How to Post a Question on Instagram

Posting a question on Instagram is one of the most direct ways to turn passive followers into an active, engaged community. Whether you use a simple sticker in your Stories or a thoughtful prompt in a caption, you’re opening a direct line of communication with your audience. This guide breaks down exactly how to use Instagram’s question features step-by-step and shares strategies for crafting questions that people will actually answer.

Why Asking Questions on Instagram is a Game-Changer

Before getting into the "how," it’s important to understand the "why." Asking questions on Instagram isn’t just for fun - it’s a powerful strategy for creators, brands, and marketers.

• It Boosts Your Engagement Rate: Every time someone taps a sticker, responds to a poll, or leaves a comment, they’re sending a positive signal to the Instagram algorithm. This tells Instagram that an active community surrounds your account, which can help increase the reach of all your content.
• It Provides Free Audience Research: Want to know what your audience struggles with, what products they love, or what content they want to see next? Just ask! Their answers are a goldmine of direct, unfiltered feedback you can use to refine your content strategy, products, or services.
• It Generates Authentic User-Generated Content (UGC): Sharing your followers' answers to your Stories is a simple way to create content while making your audience feel seen and valued. It shows that you’re not just broadcasting, you're listening.
• It Humanizes Your Brand: Engaging in two-way conversations makes your brand more relatable and approachable. It turns your profile from a static content feed into a dynamic community hub.

How to Ask a Question in Instagram Stories: Your Tool Kit

Instagram Stories are the most popular and versatile place to ask questions. The interactive stickers are designed for quick taps and easy engagement, making it a low-friction way for your followers to participate. Here are the main tools at your disposal.

The 'Questions' Sticker: Your Q&A Hub

This open-ended sticker is perfect for hosting a classic Q&A session, asking for suggestions, or collecting feedback. It allows followers to type out a full response directly in your Story.

How to Use the 'Questions' Sticker: Step-by-Step

1. Open the Instagram app and swipe right or tap the plus (+) icon on your profile picture to open the Story camera.
2. Take a photo, record a video, or upload one from your camera roll.
3. Tap the sticker icon (the square smiley face) at the top of the screen.
4. Select the "Questions" sticker from the options.
5. The sticker will default to "Ask me a question." You can tap the text to customize it. Change it to something specific like, "What are you struggling with this week?" or "Give me your best Netflix recommendations!"
6. You can also tap the color wheel at the top to change the color of the sticker box to match your brand aesthetic.
7. Position the sticker anywhere you like on your Story and resize it by pinching with two fingers.
8. Post it to your Story!

How to View and Share Answers

Once people start responding, you can view their answers by opening that specific Story and swiping up. All the responses will be listed there. To share a response:

• Find the answer you want to share and tap it.
• A new Story composer will open with the original background from your question and the follower's response featured in a new sticker. Note: The respondent's username and photo are hidden by default, creating a safe way for people to answer honestly.
• You can now add your own text, GIFs, or emojis to react to their answer or provide a more detailed response. Post this as a new Story to continue the conversation.

The 'Poll' Sticker: For Simple Choices

The Poll sticker is great for quick, binary feedback. You ask a simple question and provide two custom answers for people to choose from. It's incredibly easy for followers to engage with - just one tap.

Example Uses:

• "This or That" style questions ("Coffee or Tea?").
• Gauging interest ("Should I do a tutorial on reels?" - Yes / No).
• Deciding on content ("Which topic first?" - Topic A / Topic B).

Setting up a Poll is identical to the Questions sticker. Just tap the "Poll" sticker in the sticker tray, type your question, customize the A/B answers, and post.

The 'Quiz' Sticker: For Fun and Education

The Quiz sticker lets you ask a multiple-choice question and designate a correct answer. It's a fantastic tool for educating your audience, testing their knowledge, or just having some fun. When a user taps an answer, it instantly tells them if they're right or wrong.

