You can film a video of yourself answering, type out a more detailed text response, or add a relevant photo.
• Change the Background: Tap on the response sticker and then use the drawing tools or add a new photo/video from your camera roll to create a visually interesting backdrop.
• Batch Similar Questions: Got five people asking a similar question? Create one dedicated Story to answer it comprehensively instead of posting five nearly identical Stories in a row.

Option 2: Reply Privately via Direct Message

You also have the option to tap "Reply" and send a direct message (DM) to the person who asked. This is a great choice when:

• The question is too personal or specific to share publicly.
• You want to start a one-on-one conversation, such as for a customer service issue or a sales inquiry.
• The question requires a lengthy, detailed answer that wouldn't fit well in a Story format.

A private DM can make a follower feel uniquely seen and valued, strengthening their loyalty to your brand.

Best Practices for Responding

• Don't Let Them Expire: Your Story (and its responses) disappear after 24 hours. Try to answer questions within that window so people see their contributions being acknowledged.
• Show Your Face: Whenever possible, reply with a short video of you speaking. This is far more personal and engaging than a simple text reply.
• Be Authentic: Let your personality come through! Use humor, be honest, and avoid dry, corporate-sounding answers. People connect with people, not logos.

Final Thoughts

The Instagram Questions sticker isn't just a gimmick, it's a powerful bridge between you and your community. By asking thoughtful questions and engaging with the responses authentically, you can gather invaluable insights and build genuine relationships that go far beyond a simple "like." Use it consistently and creatively, and it will become one of the most useful tools in your social media toolkit.

Managing all the genuine engagement from interactive Stories - like replies to sticker and follow-up DMs - can quickly become overwhelming across multiple platforms. At Postbase, we built our platform with a unified inbox that brings all your comments and DMs from Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and more into one clean feed. Instead of jumping between apps, you can manage conversations, assign them to teammates, and ensure no great question from a follower ever slips through the cracks.