How to Share Poll Results on Instagram Story

You’ve crafted the perfect Instagram poll, your audience has cast their votes, and now you have a pile of fresh feedback waiting. The first impulse is to check the numbers and move on, but the real power lies in your next step: sharing those results. This guide will walk you through exactly how to share poll results on your Instagram Story and, more importantly, how to turn that simple action into a powerful tool for community building and content strategy.

Why Sharing Your Poll Results is a Smart Move

Before jumping into the step-by-step instructions, it's worth understanding why this feature is more than just a button. Sharing poll results isn't just a technical function, it's a strategic move that strengthens your relationship with your audience and refines your content. When you take the time to share what you've learned, you're accomplishing several things at once.

• It Closes the Communication Loop: When someone takes a second to vote in your poll, they are giving you their opinion. By sharing the results, you are acknowledging their contribution and saying, "I heard you." This validation makes your audience feel seen and valued, encouraging them to interact with your content again in the future.
• It Boosts Engagement Twice: The initial poll gets you engagement, but sharing the results creates a second opportunity for connection. Followers who voted will be curious to see where they landed in the majority or minority. Those who missed the poll might jump in on the conversation now, creating a ripple effect from a single Story sticker.
• It Generates Effortless Follow-Up Content: Struggling with what to post next? Your poll results are a goldmine. The outcome can serve as a natural starting point for a subsequent Story, a detailed Reel, or even an in-depth feed post. It’s audience-generated content inspiration, delivered on a silver platter.
• It Demonstrates Transparency and Builds Trust: Sharing results shows that you're not just collecting data for your own purposes. Whether you’re a creator asking about video topics or a brand deciding on a new T-shirt color, showing the final tallies makes your audience feel like they are part of the decision-making process. This transparency is a cornerstone of building an authentic brand online.

How to Share Poll Results on Instagram Story: The Simple Breakdown

Sharing your poll results is a straightforward process built right into the Instagram Story interface. You can share them at any point while the original Story is still live (within its 24-hour window) or even after it has expired by accessing it from your archive. Here’s how to do it step-by-step.

Step 1: Access Your Story and View the Results

First, you need to find the Story containing the poll you want to share.

• If the Story is still live: Tap on your profile picture from the top of your Instagram feed to view your current Story. Navigate to the slide with the poll.
• If the Story has expired: Go to your profile page, tap the three-line menu (hamburger icon) in the top-right corner, and select "Archive." Make sure you're in the "Stories Archive" tab, then find the Story with your poll.

Once you’ve found the Story, swipe up from the bottom of the screen or tap the "Activity" or viewer icons in the bottom-left corner.

Step 2: Locate the 'Share Results' Button

After swiping up, you'll see a detailed view of your Story's analytics. This screen shows you who has viewed your Story and, specifically for the poll, a breakdown of how people voted. You’ll see the total number of votes for each option and their corresponding percentages. Directly below this voter data, you'll find a prominent, hard-to-miss button labeled "Share results."

Step 3: Tap 'Share Results' to Create a New Story

This is where the magic happens. When you tap the "Share results" button, Instagram automatically generates a new Story for you. This new Story will feature a neat little sticker that looks just like your original poll, but now it displays the final percentages for each option.

The background of this auto-generated Story will be a gradient color scheme based on the colors from your original post. However, you are not stuck with this look.

Step 4: Customize Your New "Results" Story

The Story Instagram creates is just a starting point. It's now in the Story editor, which means you have full creative control. This is your chance to add context, personality, and your brand’s flair.

• Change the Background: Don't like the default gradient? Tap the color wheel at the top or the photo gallery icon at the bottom to change the background to a solid color, a new photo, or a video.
• Resize and Reposition: Tap and drag the results sticker to move it around. Pinch to make it bigger or smaller.
• Add Text and Context: Use the text tool to add your reaction. Something like, “Wow, 78% of you are night owls! I’m right there with you,” adds a personal touch.
• Incorporate More Stickers: Add GIFs, question boxes, quizzes, or countdowns to make the Story even more interactive.
• Add Music: Give your Story a vibe by adding a trending audio track that matches the mood of the results.

Once you are happy with how your Results Story looks, simply tap “Your Story” to publish it for all your followers to see. That’s it! You've successfully closed the loop.

Beyond the Basics: 5 Creative Ideas for Sharing Your Poll Results

Just knowing how to share results is only half the battle. To truly make an impact, you need to think creatively about the why. Here are five ideas to turn your poll results into engaging, purposeful content that your audience will love.

1. The "Reveal and React" Video Clip

Instead of just posting the sticker with some text, add a selfie video to your Story. Share the results sticker first, then record a short video of yourself reacting to the outcome. Your genuine surprise, excitement, or humorous disbelief can be far more engaging than text alone. For example, if you polled "Pancakes vs. Waffles" and waffles won in a landslide, you could post a video saying, "Waffle fans, where have you been all my life?! I thought for sure pancakes would win. You have spoken!"

2. Tease a Product or Announcement

Use polls as a subtle way to build hype. Let's say you're a clothing brand about to release a new collection. You could run a poll asking, "Bold colors or neutral tones for summer?" When you share the results ("Looks like bold colors win by a mile!"), you can add a text overlay that says, "Good thing we've got something special for you coming Friday..." This turns a simple interaction into an effective teaser for an upcoming launch.

3. Start an "Ask Me Anything" (AMA) Session

Use your poll results to pivot into a new conversation. If you poll your audience about your industry, like "Do you find email marketing confusing?", and 80% say yes, share those results immediately followed by a Q&A sticker. Frame it as, "A lot of you find email marketing confusing. Let's fix that. Ask me anything about it!" This transforms a simple poll into a high-value educational session.

4. Create a Data-Driven Carousel Post

Your Instagram Stories don’t have to live in isolation. Take a screenshot of your poll results and use it as part of a more permanent carousel post on your feed.

• Slide 1: An engaging headline like, "We Asked, You Answered: Here's What You Said About..."
• Slide 2: The screenshot of your poll results.
• Slide 3-5: Your analysis, expert opinion, or a deeper dive into the topic.

This approach gives your interactive content a longer shelf life and repositions your informal Story poll as valuable "research" for your community.

5. Turn the Results into a Call-to-Action

Don't just share the data - use it to guide your audience's next action. If you're a content creator who polled, "What should my next YouTube video be about? A) My Morning Routine, B) A Q&A," and "Morning Routine" wins, share the results with a clear call-to-action: "The verdict is in! Tap the link in my bio to subscribe so you don't miss my new 'Morning Routine' video coming out this week." This reinforces that their feedback directly influences your actions.

Final Thoughts

Sharing your poll results on Instagram Stories is a beautifully simple, yet surprisingly powerful, way to foster a two-way conversation with your audience. It shows you’re a great listener, provides you with an easy source of new material, and makes your followers feel like active participants in your brand’s journey - all from a few simple taps.

We know that managing a consistent and interactive social presence can feel chaotic, especially when you’re keeping track of polls, Q&As, and daily video content. At Postbase, we designed our visual content calendar specifically for the way social media works today. It allows you to plan out your entire story sequence in advance, so you can map out when to post a poll, when to share the results, and what follow-up content comes next. Our goal is to make managing your online community feel strategic and streamlined, not stressful.