To use it, select the "Quiz" sticker. You'll enter your question and can provide up to four possible answers. Simply tap the correct answer to highlight it in green before you finalize the sticker.

The 'Emoji Slider' Sticker: For Gauging Sentiment

The Emoji Slider allows your followers to respond on a sliding scale. This is useful for more nuanced questions where a simple "yes" or "no" isn't enough.

Example Uses:

• "How much do you love our new design?" (with a heart-eyes emoji).
• "Rate your motivation level today" (with a muscle or fire emoji).
• "How spicy do you like your food?" (with a chili pepper emoji).

To set it up, choose the "Slider" sticker from the tray. Write your question, then scroll through the emoji options to find one that fits the mood of your question.

Using Feed Posts and Reels to Ask Deeper Questions

While Stories are great for quick interactions, the feed is where you can spark deeper, more meaningful conversations. Asking a question in the caption of a static post, carousel, or Reel invites your followers to leave thoughtful public comments.

How to Ask Questions in Feed Posts and Reels

1. The Very First Line: A busy feed means you have seconds to grab someone's attention. Put your question in the very first sentence of the caption so people see it without having to tap "...more".
2. On the Image/Video Itself: For even more visibility, overlay your question directly onto your Reel or image using Instagram's text tool or an external editor for a static post or the main visual of a Reel. A huge headline that asks, "What’s the WORST advice you’ve ever gotten?" is impossible to miss.
3. Make it Personal and Open-Ended: Feed post questions work best when they aren't simple yes/no queries. Ask for stories, opinions, experiences, or recommendations.
   Example for a financial advisor: "What's the worst piece of financial advice you've ever received?"
   Example for a travel blogger: "What’s a travel experience that completely changed your perspective? Tell me the story in the comments."
4. Engage with Every Comment: The key to building community in the comments section is reciprocity. If someone takes the time to write a response, at least "like" their comment, and if possible, reply to it. This encourages others to join in.

Beyond the 'How': Ideas For Crafting Questions That Get Real Answers

Knowing how to share a question is only half the battle. You also need to know what to ask. Here are a few strategies to move past "Ask Me Anything" into questions that build your brand and connect with your audience.

1. Make It About Them, Not Just You

People love talking about themselves - their experiences, their opinions, their wins. While a Q&A about your business can be great, your most engaging questions will revolve around your followers.

• Instead of: "What do you want to know about my business?"
• Try: "What’s one thing you accomplished this week that you’re proud of?"

2. Keep It Simple and Specific

Broad, vague questions can be overwhelming and often result in silence. A question should be easy to understand and simple to answer in a few moments.

• Instead of: "What are your life goals?" (Too big!)
• Try: "What’s one small goal you have for this month?" (Specific and manageable.)

3. Use “Fill in the Blank” Prompts

Sometimes the easiest way to get an answer is to start the sentence for your audience. This lowers the mental effort required to come up with a response.

• "My go-to comfort food is ___________."
• "The best movie I've seen recently is __________."
• "If I had an extra hour in the day, I would spend it _________."

4. Tie Questions to Your Expertise

Use questions to gently uncover your audience’s pain points, giving you an opening to provide value and showcase your expertise. This builds authority and trust.

• For a personal trainer: "What’s the #1 thing holding you back from your fitness goals right now?"
• For a web designer: "Describe your dream website in three words."
• For a chef: "What dinner can you just *not* get right, no matter how hard you try?"

Final Thoughts

Asking questions on Instagram is more than just an engagement tactic, it's a foundation for building a genuine community. By using Stories stickers for quick interactions and feed captions for deeper discussions, you open up communication that makes followers feel connected to your brand and to each other.

Of course, the more you successfully encourage conversations, the harder it can be to keep up with all the comments and DMs across channels. That's one of the main problems we built Postbase to solve. We created a simple, modern social media management tool with a unified inbox that brings all your conversations from every platform into one clean view, so you never miss an opportunity to engage.