How to Do Polls on Instagram

Instagram Polls are one of the fastest and most effective ways to interact directly with your audience. Housed within your Stories, this simple sticker can boost your engagement, gather valuable feedback, and make your followers feel seen and heard. This guide will walk you through exactly how to create a poll, strategies for using them effectively, and creative ideas to get your community tapping.

So, Why Should You Use Instagram Polls?

Before getting into the "how," let's quickly touch on the "why." Polls aren’t just a gimmick, they're a powerful tool for your social media strategy. In an algorithm-driven world, any feature that encourages followers to actively engage with your content signals to Instagram that your account is valuable. A simple tap on a poll option is a low-effort interaction for your audience, but it sends a strong signal.

Here’s what polls can do for your brand:

• Boost Engagement: When users interact with your Story by voting, it tells the algorithm that they enjoy your content, making them more likely to see your future Stories and posts.
• Gather Direct Feedback: Ask your audience what they want to see, which product they prefer, or what content they find most helpful. It’s free market research directly from the people who matter most.
• Humanize Your Brand: Polls can be fun and lighthearted. Asking simple questions shows a more personal, relatable side of your brand, helping to build a stronger community connection.
• Increase Time Spent on Stories: An interactive element like a poll encourages users to pause and engage, increasing the overall time they spend viewing your Story.

How to Create a Poll in Instagram Stories: A Step-by-Step Guide

Ready to make your first poll? The process is incredibly simple. Just follow these steps, and you’ll have a poll live in less than a minute.

1. Open the Instagram Stories Camera: From your Instagram home feed, tap the plus sign (+) at the very top of your screen and select "Story," or simply swipe right from anywhere in the feed to open the Story camera.
2. Create Your Background: An Instagram poll needs a visual background. You can either take a new photo or video right there or swipe up to select an existing piece of content from your phone's camera roll. You can also tap the "Create" mode (the "Aa" icon) for a solid or gradient color background.
3. Access the Sticker Tray: Once your background is ready, tap the square smiley face icon at the top of your screen. This is the sticker tray, where you'll find all of Instagram’s interactive features.
4. Select the "POLL" Sticker: Find and tap on the "POLL" sticker. It’s usually near the top along with other popular options like "QUESTIONS," "MUSIC," and "QUIZ."
5. Write Your Question: A text box will appear that says "Ask a question..." This is where you'll type the prompt for your poll. Keep it clear, concise, and engaging.
6. Customize the Poll Options: By default, the poll choices are “YES” and “NO.” You can tap on each box to customize the text. You’re limited to two choices for the poll, so make them distinct. Looking for more than two options? Keep reading, and we’ll cover the Quiz Sticker later.
7. Position and Resize Your Poll: You can place the poll sticker anywhere on your screen. Use your thumb and index finger to pinch to make it smaller or expand to make it bigger. You can also tap the color wheel at the top to change the color of the question text. Get creative with its placement to complement your background image or video.
8. Share Your Story: Once everything looks good, tap "Your Story" in the bottom left corner to share it with all of your followers, or choose "Close Friends" to share it with a select group.

How to Check and Share Your Poll Results

Creating the poll is only the first step. The real magic happens when you see what your audience thinks and share that feedback with them to close the loop.

Viewing Your Results

To see how people are voting in real-time, open your Story by tapping on your profile picture. While viewing the Story slide with the poll, swipe up from the bottom of the screen. This will bring up the Story viewers list and the poll analytics.

Here you'll see:

• The total number of viewers for that Story slide.
• The total number of votes.
• A percentage breakdown of the votes for each option.
• A list of which users voted for which option. This is great for identifying your most engaged followers.

Sharing the Results with Your Audience

Sharing the final results is a fantastic way to show your audience that you listened. It demonstrates transparency and makes them feel like part of the conversation. After some time has passed and you’ve collected enough votes, swipe up on your Story again.

