Instagram ‘yes or no’ polls are simplistic, but they can help you to drive engagement if you entice users to stop and answer.
Instagram Stories may be a fleeting feature designed to be temporary, but this has not made it any less popular.
Using a simple, binary ‘yes or no’ poll within your Story can be a great way to drive engagement by building anticipation, inspiring new content or even making your audience feel heard.
Why your Instagram Stories matter
At first glance, any feature that was only ever intended to last 24 hours may not seem all that important, but Instagram Stories have become one of the most popular features on the platform.
Experts insist that about 70% of active Instagram users watch Stories on a daily basis.
This means that if your business is not including Stories in your Instagram strategies, you may be missing out on all those eyeballs and the estimated 20.03 billion dollars in ad revenue that Stories are expected to rake in by the end of the year.
How to use Instagram ‘yes or no’ polls effectively to drive engagement
Although Instagram Stories is such a popular feature, it is still incredibly easy to get lost in the list of icons at the top of the page.
One of the best ways to halt the dreaded tap-through on Stories is to use one of the platform’s built-in engagement-booster features: the polling sticker.
Polls are a great way for your brand to interact with your audience and it can even present a great opportunity to find out what the audience truly thinks about your brand, products and strategies.
The very first type of poll that the Instagram platform defaults to is a classic ‘yes or no’ polling format. Since this type of poll is the first one that pops up, it is an incredibly easy format to use when you are in a bit of a time crunch.
These ‘yes or no’ polls are also great because they keep things short and sweet, with only two possible answers.
Unfortunately, just like everything else on Instagram, if you really want the answers, feedback, replies and comments to stream in, you have to ensure that your post reaches as many users as possible and that you actually entice these users to stop scrolling and engage with your Story.
Creating ‘yes or no’ polls that build anticipation
Just because ‘yes or no’ polls have simple answers, it does not mean that the questions that you ask need to be boring.
Since Stories on Instagram are only available for 24 hours, they can be a great vehicle to create anticipation around a new, secretive launch, a competition, a promotion, or any other special, upcoming event or occasion.
And a ‘yes or no’ poll can be just the thing to get your audience buzzing about what could be to come.
Asking a question like “Have you been struggling with dry skin?” or “Are you feeling the pinch yet this month?” can be a great way to show your audience that you understand them, while also promoting the benefits of the anticipated event.
You can use polls content to get ideas for more content
Polls are a great way to get the two-way communication between yourself and your audience flowing, but they are fleeting.
To combat this, you can always use your ‘yes or no’ poll to give you some insights into the kind of content your audience wants to see more of.
Questions like “Do you want to see more behind-the scenes content?” and “Do you like our new shorter Reels?” will help you boost your engagement not only on your Stories, but on the platform as a whole.
Remember to follow through with your polls after the fact
It is estimated that well over 80 percent of Instagram users use the platform to research new products and services. However, with polls you can go so much further than simply promoting a product.
Even a simple ‘yes or no’ poll on your Instagram Story can make your target audience feel like you are truly listening to them and that they have some sort of say as to what happens with the brands.
If you really want to drive home the message that your audience’s engagement on your ‘yes or no’ polls is important, you need to follow up with the result and the actions taken after the poll.
Sharing another story with “You spoke, and we listened…” or “Since you voted ‘Yes’ to…” (or any other next steps) is a great way to encourage your audience to participate in more of your polls in the future.