You’ll see a "Share Results" button. Tapping this will create a brand new Story slide with an image of your original poll, now showing the final percentages for each option. You can add more text, GIFs, or other stickers to this new Story to provide commentary about the outcome. For example, if you polled your audience about a new T-shirt color and blue won, you could share the results and say, “Looks like the blue tee is a big favorite! We’re putting in the order now.”

10 Creative Ways to Use Instagram Polls

Now that you know the mechanics, let’s talk strategy. A poll is just a tool, its power comes from how you use it. Here are some actionable ideas you can adapt for your brand.

1. Market Research (This or That)

Use polls to get direct feedback about products, services, or content. It’s a super simple form of market research.

• “Which logo concept do you like more?” (Show two options side-by-side)
• “Would you prefer our new course as a video series or an ebook?”
• “Planning our spring collection... Should we go with Pastel Tones or Bright Neons?”

2. Drive Clicks and Engagement Quizzes

Want to gauge interest before dropping a link? Use a poll. This is a very popular tactic to get users to "opt-in" to receiving a link so your link-in-bio or link sticker reaches more engaged people.

• “Our new blog post is live! Who wants the link?” (Options: “Send it over!” or “I’m in!”)
• Pro Tip: Use an app or Instagram's direct message tools to automatically DM the link to everyone who votes yes.

3. Audience Education

Subtly educate your followers about your industry, brand, or products with a simple true/false style question. This piques curiosity and positions you as an expert.

• “True or False: You should wash your face twice a day.”
• “Do you need 8 hours of sleep to be productive? YES / NO”

Note: For more complex quizzes with a correct answer revealed automatically, the Quiz sticker is even better for this.

4. Behind-the-Scenes Decisions

Make your audience feel like insiders by letting them vote on small, informal business decisions. This builds a powerful sense of community and involvement.

• “Shooting product photos today. Should we use the bright studio or the outdoor setting?”
• “Having a team lunch. Pizza or Tacos?”
• “What song should we add to our office playlist? [Song A] or [Song B]?”

5. Increase Dwell Time with “Prediction” Polls

If you're using a video in your Story, you can place a poll at the beginning that asks followers to predict the outcome. This encourages them to watch the entire video to see if they were right.

6. Personal &, Relatable Content

Show your human side. Casual, daily life polls are perfect for building a connection beyond just business. This is where you can let your brand's personality shine.

• “Important question: Is it too early for holiday music?”
• “Coffee or Tea to start the day?”
• “Is a hot dog a sandwich? YES / Definitely Not.”

Beyond the Poll: Using Other Interactive Stickers

The Poll sticker is great, but don't forget its cousins in the sticker tray. Using a variety of interactive stickers keeps your Stories fresh and interesting.

The Quiz Sticker

This is perfect for when you have a question with one correct answer. Unlike the Poll sticker, you can offer up to four options and must designate one as the right choice. When users tap an option, they’ll immediately see if they got it right. This is great for myth-busting, educational content, or testing your audience’s knowledge about your brand.

The Emoji Slider Sticker

The emoji slider lets you ask a question where the answer isn’t a simple “yes” or “no,” but a matter of degree. Users drag an emoji across a scale to show how much they agree or feel something. For example, “How much do you love our new packaging?” with a heart-eyes emoji, or “Rate the spice level of this new sauce” with a chili emoji.

The Question Sticker

This sticker invites open-ended responses. Instead of you asking the question, you prompt your followers to ask you something with an “Ask me anything” session. You can then share their questions and post your answers in subsequent Stories. It’s an unbeatable way to create a dialogue and generate tons of user-generated content ideas.

Final Thoughts

Polls on Instagram are more than just a passing trend, they are a simple, fun, and highly effective tool for cultivating an engaged community. By going beyond simple “yes or no” questions and using them strategically to gather feedback, educate, and entertain, you can turn your followers from passive viewers into active participants in your brand’s story.

We know that planning engaging content - from your next big Reel to a simple daily poll - can feel like a full-time job. That’s why we created Postbase to streamline the whole process. With our visual content calendar, you can plan and schedule all your social media content, including Stories, from one clean dashboard. This way, you can focus more on creating ideas and building your community and less on the daily scramble to post.

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